I am sorry to sound so ignorant, but i keep reading about dogs reabsorbing their puppies, as my bitch is accidently pregnant, i am trying to learn as much as possible, What does this mean and can it happen at any time, what are the signs??

hi brinny! like you i was worried about reabsorbtion- i think its most common around the three/four week peroid and then after the fifth week the chances of it happening decreases (i think thats right but if im wrong someone will be along to correct me soon :p) it is unlikely to occur after the seventh week though it has been known. reabsorbtion happens for a number of reasons one of the main being stress so try and keep your bitch as calm as possible. i have also heard that scans and xrays can cause reabsorbtion but i had my girl scanned at four weeks and now we have five very healthy pups. i don't think there are any really obvious signs- you should be able to feel the puppies moving around inside her at eight weeks. have you had her scanned? i wouldn't worry to much, just feed her a good quality puppy food from around the fifth week as she will have less and less room in her stomach for her food as the pups grow. if you have any more questions feel free to email me! i havn't bred springers myself (i think thats what breed you said your dog is in another post) but my uncle's springer is around about the same day as yours so i should be able to pass any questions you have to him (to clarify: this is not an advert for springer puppies) sorry to have rambled on!

Liz

Re absorbtion can happen up to 42 days after conception. The most common causes are infection or stress. I always have bitches tested at the beginning of a season ( I use other people's stud dogs ) to make sure they are infection free. Then once mated they are not shown/taken out of the garden or anywhere at all. I am careful to kennel them with a good friend or alone. If they live with a bitch that is dominant over them-just that can cause re absorbtion even if they dont have any sort of a scuffle. I dont allow meetings with other friends dogs/bitches , even if they know each other and play together at other times. I never take mine to the vet routinely, and if I want a scan then I wait til 44 days after the first mating. I believe that even the owner going away for a few days can be enough to re absorb. I had a bitch mated recently and then went into hospital for 2 weeks. She had two good tied matings with a known fertile dog but there were no puppies. I dont know if she missed ( though she hadn't ever before) or re absorbed - but her routine was changed and there were no puppies.

Thanks for the info both of you that has cleared things a little