Early Labor signs for dog

Question
I have a 2 year old mini doxi. She is 53 days along in her first pregnancy. I take her to the vet for normal check ups.
I have been doing days and days of research with her pregnancy. I read so many different things and some things say different than others. I am a little confused.
I have been taking her temperature twice a day for the last 2 days now.
At first it was 100.0... yesterday it was 98.2, and now it is 100.2. It dropped, then went back up.
She is sleeping right now, but is breathing heavy, not panting. She nested her bed a few times, and just 2 hours ago, she only took two bites of her food (usually she scarfs it down.)
There is no swelling of the vulva, or mucus. However, two days ago she had a ton of clear stuff coming out.
I beleive these are early signs of labor... but I am concerned because she is only in her 7th week.
Her belly feels like a bag of rocks... hard lumps all over.
Here is a breakdown:
*Temp drop then back up
*No appetite
*Nesting
*No mucus
*sleeping... but breathing heave.
Help?

Answer

Hi Becca,

At 53 days into her pregnancy, your dog is 10 days off from the average gestation period. Dogs usually won't signs of an impending delivery until 24-48 hours before they give birth.

Once you see your dog's temperature drop into the 97-99 degrees range, and notice it has been the same consistently for 2 readings taken 12 hours apart, this is when you can be sure the delivery will happen within the next 24 hours. Clear discharge isn't a sign of a problem, smelly dark discharge is. Her belly feels like a bag or rocks, (those are the puppies!) and they're almost ready to be born!

If you think your dog is having a problem, you need to contact a veterinarian, not an Internet help line.

Best of luck,

Patti