Hello! Just had one question. Giola's temp was very low today morning (36.8°C), but now, 4 hours later her temp is 37.4°C. Is that normal? She's on her 64-66 day (she had two matings), she had a bit of mucous discharge yesterday (clear, odorless), but apart from that she looks normal. She stays all day long in her bed, and she doesn't eat much, but she's not panting, not shivering and not nesting. What do you think? Is her temperature meaningful? The last days her temps have gone up and down like crazy, but she hadn't had anything lower than 37.1 before today morning.

My dog goes up and down all the time---so i would say it's normal. I ahve read that it's lower in the morning than the rest of the day--let me know how you get along. I have no experience but sure care.
Kim

the temp is a good sign of impending labour,its normal for it to rise slightly at night. some dogs dont show many signs i was only about 65% sure mine was even in labour till i had her checked and found out she was fully dielated!!
plus i had taken her out for a run! how guilty did i feel?!! i believe anything below 36 indicates something within 24h?

How do you tell if she's dialated???
Kim

My vet says that if she's having the mucous discharge, then it means the cervix is dilating.

Update: Giola was sick once during the night, she threw up, and she hasn't eaten since yesterday morning. She still has mucous discharge now and then, but not much, and it's completely clear and odorless. She shivers a lot and is finally nesting and panting, but only from time to time. Then she suddenly falls asleep as if nothing is happening....guess I'll have to wait. How longer do you think I should wait without worrying...too much? She doesn't seem to be suffering, she's calm and there's not a bit of colour in her discharge. But I don't know if it usually takes much longer. Her temp drop happened 26 hours ago or so! Her vet just tells me to wait and see, he thinks there's nothing wrong. What do you think?

All sounds normal to me, so it could happen anytime now!

Sounds to me as if you are in for a sleepless night.

My bitch's will sometimes do exactly as you describe and the times between pating shivering and nesting, get shorter and shorter until it is constant. Then they will go into a phase where the panting etc. stops for a short time, which is when the are having their first contractions.

Watch her carefully for signs of her first big contraction which you will not be able to mistake their whole bodies contract from the ribs downwards. If she has not produced a pup within 2 hours of that then start thinking about calling your vet.

Jayne

Thanks to both of you! You're SO helpful! She's in one of her sleepy phases right now... My vet says the temp goes up again, almost to the normal range, when the bitch starts whelping. Her temp is 37. now...and it's been like that for hours.

WOW let me know how she's doing. I don't have the temp drop yet--unless i missed it--BUt the mucus ios a flowing LOL and she's nesting about the same amount and she's SLEEPy and then plays for a bit. NO panting yet
GOOD LUCK
KIm

Has anything happened yet!.... Our girl did the same on Saturday!... Friday lunch time her temperature droped, visably went into the first stage of labour on Friday night, stayed ther all Saturday, phoned the vet Saturday afternoon, and again Saturday night now 36 hours later, he suggested running her up and down the stairs and feathering her vulva, so at midnight we are playing hid and seek in the back garden... and an obliging cat appeared also to help things along. The vet expected this to trigger the second stage, the temperature should rise to about normal or higher... still nothing... everything into the back of the car for a 20 min trip to the vets and as ever the case first pup born at 30 mph by torch ligh in the back of a Jeep! Got to vets all checked out raced back home for the rest to come...
ANYONE SEEN MY BED! but alls well that ends well :D 5 pups to prove it!

Congratulations for your pups! How are they doing? Giola is doing nothing, she licks her vulva from time to time, she scratches a bit, but really nothing more is happening. She has an appointment with her vet at 10:30, so cross your fingers for me!

Guess what. The vet checked Giola, they believed she was having a single pup somewhere, but after a scan it was all confirmed: It was just a full blown phantom that had been fooling us all for the last two months! Poor Giola! :( The good news was that her uterus seems normal and empty, so I shouldn't worry about pyometra (which was exactly what happened 3 years ago with my last attempt with a litter). Ahhhh.... I'll try to get them mated again on her next season ( I really like these 2 dogs, they really are a great pair, and I truly think the pups would be of really good quality!), so I'll concentrate on some tests to perform to make sure they are both fine. If not, then I'll have to choose a different stud.
Congratulatiosn to all of you who had litters recently....and the best of wishes to those waiting for pups to appear soon!
Thanks for all your help, and I'll be surely posting more questions on the coming months!

My dog can't even reach her vulva--so i don't know how she's supposed to do that LOL
She looks down there but not often--i dont think we are in hard labor yet as we aren't whining or pacing--we are doing lots of resting and mucus
If anyone thinks differently let me know
Kim

SOOOO the dog panted on and off for over a day--my dog just started the panting on and off at 1130 est on 5/27---about 1.5 hours ago--she's had the shivers twice but appears to go to sleep and snore between panting stages---If nothing my morning and hse's not looking distressed i will take her for a walk or something
hugs
Kim

Yes, my girls was shivering like hell, and panting on and off for a day and a half..a bit longer. But it was just a phantom :( (my heart is broken)....but I'm sure your girl will have very nice lovely healthy pups! :)

Hi,I am so sorry that the pregnancy was a phantom:( But I am glad your girl is okay.I need to ask you, because I am in a similar situation,My Lola is on day 59 and the vet says she is having a singleton.Did you have Giola scanned prior to the last appointment or did the vet just tell you that he thought she was expecting only one pup? And then it was not so when he did the scan?I am sorry for being so nosey but I am worried about Lola,I am new to all of this and although I think I am prepared,things still are scary.Did you feel what you thought was a puppy moving in Giola ever?Thank you and I hope Giola and the other dog are successful during their next mating. Melanie

Hi Melanie. Giola was having more pups before, she was palpated at 28 days. We didn't scan her before, so this is not for sure, really, but she was probably having a small litter. But then she had an accident and broke her left foreleg on day 30. We noticed no difference after that, she put on more weight and was looking pregnant and happy, so we thought she probably didn't reabsorb the pups. We didn't scan her again 'till yesterday, as she was on her 66-68 days and there weren't any pups. She had every sign of being pregnant. We saw a bit of movement in her belly, and even felt a bit of bubbling, but only after her 57 day or so, not before. It was just her intestine... :( You could have her scanned too, it can make a difference if you're really stressed. I haven't liked scans before, that's why I didn't scan Giola before, but with all the stress, and not knowing at all what was happening, if there were pups or not, if they were alive or not, I can tell you I felt a bit better after the scan, as at least I knew for sure that her uterus was fine and that she was not having an infection. I wish you the best of lucks with your girl. At this time the pups can usually be palpated too, but the vet needs to have experience palpating (mine are always wrong!!!! ).Give Lola a hug, and I hope you'll have at least one lovely pup. What breed is she?

Ah..it's a chihuahua, right? (Good bread! ..hehehe I'm from Mexico). They say it's usually easier to palpate a small girl. Good luck.