Dog Pregnancy

The dams may actually become pregnant and then resorb her fetuses a not uncommon phenomenon. To be able to distinguish between acase of this sort and pseudo pregnancy, it is helpful to know how to tell at an early stage if the dam is actually pregnant.

Pregnancy in dogs can be discovered by palpation, or feeling. Note how the lumps in the uterus lie .Unless your bitch is overly fat, you can feel these solid lumps along her uterus. If you have a keen sense of feeling, you can tell almost to the day how old they are. These lumps grow rapidly. In a forty-pound dog they feel as large as a pea at twenty-two days, as large as an English walnut at twenty-eight days, and as large as a small hen's egg at thirty-three days. After that they become so soft that palpation is difficult.When you are sure you are not mistaking a lump which consists of fetus, fetal membranes, placenta, uterine walls, abdominal walls, and skin for a piece of feces, you can be certain that the hitch is pregnant.As you follow the development of the lumps by making these gentle and frequent examinations, you may one day note that they are smaller.If so, the dam is resorbing them; the uterus is virtually digesting them back into the circulation.

Unless the litter is small, after thirty-five days there will be sufficient distension of the abdomen so that palpation will not be necessary; the condition will be obvious.

The time from fertilization of the ova until birth is sixty-three days.The day before the dam whelps, her temperature usually drops one degree or thereabouts. Her actions, too, indicate that she is soon to whelp. She becomes restless, somewhat apprehensive, makes a nest or seems to be searching for a place to make one, often stops eating.

The pre labor period may present a confusing set of signs to the inexperienced owner. All too often, due to hormonal changes, the prospective mother becomes restless, refuses food, and scratches a rug or the cushions of an overstuffed piece of furniture. Anticipating an imminent delivery, the humans involved may spend three or four sleep-less days and nights during their vigil. Veterinarian should be contacted if a puppy has not been delivered in two hours from the onset of true labor, although some suggest three hours.