just got back from the vets, my staffie should be on day 30 after mating (mated once on day 13) but the vet has said he can't be sure if she is expecting. she didn't have a scan. is this common? he told me to go back in a couple of weeks but i'm tempted to get her scanned,
any advice would be great

to be honest i wouldnt have a clue ive never bred my dog,but if it was me ide just give it a couple of weeks and see wat the vet says.it must be so frustrating the not knowing but youle know for sure soon! :)

it's been bad enough wating this past 4 weeks, thought i would come out of the vets knowing either way, not sure if i can wait another 2 weeks (not a patient person)lol

I had my Bitch scanned at 28 days by a well known mobile scan man he confirmed pregnancy and number of expected puppies (8). The puppies were born yesterday 15.5.05 and as scan man said we've had 8...If you need any info reply to post.

I had my bitch scanned on day 31 and from her outward appearence you wouldn't be able to tell she was pregnant, the scanner picked up 2 but she is now day 47 and is huge!!!!

If she is having a small litter (maybe only a couple), then it might be a while before you can tell by looking at her sometimes not at all. If you really can't wait, then give the vet a call and see if he can fit her in for a scan as soon as possible to put your mind at ease.

I think thirteen days is abit early really you have to wait until the bones have started to classify, i think it's about week thirty eight, other wise you wont see much.  good luck with you dog.  warm regards susan.

I think the poster meant that her dog was mated on day 13 and is 30 days after mating !!!

I know after i had relpylied i went back up and reread it but i believe it is still abit early at 3o days, i'm sure the vet in these circumstances knows best.

Warm regards Susan

When i had my bitch scanned on day 31 it was very clear, the vet  even printed off the pictures and i was running around showing all my family and friends, anyone would have thought it was me who was pregnant!!!!

Hi jjr726 :)

Vets can (but not all like to) palpate the bitch to feel for signs of pregnancy at approx 24/28 days but after that the embryos * travel * (real tech term :P )   Anyway, at 30 days it is certainly possible to have your bitch scanned and have pregnancy confirmed but of course not all vets have scanners which was maybe the case with your own?  If you ask your own vet or even phone another one locally, they should be able to advise of the nearest facility to you for scanning or if there is a mobile scanner they can put you in touch with.

Scanning is rarely exact as some pups may be hidden high up in the body or behind one another but it does give a rough guide of how many (if any) pups to expect.  Pups can be reabsorbed too so although some have scans showing 4 pups and say go on to have 7+, equally some can be scanned as having 6 for eg. and only 3 or 4 actually are born.   Hope this is clear - I'm suffering from caffeine deprivation :rolleyes:

regards, Teri :)

hi everyone, thanks for your replys, just not sure what to do for the best, should i wait and see or go for a scan? she's showing some signs of being pregnant. i measured her belly the day after she was mated (50cm) and again today and she's grown 4 cm. i just want to get passed the 'is she, isn't she' stage. the breeder we went to for a stud dog said she may not show until week 6 because she is quite big for her breed.
any way, will sleep on it i think  thanks again
jjr

I'm an old fashioned girl and have never scanned my dogs.  We had a Pomeranian once which we took to the vets and was told that she definitely wasn't pregnant, the next day she had 3 pups which is a large litter for the breed.

i took my stafford bitch to the vets as she was on day 67, it was our first litter so was a little worried he was 100% sure that she was not in whelp at all.  24 hours later she had 4 pups a small litter in the breed but they where big pups. 

Hi again jjr,
It's a very personal choice - so only you can decide what to do.  I wanted to know one way or the other so I had my girl scanned and pregnancy confirmed and it was a relief because we were naturally excited about the prospect having planned and waited so long (our first litter ;) )   I'd have been devastated if we'd gone to *full term* only to find that it was a false alarm - but that's just me!   My bitch didn't start to look any heavier until around week six - by then, when viewed from above, she had a broader waistline but not noticeable side on and she was still very active.  Soon we could see the pups somersaulting all over the place when she was laid flat on her side.  It was only within about three days pre-whelping her underline suddenly seemed to drop and she appeared pregnant when viewed head on - but not very large.  Around this point she tired easily, became much more clingy and less keen to go on walks so was restricted to pottering (supervised) in our garden.  For all she didn't look particularly heavy, she produced 8 good sized puppies which she'd clearly hidden well high up inside her rib cage :P
Good luck with your girl, Teri :)  

hi,
well i couldn't resist and got her scanned this morning. vet said there's nothing there, she's having a phantom. what do i do now? can two vets both be wrong? hubby isn't convinced he still thinks there may be a chance of her being pregnant. as i said before she her belly has grown 4 cm in 4 weeks, does it still get bigger if she is having a phantom?  i feel really down in the dumps, i know there will be other times but i was so looking forward to these puppies.
thanks again jjr

Hya, pepsi had a phantom pregnancy last year and the one thing I really found different then compared to this time was she was hiding anything she could get her hands on, in her kennel.  She would go round looking for toys etc to nurse.  She did seem to put weight on and she produced milk, unlike her pregnancy this time.  She also seemed quite down as well.  This time we had her scanned and it showed 6 pups and we also where able to have photo but the vet did say that they are not all that acurate as they can't always get all the pups on one screen and so find it hard to be acurate with numbers. Has your staffie showed any other signs of pregnancy, ie. being sick, going off her food, not being quite as active as normal?

Elly had a phantom last year and it was heartbreaking- i keep reading through these forums hoping someone had similar and then had puppies- which a lot of people did. but Elly had a scan and xray and no pups even though she had all the signs- definately fatter- eating for 20- milk by the gallon. i was so upset that i cried after the xray- how pathetic and it cost£70! eventually i accepted she wasnt but the dissapoinment was terrible so i know what you are going through. once it came to delivery time she even sat in her nest panting and then collected toys- first one and eventually 10 and nursed them for 3 weeks!  eventually it all went back to normal but the stress nearly killed me! Anyway, she was mated yesterday and i have everything crossed but i am keeping an open mind this time. Try not to lose heart!
debbie

thanks for your replys, she has got some other signs, gaining 4cm round her belly, nipples getting larger, vulva not back to pre-season size,
she's not quitened down, she's always been very energetic. but she is sleeping a bit more, she's not gone off her food at all but she was sick this morning. i'm trying very hard not to get my hopes up but i've seen on here that a few people have been told no pups and have gone on to produce a litter.
just spoken to the stud owner and he said he would be very surprised if she isn't pregnant, but to wait a couple of weeks and i should be able to see myself.
thanks jjr

sorry forgot to say she is loosing a small amount of white/creamy discharge. the stud owner asked if she is loosing any foul smelling browny/red discharge, which she isn't.

I find that a an opaque non smelling discharge is a good sign, my bitches has always had this when they were in pup but not when having a phantom. My bitches are also sick at around the 4 week mark. I don't want to get your hopes up too much but if she is only having a small litter it could be that they are hiding up in the ribs, we had a scan on a bitch once and told no pups but she had 7, also my bitch i have in pup at the mo is huge so clearly having more than the 2 pups seen on the scan.

So afraid you will just have to wait a bit longer!!! I really hope this all works out for you.

Kerry

thanks for the words of encouragement. guess i will have to wait and see, will keep you posted
thanks again jjr