Hi there.  I need some advice.  The dates are a bit wacky because my girl always decides to go into heat when I leave for vacation.  Anyhow, I got back on the 21st of June.  I noticed my girl tie with my male that same night (only home a few hours and din't notice her swollen vulva at this point).  She went on to tie either every day or every other day up until the 29th of June.  That would make her as of today's date 41-50 days, correct?  I took her to the vet Monday, he xray'd her and told me no pups.  BUT, and it is a HUGE BUT, he was extremely rude to me.  He walked in the office and told me she was not pregnant before even touching her!  Then felt around in her belly and said no pups.  Then he took an xray (wouldn't let me go back into xray room or see the xray) and said no pups.  Here is the advice I am needing, and yes I'm on the hunt for a new vet that will actually give me the time of day. Do you think the xray was too soon? She is steadily gaining weight.  In fact she had gained 7 oz since her check up last october.  Belly is bigger, nipples are bright red, swollen, and for a little while now she has had discharge.  She is cleaning herself up quite a bit back there.  Now, I have bred yorkies before and never had any real problems like this, but i also had a different vet.  Vet told me it was a false pregnancy as there are no pups but why so much discharge?  why is she getting bigger and gaining weight?  She is so clingy to me.  She is NOT exhibiting nesting as of yet and is not "mothering" any of her toys.  She sleeps a lot and I can tell she is starting to adjust her movements and the way she lays with her growing belly.  I'm thinking wait until day 55 and get in with a different vet for an xray again?

Hi there
There is a chance your vet may have missed the puppies as vets are often not the most experienced in scanning but not sure about X-ray I would have thought that would be much clearer? It is better to get someone specialising in this or a sheep scanner.

I would say that what I have learnt with my own dog is that whether a bitch falls pregnant or not the signs can be identical following a season, I’ve been told this is because the hormone progesterone remains high after a season whether they are pregnant or not. The hormone is responsible for the signs and symptoms of pregnancy. My current girl has had us all fooled before now, I have even measured her ribcage and found it to have expanded, swollen teats, extreme hunger, been clingy.

Update..went to a new vet and she is pregnant. Saw the xray and the hearts beating on ultrasound. Never going back to the other vet.

I wish you well BUT for starters, I'd only allow x-ray after the bitch had gone full term.   Secondly I see no point allowing more than 2 good matings, probably 2 days apart.   To allow more than that leaves a very wide window re due date.

I don't really get the urgency people feel to do either ultrasounds or x-rays. 

X-rays are damaging for developing puppies in utero - it's why pregnant women are not given them:  https://www.avidog.com/how-badly-do-we-need-to-know/

And ultrasounds are only good for determining pregnancy at the time they are done.  They are no guarantee the pregnancy will continue and the pups won't be absorbed after the ultrasound and they are unreliable for numbers. 

By week 6 of a pregnancy, you'll see a very obvious huge belly and will then have 3 weeks to prepare - so I never really get it. 

Plus factor in the disease risk of taking a pregnant dog to the vets unnecessarily and the stress involved in the x-ray or scan, and I really don't get it...

^^^   Yep, yep!

Mine were only x-rayed to confirm a situation after nothing had happened - ie to confirm there was anything there, or the bitch was sadly empty.

She is a 5.5 lb chihuahua and I needed to know whether or not she has a singleton and if she could birth it naturally, so yes I needed an xray.

I think you'll find there are very experienced chi breeders on this forum (and breeders of other toy breeds) who don't routinely x-ray their bitches to see if they have singletons...

>By week 6 of a pregnancy, you'll see a very obvious huge belly

By 6 weeks the bitch with a large litter might be getting a bit thicker around the middle so you'd suspect a pregnancy but I definitely wouldn't expect a "huge belly"! A bitch carrying just a few puppies will hardly be showing at all.

Not in my breed! It's pretty obvious by then.  Unless it is just one or two.

In my breed a bitch carrying 12 puppies will look like a plumpish pet at 6 weeks gestation!

At around 7 weeks, unless it's a big bitch carrying them up under the ribcage, you surely see puppies moving around.  Again I'd NOT x-ray other than at full term, if nothing happened.

I would never x ray a pregnant bitch, and definitely not twice. The only time I had a bitch scanned with a vet ( at 28 days after mating) with one of my early litters when pretty inexperienced. She was pregnant but must have reabsorbed the pups because she never had any that time. It was very disappointing because it was a reknowned stud that I was desperate to use and  travelled  hundreds of miles for one mating. I had a right dressing down from the very experienced stud dog owner, when I told her there were no puppies, for exposing her to risk and stress by taking her to the vet for an uneccessary procedure! I took that on board, and never interefered again except with one bitch at 71/2  weeks who had hardly changed size wise, to see if there was any/a singleton and maybe be on alert for inertia/C section. Living in sheep country I got a sheep scanner to come to the house, she was brilliant, the bitch lay on her back happily on the kitchen table and scanner said there were two puppies, not too big and that I should not feed too much extra so the pups didnt get too big. She was spot on and the bitch whelped normally. I'd never scan before 45 days as pups can be re absorbed up until then.

>I got a sheep scanner to come to the house, she was brilliant, the bitch lay on her back happily on the kitchen table and scanner said there were two puppies,

Why on her back? Pregnancy scans are usually done standing up. At about 30 days conception is evident.

Maybe I am mis remembering..it was over 20 years ago..she was defintely on the table, maybe it was tummy rub afterwards getting the gel off that  I was rembering!