Hi

When is the earliest time you can have a bitch scanned to see if she is pregnant? Someone on here a while back mentioned a lady in Ashford, who usually scanned sheep did it does anyone know her contact details?
Thanx :)

hi - I scan bitches regularly & I find best time to scan is 30 days after the first mating. :)

thanx:)

i get scanning done at four and a half weeks.

hi everyone, im just wondering about the merits of scanning? why do people scan other than for confirmation? also are there any health risks with scanning? my girl is on day 1 of her season :) :)

Hi The reason I am going to get my bitch scanned is because she absorbed her last litter,except for one which was born dead, so I want to monitor it all the way through so I can tell if it happens again. Nothing you can do about it though, just out of interest! I imagine scanning is safe because you scan babies at around 6 weeks and puppies are no different. :)

Ultrasound is used in pregnancy for lots of reasons. Mainly to diagnose a healthy pregnancy and pick up any resorbtion sites. Also it's good to have an idea of how many pups to expect. I scan guide dog breeding bitches as part of my job & we also like to be aware of a bitch who's expecting a single pup or a litter of 2 as this needs careful monitoring near the time of whelping. If we know a bitch is having a single pup, we will also be considering what other bitches will be due arund the same time as we would consider fostering so that the single pup had some other pups to interact with. If a bitch goes over her due date, scanning can be done to check all is well & pick up heart beats. When a bitch is whelping, it's handy to have so that you know when whelping is over & can check for any more pups. Ultrasound uses sound waves & is safe to use during pregnancy. Personally I wouldn't want to x-ray a pregnant bitch, unless absolutely neccessary.