If my Labrador mated properly, she would be due to have her pups this Saturday! She is showing no signs today (Thursday) of being pregnant, apart from getting a bit fatter (could be due to lack of excercise at the moment.) Her teats do have liquid, when squeezed. If there was only one pup, would all her teats hang low, or could they still look normal? She was a virgin and so was the dog so there was no proper penetration, but he got near the mark a few times!

Get your vet to check her out, I assume, hips were scored, eyes were tested etc... before cosidering such a big commitment?
Dawn.

I should get her down to the vets straight away. I am surprised you haven't been before.

Lucy

I think you should take her to the vets, asap. If she has only one or two puppies inside, you will need to know. She may have difficulty whelping only one or two puppies. I had this with a bitch of mine, her first litter she only produced one dead pup, then the next mating, again, she had one puppy, but as she had not got much bigger, I had her scanned. It clearly showed one puppy, so I had to have her in the vets for a caesarian, it was the only way to get my bitch and puppy through this alive and thriving.

Hi there dont panic to start with wot day are you counting from?how many matings did you do?^63 days is the norm but dont let them go over.Is this your first litter?
we all have to start somewhere so good luck if you need to talk call me 07773 787321 andy have had a few litters and whelp other peoples. The last week is the worst but when they come you do need to have a whelping box and a few things eg news papers kitchin roll towels box vet bed hot water bottle to keep the pups warm when she is whelping a large litter you need to keep them warm.Detol to clean up black bag.Good luck.

My lab didn't really look pregnant until about 8-10 days before she whelped, but then her shape changed quite dramatically, almost overnight. she had nine puppies, all weighing about 1 lb. I never had her scanned as I personally don't like scanning unless medically indicated. I'd get her checked out by your vet though. Hasn't she been eating a lot more, or seemed hungrier. Good luck with the puppies.

How did you get on? Has she had the puppies yet?
If you decided to try this again, go to someone that
really knows what they are doing with a proven sire.
Also an experienced handler is worth their weight in
gold, as the not knowing because they did not tie, is
horrid. I am told that a slip tie can produce pups.
I am not a Lab, breeder. Find someone to chat to,
and make sure you really know what you should do
before you start. eg. Hip scores, eye tested, and
any other health probs, that could be in the breed.
Also someone that knows the pedigrees inside out
would be an advantage. In our area, their are tons
of labs pups for sale the whole time. So getting it
right is important, as you may have trouble finding
homes for them.
Nutkin

hi all, my bitch is about to whelp this week.I had several slip matings with her, and managed one tie after a week!. When i had her scanned it confirmed that she must have got preg on the first slip mate, which i thought was no good. Both my bitch and the sire were maidens as such.She should be having at least 6 pups.So fingers crossed for you and yours!

Hi

I have bred Labradors before (now I breed Retrievers). I could tell within 2 weeks from mating that Freya was pregnant. Her sire was from a kennels, which I would not do again, it was more of a business mating than a hobby, she had 2 matings within 3 days.

The second mating did not go well, she had 2 pups that both had cleft pallets of which she was on calcium tablets throughout per pregnancy, so al together she lost 3 (one was the rit).

With the Retriever she had 10 pups last year all of them healthy, apart from a blockage of the first pup, this came out bottom first, and got his leg stuck which blocked the other pups from coming out. I had to insert my fingers inside to ease the leg out (I could feel that the pup was getting very cold, when the leg was out 1,2, and 3 pups came out one after the other. The first pup had to be resusitated and within 5 minutes it was breathing. The rest went like a dream.

Angie