Hi,

i wondered if any of you could offer your opinion, i mated my girl on the 1st and 3rd of january, the better mating was on the 3rd but it didn't happen till about 8.30pm. Today she had a scan by a very experianced sheep scanner the lady who did the scan couldn't see anything but wants to scan again next week as my girls teats are very big and red and she basically has the signs of being pregnant.
She did say it may be a phantom, but my real question is do you think she may still be pregnant as i know that the sperm can live for a few days so maybe she didn't concieve when we thought she did or am i just clutching at straws? has this ever happened to any of you? i just feel a bit depressed tonight.

I've only ever had one bitch scanned, and that was because she was very unwell at what I calculated was 5 weeks pregnant. In the event, the pups were found to be dead and mummified, but the vet said at her stage of pregnancy the whelps would be unmistakable. Well yours wouldn't be that far from 5 weeks, and a much bigger breed, mine being American Cocker.

So, I would be dubious of any pups being present under the circumstances, but you never really know. :)

Good Luck.

Dawn R.

thanks Dawn for your reply,

I think deep down i know she's not pregnant, although my OH is still in denial, at least she is healthy and happy things could be a lot worse as you know.
Anyway i will find out for sure next week.

My friend had her Rotties bitch scanned at 4 weeks and the vet said he couldn't see anything but a few other signs were present too; such as teats etc- she had her scanned again at 5 weeks and was told they could see 4 pups- she had 8 :-)

Stacey x

If it were me I would scan again on the date your sheep scanner advised.

I agree with echo , dont be to down hearted you never know.

Susan

I had a friend whose bitch was scanned negative and had 6 puppies - not the sheep scanner though I don't think, but someone who was usually pretty accurate. :-)

I know exactly how you feel.  My bitch was mated on 2nd, 3rd and 5th January and had her scanned at my vets last Monday.  He couldn't see any puppies but said to come back today (Friday).  Today still no puppies showing up, he has now said to come back on Monday just in case she caught late but I am fast resigning myself to her having missed.  She did seem to have all the signs but the vet said it could be a pseudo.  I normally go to a sheep scanner who I have every faith in but she is away for another week.

I did ask my vet if he couldn't see any because it was a small litter - he said it would be the other way round if there were say 12 pups and then they would still be very tiny. 

It's heartbreaking isn't it, we did everything right, vaginal swabs, premates, health tests etc and probably no joy and yet you get people who breed for the money etc and they have no problems
I also wondered about the small litter being an option.
Anyway good luck for monday i will be thinkg of you and your girl.

hi, just had my girl scanned (she's at day 29 from first mating) and was told she's not pregnant. this is the second time this has happened, although this time she was mated twice (on day 11 and day 13),
just wondering how people have got on after being told no puppies, have there dogs gone on to have pups and do they keep trying with there dogs season after season, (because i'm thinking of not trying again), what are peoples views on premate tests? i think if i do decide to have her mated again i'll get the premate tests done. and is there any thing to discover what her fertility is like.

any info would be great thanks

jjr

my girl missed the first time too, it was heartbreaking, she had one tie on day 9 and then a slip mating on day 11 but i was convinced she ovulates early (flags from day 9) so next time we went to a younger stud dog 3 times- day 11, 13 and day 15 and we had 8 pups born on day 59 so she must have taken on the first mating day 11. the stud owner told me my breed doesnt normally stand till about day 18 so i was glad i stuck to my guns. it could be that you mated too early a lot of people on here have had pups at day 18 or even day 21! what made you mate on day 11 and 13 did you have premate tests?

Bitches from all breeds ovulate on different days. Some bitches will and can stand for 7 days before ovulation.  One of my mine just recently was standing for 6-7 days before she was ready.  It is wifes tales that things are just so simple and cut and dry. Bitches can be extemely different from one to the other or even season to season, mother to daughter.

The premate was discussed just recently if you search on the site you will find some old posts, there is also plenty on the net if you putt premate in google. I personally think they are excellent and have had a 100% success. 

Has she had a vaginal swab to test for any infection etc as this is known to be a common reason also.

If she is dound not to be in whelp it is worth having a premate test doen now to determine if she ovulated this season (the test should indicate if she ahs ovualted in the last couple of months.

The most common reason for bitches to miss is incorrect timing, have you mated on the same days each time?

Have you used the smae male both times?  A freidn used a dog twice and the bitch missed, did premate next time and still tried same dog and ended up with a litter of 10.  She did only one premate the previous season and the bitch missed,.  it is important to get several tests done. 

Start before the bitch is likely to ovulate (around day 8 for many), so that you start with a negative reading and then test every other day until it shows levels rising, then test daily until it indicates ovulation.

Remenber that a bitch produces immature eggs at ovualtion and they won't be ready for fertilization for another two days,a dn then the eggs shoudl stay viable for another two days or so.

hi, she missed last time on day 13 of her season so we took her back this time on day 10 and she didn't want to know so we took her back the next day, which resulted in a mating and a tie, same happened on day 13. the stud we used is a good stud dog and has sired a few litters. we didn't have a premate test done this time but i'm seriously considering it next time.

thanks for all your help

jjr

My bitch missed last year after going to stud twice - so the time after to ensure I caught the right day I took her for the premate test.  I took her 3 times and on the 3rd time the vets called to say 'she's ready, take her today'.  We now have pups :-)

Stacey x

My bitch was pre-mated the first time and we had a litter. Second time round we took her on the same days and she missed. Third time we pre-mated and found she was ready on totally different days to first time, and bingo, puppies!

Well I had my bitch scanned for the third time today.  Although my head was saying no my heart wanted it to positive.  Sadly she isn't and I know she was ready on the days she was mated - she was certainly keen. I suppose you just have to put it down to experience - I've bred three litters with no problems and my dog is at stud and has not missed so far.  Perhaps I've just been lucky and I suppose the more you breed the more chances are that things wont always go as you hoped. I plan to have some fum with her now, get her back in the ring before she drops her coat and plan ahead.  I have been reading previous posts about having the ovaries scanned by the sheep scanner so next time I plan to try that.