Hi, I've been searching for answers in the internet when I came thru this forum. I am confused, stressed, and not sleeping because my dog is now on her 60th day of pregnancy. But the problem is, we've been to the vet twice. N those two times, the vet has convinced me that there are no puppies. However, on day 56, she suddenly had contractions and was 'crying'. The part that freaks me out was that there was a vaginal discharge but brown in colour and it smelled like a discharge when a bitch is giving birth. Because I've smelt it before when my friends bitch was giving birth. So we went to the doctor again, and still the vet said that there is no pups. She said maybe my dog has a infection. So she treated her with antibiotics.
Now is her 60th day, this morning she suddenly started contracting again and the discharge continues to show though not as much. She also showed signs of pregnancy like digging, licking her whole body, swollen teats (saggy), but her tummy is not big. I am totally in a lost as this is my first experience and also my dog's first. I've consulted with friends too, but they seem to be as confused as I am.
At one point during her pregnancy, I was sure she is pregnant, coz I felt a few lumps that seemed to be puppies. During her contractions, I could also feel the puppies. But at times, it would seem like her tummy is empty. Btw, she is a gundog breed and is 4 years old.
Please please advice me on this. I am worried sick that she needs medication. But what if she is pregnant? Than mediciation will harm the pups. I'm not truly convinced of the scanning results because the accurate rates here are very low due to poor technology.
Thank you for taking the time to read and reply. 

I think you can have an x ray safely at this late stage of pregnancy and if the vet you have seen has no more ideas then i would get her to another asap.

Whichever way i have not in six litters had a brown discharge from bitch before puppies so something doesn't sound right.

Hope everything turns out ok.

Hi Bucksmum, l once had a bitch who at 5 weeks was enormous, unfortunately after this, day by day, she gradually got smaller and smaller, so that by 7 weeks she did not look pregnant at all. At this stage l took her to my vet, who pronounced that there were no puppies there. 2 days later you could actually see  movement in her flank area. Anyway, come the 9 weeks, she went into labour and every time she had a contraction, a brown thickish liquid came out - it looked a bit like runny poo, but she gave birth to 2 live pups. I always thought that the gunge which she lost was the result of reabsorbed puppies.

That's interesting Jaycee,sorry about your reabsorbed puppies though.

The only colour discharge i have had is the usual greeny black between pups.

You live and learn eh? Thanks for sharing info.

I'm fairly new to breeding myself, but if she were mine, I'd be insisting on an x-ray and/or taking her to see a different vet. If there are no puppies, she may need urgent treatment.

Good luck, I hope everything will turn out ok.

I agree that greeny black is what you see as the placenta detaches from the wall of the uterus.

I would be finding a vet that was willing to x-ray and take me seriously.  I've had bitches x-rayed close to whelping and can assure you that it causes no harm to them, or the whelps.

At least an x-ray would tell you if there are definitely no pups, and you would probably be looking at infection/pyo.

I had my bitch x-rayed in her last fortnight of pregnancy recently, with no probs, and 8 pups. There shouldn't be a problem having one as it's quite routine. Re; infection, I was worried about my girl's discharge post pups and had it swabbed and examined under a microscope for white blood cells (a sign she's fighting an infection). She had virtually none, so was pronounced clear. Unnecessary antibiotics can mess with the pups' digestion.

Hi all..

Thank you for the replies. And I'm sorry for not updating soon enough. As I have been terribly busy caring for my bitch.
Well, she was diagnosed with Pyometra, and although it was heartbreaking for me to decide to spay her (as I had really wanted to have at least 1 of her pups), I had to make that decision in order to save her.

She went into surgery for almost an hour, and came around soon after. Now she is doing well and eats with such an appetite. I'm actually amazed. Maybe she "feels" that her tummy is emptier than usual. Anyway, just giving an update.

Thank you so very much for your replies!

So sorry things didn't turn out better for you and your girl. xx

So very, very sorry that things turned out like this.  But I am glad that your girl has done so well.

Chin up!  At least you still have her to cuddle.  :-)

Hi, my dog is the stud, but the bitches family want to try again.  she has had two phantom pregnancies! I do not think this is a good idea? can she get pregnant?

Most probably yes.

The most common reason for bitches to miss is timing, then occasionally hormone levels are insufficient to start/keep a pregnancy going, or for some reason a pregnant bitch will absorb.

To know what is happening next time really they should have a series of Progesterone Assay tests which will pin point when she ovulates, as her behaviour may not be coinciding.

Once mated at the optimum time they should have the bitch checked for pregnancy at about 28 days by ultrasound to establish if she is getting pregnant.

As she has missed twice it wouldn't be a bad idea for her to have the Canine herpes vaccination.

Opinions vary but the vet may like to put the bitch on antibiotics when she comes in season next in case a low grade infection is causing the failure to conceive.

This of course is assuming your own dogs fertility is OK (has sired recently or since mating this bitch).