How soon do you recognize signs of pregnancy?

[eidna22]

How soon do you notice signs of pregnancy in your dogs and what are some early ones? Do you all do x-rays or anything else to determine number of puppies?

[dawnandjr]

around 30 days I get an ultrasound done to confirm pregnancy. That way you have plenty of time to prepare (or not). If she is pregnant, get an xray done about 7-5 days before expected whelp date.

[Tehillah]

There are some different signs you can look for. First, often in females that are pregnant the vulva area stays somewhat enlarged. You can also get a wee bit of discharge (often white). If you know your female well and what her body looks like then you can sometimes tell in the loin area. It will start to expand a wee bit. Many pregnant females also go off their food around day 25 for a couple of days. (this is not true for all females. I just had a litter and she didn't go off her food at all).

Other than those signs, then you can do the ultrasound and/or xray although this is done closer to the whelping date.

[eidna22]

She has actually gotten quite large and will be going for another checkup tomorrow. So far all seems well. She grunts a lot and is super affectionate. She does have some white/clear discharge but mostly is just acting like she is crazy full of hormones

[dawnandjr]

Any updates??

[jmopaso]

I do a blood test (Witness Relaxin). It can detect as early as day 21, but I've had false negatives so I wait till around day 30. Very reliable then. I XRay after day 56 just to see how many to expect. There is often a hidden surprise though.

[eidna22]

She ended up going through a false pregnancy. Her belly got huge. She had a totally personality change and so we took her in and nothing. But that is ok. I am hoping to finally (yes finally!) get our bh in December and we just got a new puppy as well to start working so plenty to do to keep busy!

[Emoore]

So when can I start bugging my breeder to find out if the breeding took? She said she'll X-ray after day 50, but surely she'll know if the bitch is pregnant before then??

[Chris Wild]

We always do an ultrasound around 25 days after the breeding. That way there is no question as to if she's pregnant or not as there is no chance of false positive or negative as with blood testing. We can also get a rough count of puppies, make sure they're of appropriate size, etc...

Without doing an ultrasound, it's more guess work. Though depending on the bitch, and how experienced the breeder is at telling subtle differences, you can start seeing outward signs of pregnancy including being a bit more full in the loin area, swelling of the nipples, losing the hair around the nipples about 3-4 weeks in. But it's not real obvious until 5-6 weeks in. And even then, there is always the possibility it is a false pregnancy, so another reason we like to do ultrasounds as it gives a definitive answer.

[Samba]

That is good information on the ultrasound. We are doing a blood test that has to be done during a certain window of days...like 21 to day 25 or the chance of false results goes way up.

Perhaps an ultrasound would be much more definitive and informative.