Hi, some of you may remember I mated my bitch a few weeks ago, she came in season alot earlier than planned so I had her mated before I went on holiday. She was mated last season after 5 premates and a mating on day 20 and missed. Her colour never tails off and she's not flirty so it was hard to tell when she was ready. She had the CHV on day 10 and I took her over to my breeder and the stud and she was mated, although not overly happy. Took her back again on day 12 and she was a wee bit happier to be mated. Over that weekend I thought that she was definitely flagging her tail like mad, even more than before so took her back again and had a mating on day 15, again day 17 seemed to be still flirty took her back and again another good mating. All matings resulted in ties ranging from 20-45 minutes. I had to go on holiday less than 48 hours after her last mating and she was left with a good friend of mine (she's been lot's of times before). Her previous seasons have all ended bang on day 21 but this one didn't end until day 24.

My friend said she ate very well whilst I was away but did seem extremely sleepy. I've been back a week now and knew at the time that it would be difficult to gauge how far along she would be due to the number of matings. If I take it from the 1st she would have been 4 weeks on Wednesday or from the last 3 weeks.
She's not been eating the last couple of days and I couldn't even tempt her with boiled egg this morning. Her nipples are raised and pink and her vulva is still fairly swollen. She has a watery not white nor clear discharge and has been very quiet and tired overall.
I know I'm being paranoid (my breeder friends think I am!and I know they are right :-)) but she isn't showing any other outward signs, ie no weight gain at all. She's quite a lean fit bitch for my breed (cocker spaniel)and this will be her 1st litter.

I have got her booked for a scan at the vets next Wednesday but feel very apprehensive after her miss last time, plus the usual scanner, a very accurate sheep scanner has gone to NZ for 2 months and I've never used my vets before so have no idea how good they are.

thanks in advance for any advice or just to calm me down!!!

A lot of the symptoms/signs look good.  My girl didn't show until she was nearly 5 weeks, I knew at 2 that she was pregnant but my mum who always knows didn't think she was :d  Now at almost 8 weeks she definitely is.

I'm extremely old fashioned and don't scan my dogs or do any tests beforehand especially as my breed can be a bit wary and I think that they've got enough to go through with a pregnancy if they are pregnant.  Yep I know I am extremely old fashioned but it's never failed me in over 20 years of having dogs.

Good luck with your girl and fingers crossed with the scan, I remember you posting previously :d

Thanks for your reply :-) In all honesty if I was convinced that she was I wouldn't really be bothered getting her scanned as from what I believe the vets don't always confirm numbers and it's really just confirming something you already know. I did think she was in whelp last time and she turned out not to be :-( the signs of a phantom and being in whelp are so similar I think thats why I'm a tad apprehensive. Even reading this forum (and I have read all 115 pages!!!) I see a difference in opinion as to wether a discharge is a sign of pregnancy or just a normal healthy bitch???
I have a feeling that if she is she has probably taken from the later matings as she was def more flirty than with the earlier ones. I suppose at the end of the day I'll know soon enough.
On another note: if it doesn't work this time someone is welcome to my Dophram V drops that I bought for last time as they expire end of Dec 2005!! LOL

This was the first time I had bred a bitch for 25 years so was not very knowledgeable about it but the breeder of the stud dog told me to expect her to go off her food at about 3 weeks also about the discharge at about that time, and that is what mine did, she produced 4 puppies, so I would think that she has taken, not as I know much, but might be some help to you.

Chocaholic.
I am interested in the fact that your bitch had CHV before mating when I understood it was given a week after mating and a week before whelping. I am not relating this to whether she is in whelp or not just interested in this timing.
Amos

Amos, the vaccine should be given within 5 hours of mating, or at least preferably within a 24 window, and at exactly 2 weeks before due whelp date.

I was told on the day of mating or within 7-10 days. So she had the vaccine on the day of the first mating. I can't find it now but I had a PDF document, a guide for administering it for vets and thats what it stated. Also this is the way my breeder does it and she's been doing it for a while. It was her vets I went to get it doen as bizarely enough none in my area had even heard of it!!

Very few vets have heard of it, which is why there is such a conflict over administering the vaccine. however, after extensive research I have finally finished and 78 page paper CHV. A very shortened version can be found in this link

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?pid=524500;hlm=and;hl=chv#524500

link not working, cut and paste,

hope this gives you a better understanding of it

I can't read the url your post seems to go off the page for some reason??? i'd be interested to read it.

chocaholic, please keep us informed when you find out if she is pregnant or not.

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?pid=524500;hlm=and;hl=chv#524500

try this,

I too use Archie and had to depend on vet for scan.Very frightening compared to Archie who slaps some gell on tells you how for on she really is and in the same sentance tells you how many pups.vet was more interested in showing off her scanner ,shaving my skye`s belly then said she wanted skye on table.She had already freaked skye out by trying to palptate her and I told her not to as they got it wrong last time ,trying to get skye to lie down another nightmare.End result Skye is pregnant if she has managed not to absorb any .Don`t know number of pups .I am intending to mate Skye`s daughter next year  if Archie is in NZ will not use vet .Skye has same signs as your dog so fingers crossed.

Hi trekkiemo, thanks for your reply. Yes Archie scanned my girl last time for none and he was right. After your vet scanning experience I will make sure that they are very gentle and there better not be any shaving going on!!! It's taken ages for her coat to grow back since the last season I'd like to hang on to it for a few more weeks if she's in whelp :-)
Good luck with Skye and I'll let you know how we get on. My bitches sister has just had a litter to the same dog and produced 9 in an array of colours and my bitch is one of 10. Not that I'm expecting that many it's alot for a first litter.

HI Chocoholic, one of my dogs is a blue roan cocker 9 years old.She has had health problems from day one. Never had a litter,her mother shouldn`t have either.She is now totally blind and still a happy bouncy cocker .When she had bladder op I asked vet to leave outer edge of skirt that way she looked like she still had full skirt. My Skye is a black working lab ,gundog. Good luck with scan you should be ok I really think vet was fairly new as I hadn`t seen her before and she just dived in instead of letting Skye feel comfortable with her.It is on Skyes records to let her settle first as she gets scared since first eye test.

Talking of eye tests I was mortified at SKC last year as my bitch screamed the place down, you'd have thought she was having hot needles poked in her eyes, luckily she was much better this year and didn't make a sound.
She doesn'ty seem to be to bothered by the vets so hopefully she'll be OK.
Sorry to hear about the troubles with your cocker.  I've got the ethnic minority of cockers a liver roan (LOL).

Skye had second eye test in april prof in vet school great with her she sat relaxed with him and even let some of the students have a look ,the key is letting her settle.
I love cockers the roans are really pretty.I had a male one too he died 4 years ago My Rory boy was a special dog .Half of his heart shut down when he was only 6 years old. My Kira greived for him as he was her mate .I decided not to get another even although I knew it was just bad luck with Rory.4 years later I dread the day I  won`t have a little bouncy cocker I also know I will get another in the future as they are great dogs.

Totally blind at only 9 years? :( That's terrible. Poor dog. :(

Result of very bad breeding . My son bought her for me as a mate for my dog Rory.I knew as soon as I saw her that she wasn`t right  I took her to the vet next day he confirmed my fears that she had all cocker problems .I couldn`t part with her as she was already pulling my heart strings I made breeder give my son (17 yrs old)his money back I also made them pay 2 years vet bills and I reported this to cocker club as that was where my son got breeders name from.Kira has been through a lot in her life and keeps bouncing back .She  is the boss over my 2 labs she was also the boss over my labs last pups .She is  happy and she is very important in my life.

Kayc, just wanted to say I got the URL working in the end and read your piece on CHV which I found very useful. I've bookmarked the page for future reference.
Thanks

like you i had problems mating my bitch before and like you i wanted to know if she was pregnant. so when the time was right i got her scanned and she is pregnant so i was very happy. if i had waited a week longer i would have noticed that she had got bigger but i couldnt stand not knowing.as for her getting shaved if she has a long skirt( i am hoping i have read right and you have a cocker) then you shouldnt really notice the bald bit.and if she is pregnant alot of hair is likely to fall out anyway. my  bitch is a lab and has 2 weeks to go, but her hair has grown back to just about its usual amount. i would recommend a scan. cause then at least you'll know either way.

did someone say the vet made there dog lie down for the scan???
my vet just popped her on the table let her stand shaved her and scanned her while she was still standing i got and instant yes as soon as the scanner touched her and was shown the screen so i could see for myself. unfortunatly my vet has a slightly older machine and i was able to get a photo of the little one, maybe next time though.

Hi all, back from the scan at the vets today with good news!! my bitch is in whelp :-) Saw at least 3 or 4 but she said there are probably more as she didn't even scan up in her ribcage. She was scanned standing up, very stress free and only a little bit of shaving. They said she was closer to the 4 week mark than 5 weeks so she must have taken from the day 15 or 17 matings. All appears well at the moment though i know I'll have an anxious few months ahead of me.
We could have got a couple if pictures of the scan but the damn printer wasn't working, how annoying!! would have been nice as its my first litter.
Thanks to everyone for your words of advice and support, I'm sure I'll be needing more :-)

Hi Chocaholic, great news first hurdle over . Have you managed to get her to eat yet? My bitch is now eating everything and crying for more.

Hi trekkimo, first hurdle your right!!! She's been eating OK the last couple of days though she did refuse gravy bones...unheard of in this house!!!! It's nice to be able to share stories with other people in the same situation so I'll look forward to hearing how you get on :-)
The only thing I have noticed is she has been frantically licking the small area they shaved as must be itchy??? any ideas as to how to ease the discomfort??

Ickledevil, good luck with your bitch :-)

Hi Chocaholic,the shaved area will calm down in a day or two .She will keep cleaning down below also milky bar  will be preparing for first time.You will worry at the least little thing just like we all did first time and continue to do.First time I phoned my vet practically  every hour when she went into first stage ,I was frightened for my bitch.After first pup was born I relaxed as my bitch ran away from first but came back to me when I called her she was like a pro from there on.I only had to help with last one as she had eight pups already at milky bar(got upset if I tried to take some away) she was tired and that one was breech. Called Vet after we all got a sleep.
So don`t think you are alone in what you will feel over next few months.