Hi All.

My mum has a sister to my large breed and decided to breed her on her last season. Some of you may remember I was going to breed with my girl but a mix up with stud dogs put me off the idea at this time. She has taken her to the vets who has taken a blood test to determin if she is in pup or not. The result came back as a very good positive, she is in pup. My question is, how accurate is this blood test, I have always scanned or let nature take its course so have no experience of this method.

Thanks in advance

From what I have read and what the Vet told me there are lots of things that can cause false results, so not a method that is that popular.  Palpation or scanning appears to be more reliable.

My previous vet told me that they won't do blood tests for pregnancy as the hormones are the same whether the bitch is in a phantom or a true pregnancy :( Mind you, this was a few years ago, and things might have changed :)

Relaxin is only present in a pregnant dog, There is not sign of it during a phantom/false pregnancy, Well this is what my vet told me.

Infections can give a false positive, So i only ever used scanning or palpatation.
Just my opinion

You learn something new every day :)

Yes it is the relaxin test that was developed for dogs, as the other hormones arte present regardless fo pregnancy unlike in humans.

Thank you for the responses, does anyone know if the relaxin test is a good indicator of pregnancy, mums vet told her that they have never been wrong with all the tests they have performed. You get so many mixed responses I sometimes wonder if it is just best to let nature take its course Has anybody ever had the blood test and its been wrong? Thanks again for all your support

Hi Again

Things are progressing, Steady body weight increase, good appetite and clinging to mum like mad! Just wondered if anyone has any pictures of or knows any websites where they show pictures of pregnant dogs that I can compare to mums girl. She is now 42 days gone. Thanks!