How do you stop yourself from analysing every single twitch? I have got her booked for a scan next friday when she will be 28 days and I know that there is nothing I can do but wait and see, but it is driving me bonkers!

She is a fully tested giant breed, the stud is a proven health tested handsome chappie and she stood for him on day 9 and day 11 achieving a tie on day 9 and 2 slips on day 11.

She is different in her temperament, we had a week of her refusing food when she first got back, which was strange because I know that even if she was pregnant they wouldn't have even implanted by then, and she is much more lazy than she has ever been, she isnt running like a loon when we take her for a walk with the others, now she just strolls by my side and she was always one of my most active dogs. She is really clingy, has thrown up, is starting to look a bit podgy and her nipples are slightly raised, but again that could be phantom...

Also she has got quite strange with my neutered female, she is grooming her constantly and then keeps trying to hump her, needless to say my neutered girl is none too impressed. She is the dominant dog out of the four but I would have thought that any hormone from her season would be gone by now? My neutered boy keeps sniffing her and trying to mount her as well (which she is none to impressed with lol) which again is odd as she is well out of season now.

I guess the reason that I am so on pins is that this is the only chance we have, work commitments have meant that I couldnt breed her before now and as she was 5 in May - which I know is pushing it a little, but I talked to my vet and got her fully health checked first - I wont be trying again. She is actually the one I kept from the litter that I had from her mum and I felt that we bred her too young in hindsight, although she was 2 and a half my breed are slow to mature and by the time my girl was 3 and a half my business needed my full attention, so it all rests on this mating - no pressure there then!

Anyway thanks for reading, and if anyone can shed any light on her strange behaviour with my other girl, and why my neutered boy keeps trying to mount her I would be very grateful.

Exciting! Well......... no-one can say for sure, you know that...... ;-)

Seasons alone can cause our girls to act completely different, along with a visit to a stud dog and doing the deed which may cause her to act differently too, but..........if she were my girl I'd be thinking she is in whelp, don't want to build your hopes up, but I would be pretty sure she is, my girl in particular always threw up at least once the first week in whelp, along with the other signs, my fingers are crossed for good news, looks very likely.......

but, certainly cannot be definite, so don't hold me to that. :-)

For me, the behaviour changes is always the first sign, and I sometimes feel certain a bitch is pregnant after just one week. You know your bitch so you will notice small changes other people wouldn't. :) Fingers crossed!

Once again (risking cries saying I'm wrong) why bother!!!    If you had a couple of really good matings, plan on a litter and wait.  Yes, it's frustrating, but in any case, by about week 7, you'll see puppies moving around.  A scan at this point will only confirm a pregnancy, or not.   Not that she'll carry to term and as they are not accurate, not how many either.    If she goes over by more than a couple of days, then it's time for a vet trip to examine her, and probably x-ray which is far more relevant, and accurate.    If you want to do this, that's your decision, but just know we have never bothered.

If you know your bitch well, you may find she's a little more 'careful' of herself from the beginning, and a thickening of the flanks by around the 4th-5th week.   And with mine, the vulva rarely went back to 'normal'.    But again that doesn't mean she'll carry to term.   I had one showing all the signs at 5 - 6 weeks, and then she didn't get bigger.   She had one singleton puppy - and probably reabsorbed which is very sad.

Good luck - scanning is your decision.

If she's attracting your male/other bitch, check her anal glands.   And do keep an eye on her for any discharge - unfortunately occasionally a bitch can pick up an infection during a mating.   Hopefully not.   And in this case, maybe a scan might be a good idea, to rule out a pyometra.

Thank you all of you for your replies :)

MamaBas, the reason I want to get her scanned is that I will probably be certifiable by the 7th week if I dont lol. Also to be fair my DH made the whelping pen for her mum and it took him a bit of time and a lot of money so I would want to have time to sort it - ok I know that I could  get it sorted after the 7th week and I know that they can reabsorb but it seriously is killing me.

I have upped her food intake at the moment, as her mum was a nightmare after 3/4 weeks and wouldnt eat anything which resulted in her being in a far less than ideal condition when she whelped and subsequently having difficulties. I figured that if Layla is pregnant I would rather get a bit of chunk on her now as I keep her quite lean normally just in case she goes right off her food like her mum did. If she isn't I will cut it back and if her appetite remains as good as it is at the moment I will keep an eye on her weight.

She was checked for infection when she went for her CHV jab and the vet said that she looked fine and she has not got any discharge at the moment. Her vulva is still a bit swollen but certainly not as massive as it was at the start of her season, but I think that her mum only stayed a little bit swollen until the end of her pregnancy. The male is definitely interested in her when he sniffs her vulva, which is odd because he only ever has done it when she is in heat and peak fertility before, and he has only started showing an interest again in the last few days.

Any ideas on why she keeps grooming my other bitch? She isnt doing it with the boys, and aside from it causing Pops to look like she has used strange gel ( serious amounts of slobber) it is usually followed by her getting frisky with her. Pops is getting well hacked off with it, well the humping bit for sure, she doesnt mind the grooming :)

There was no mistaking with Daisy by week 7 she was the size of a small car and you could see them moving constantly, she ended up having 11 that weighed between 20 and 24 oz so that was an awful lot of puppy even for a giant breed :)

Carrington and Goldmali thank you for you good luck messages, I do hope that all of the signs are right, at the moment I have got everything crossed!