Hi all

I have a bitch that is due imminently and have been religiously taking her temp twice a day for the last week. Well her temp goes up a little, and then down a little (we get all excited, while she sits there looking smug), then her temp goes back up and we feel deflated. Her temp has dropped to the 'magic mark' twice, and then returned to normal, we've waited the 24 hrs and received nothing as a reward for our heightened state of anitcipation.

I swear she's playing a game with me. It's the first time i've tried to use rectal temperature as an indicator and wondered how accurate you guys think it is...

Caroline

I use it solely to find out if a dog's temp is raised. Have found it useless when anticipating when labour will start and now prefer to keep a close eye on the bitch and what she is doing instead.

Christine

You will get an accurate reading if it is done properly, but not all bitches temps go down when they are ready, or it could go down for just a few hours and be back up when you next take it. In other words, dont just rely on her temp for the start of labour :D :D :D

My friends GSD did the same thing to her for a week. I'm glad she warned me because I know I would have fits everytime my dogs temp dropped otherwise, lol!

I found it completely useless - & the bitch didn't appreciate it much either!

I kept showing my girl The Book Of The Bitch, but she wouldn't read it :D Result? She did everything opposite to what I was expecting Everything turned okay, though :D :D

Can you explain what you mean by 'done properly'? I am taking it twice a day, at the same times each day. 7.30am and 7.30pm. It is being taken with a digital thermometer. i am more than experienced in taking temperatures from a large number of different animals, large and small. What is it i'm doing wrong? How often should I be taking it? I do understand that it could dip between times, but my bitch thinks i'm violating her bits enough if you know what i mean ;o)
Last night it was down to 36.8, this morning it was 37.5. We will sleep lightly tonight again, but its probably just another false alarm.

I'm just curious, as i've never used this method before, and all the books mention it, so i figured i'd give it a try with this litter.

My girl had a temperature of 36.6°C four times before her labour started!.. :) With other females it's pretty accurate, but not all are the same! :) Good luck! :D

LOL Your bitch sounds like mine. She keeps tempting us with a temp drop, but then proceeds with her life as normal, eating, sleeping, expanding and sleeping some more. ;o)

Caroline xxx

I had my first litter at the beginning of the year and used a digital one. I noted all the readings.

I checked 3 times a day and found it excellent,.

My bitch showed no signs at all of labour the only indicator to me was the temp change it was exactly by the book. I rememeber taking the reading and saying under my breath,
"stupid thing and stupid book".. as by the book and readings she should have her puppies shortly and as she was showing no other signs I thought I was wrong.

Well out pop the first pup 3-4 hours later. I ate my words.

Good luck.

Okay Blue, own up - how did you teach her to read :D

Christine

LOL christine, :-);-)

Read LOL everytime I popped it up her bot I could read her mind :-0 LOL

I am a super novice so could only share my one and only experience but I would have been up the creek if I hadn't. It was 7 days before her due date and I had not planned to leave her from then but was going to nip up to Argos for just 10 mins and get scales for the puppies weight . I had already checked her temp in the morning and was a bit concerned but decided to check her temp again before jumping in the shower and then I got more concerned, In fact I called my girls breeder about 1 hour before it and she said " stop worrying she has a few days yet" she was on day 56 LOL. There were no visual signs at all. I came out the shower and was greeted with a puppy. I laughed so much 10 hours later when I called my bitches breeder to tell her she was a granny :-) I could hear her gulp at the other end.

I remember saying to a few people her temp has been blah blah and they kept telling me to put it away. ( of course I never as I was terrified LOL) I was glad I hadn't.

I think if I remember rightly it was about 4 hours from the sudden change in temp.

Sorry to repeat things a bit but thought I would give a bit more detail for the original poster to see another experience.

BFN Pam

Hi

How often were you taking her temp? Perhaps I'm not taking it often enough. However, she's certainly not read the book, despite me leaving it open on the recipe book stand near her bed ;o) Her temp keeps dropping, then going back up....and producing nothing.... Perhaps it's just me, i'm fed up with waiting now...and just want my pups! ;o))

Caroline

LOL Caroline,

As you have seen with others they are all so different in what they do, just like us I guess :-))

They pups will be here soon enough and you will know all about it LOL

I took her temp 3 times a day for the last few days morning , dinner time ( 6ish) bedtime.

My girl didn't mind I cuddled her in and she quite happily let me. I wouldn't have if she was not happy with it though.

They are so unpridictable..

Good luck keep us posted.

Pam

Well!

Not more than 2 hours after posting that message, she promptly delivered two bitches, followed shortly by a male! She obviously HAD read the books, and did the job very easily! ;o)

It's been ages since I had a litter (a couple of years) and I had forgotten how cute they are when they're so small! Ahhh. I am in puppy heaven!

Caroline xxx