Doggy Whelping Help

Question
My mother and I share a two story two bedroom and in January (the middle of the month) we noticed my dog kept following her four year old chihuahua and we thought she might be getting ready for her first heat in two years. I went baby gate crazy putting up two gates instead of one on the stairs and one at my mother's door to keep my two year old chimix out. I went to great obsessive lengths to keep him away and just one day before his neutering appointment my mother and I came back home from work to find them tied together. I believed he climbed the gates because there was no other way for him to get down. So I don't remember the actual day of them mating I do rember that it was some time after Valentine's but before the 21. I just started taking her temps the previous day. Her highest temp was 99.9 and today when I came home around 7:30pm it was 99.3 and just a few minutes after one in the morning it was 96.9. Could this be a sign of her labor? She's not showing a whole lot of signs now. She sleeping more and eating a little less and drinking more. Plus my dog keeps wanting to be around her more than after they mated. I will keep check of her temps.

Answer
Labor usually starts within 24 hours after that major temperature drop, so I would prepare for her to start labor shortly. Puppies need a warm environment, so keep the whelping box in a warm area and out of drafts.

Yes, about the only way to keep intact dogs from breeding is to have one (or preferably both) of them crated or behind closed doors (with maybe that door locked<G>)Dogs can be extremely clever when it comes to getting something that they want.