Temperature not dropping?

Question
Hi, my name is Sarah and our family owns a Border Collie and she is pregnant, and her due date is around January 2nd (2010). We have raised other litters with her, and so we know all about how the birthing process is and everything, and we are prepared whenever she decides to give birth. Checking the temperature (and looking for a fall in temperature--usually below 99 degrees) has been a sure sign for me in the other pregnancies of when she is going to give birth. However, and I have been checking, her temperature is still above 100 degrees, yet she seems like she might be going into labor. She keep whining while she lays in her whelping box and acting like she might be going into the beginnings of labor. I was just wondering if a dog can go into labor and have their puppies and NOT have their temperature drop??? Please help me out here!    ~Sarah

Answer
If your dog's earliest due date is on the 2nd and she is starting labor now, she is much too early and there could be a problem... but then it would depend how you are counting your days (and make sure you DID count correctly). I did have one bitch who routinely whelped on her 58th day and never had a problem with that, but that is too early for most puppies.

I had another bitch who was due, but her temperature did not drop. She was restless during the night and woke me up, so I took her temperature at 2 AM and it had dropped to the appropriate levels. When I took her temp at 7:30 the following morning, it was back up again. If I had not taken her temp during the night, I would have assumed that it had never dropped at all. She started whelping that morning. It may be that your bitch has done something similar.

And then there was the bitch whose temperature was down for TWO WEEKS before she whelped. Just before she whelped, her temp dropped to 96.9!

So I can say that I have never had a bitch whose temperature did not drop before initiating labor, but whether that happens with *all* bitches I cannot say.