How long is pregnacy last

Question
I have a five year old Minture Poodle who we think is pregnant, we are not sure. She went into heat and we paired her with another Mini and then her heat cycle seemed to stop. Swelling went down and my male dogs stopped going crazy. Do you think she is, and how long till she whelps? It's been three years since I last bred so I don't remember.
Thank You
Michelle

Answer
Hello Michelle,
Female dogs have regular heat cycles about every 6 months, or twice a year.  
Females will stay in heat for about 3 weeks.  When the female comes into heat, you will see blood around her vulva.  She will continue to bleed for about 9 days.  On or around the 9th day, she will be ready to breed and will start to accept a male.  You should breed her about 3 times, skipping a day in between to give the male time to repopulate his sperm (so over a period of about a week).  A couple of days later, the female will start to refuse the male and that will tell you that she is no longer in heat.  
Just because your male isn't interested in your female any longer, that doesn't mean that she got pregnant.  The chances that she is pregnant are pretty good though.
Females are pregnant for 63 days from the first mating.  Mark on your calendar the first breeding then count 63 days and you will have your due date.  Some females will go early, some later though.  
You should get some things on hand to have when your female starts to whelp.
Whelping Kit:
Dental Floss (to tie off the umbilical cord)
Navel Iodine (to dip the stump of the umbilical cord in)
Infant Nasal Suction Bulb (to suction out the mouth and nose)
Pair of Sharp Scissors (to trim the umbilical cord and Floss)
Newspapers (to lay down under the female)
Blanket (lay under the female, then top with a heavy layer of papers)
Towels and Paper Towels (to wipe the mucus off each puppy)
Optional:
Scales (to get a weight on each puppy)
Pen and Paper (to write down puppies time of birth, weight, sex etc)Colored Yarn or Ric-Rack to identify each puppy.  Just make sure you leave it fairly loose and check it often.

You will have some signs that the female is getting ready to whelp.  She may start nesting by gathering toys around her and pretending to nurse.  She will have a waxy substance form around her nipples, and if you start taking her temp. around day 60, (dogs normal temp runs around 101.5) her temp will drop to around 98.0 when she is within 24 hours of delivery.  Take her temp every morning and evening to get a base temp.  I would start checking at her 60th day and then continue until it drops to around 98.0-98.5

I hope this answers your question pretty thoroughly, if not, ask me for more information.  I have been through this a time or two or ten and I have had plenty of practice.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim