my bitchs first breed

Question
I have a female rat terrier and she is very close to me...she's my baby.well she is going to be 3 in February and she has never had puppies till now, we decided to breed and she has been connected 3 times with our male so we are in high hopes that she is pregnant..how if anyway can we tell if she is pregnant and what should I do for her since this is her first litter (if it took)????Is there anything I should do or read before she has them??I know that they are pregnant for 62days give or take and I keep a diary of when and how many times shes been bred so is there anything else that I should do? I want her to be as comfortable and health as possible....Thank you so much Jessica

Answer
Some people have ultrasounds done on their bitches around 28 days to determine if they are pregnant, but personally, I don't like to mess around with my bred bitches by stressing them out or exposing them to potential health issues at the vet's. If a bitch is pregnant, one will know it soon enough. False pregnancies can have all the same symptoms of an actual pregnancy, so I don't trust any of the signs until I see the belly start to swell.

Put your dogs on a good quality food if they aren't already (Eagle Pet Products here), and some other good ones are Solid Gold, Wellness, Canidae, Flint River Ranch. When the bitch starts filling out enough to know she is pregnant (around six weeks in most), then gradually start increasing her food each week.

Exercise is important; walk her a couple miles each day.

Think about where you are going to keep her and the puppies. Many of mine are in a covered crate the first week or two, and I keep puppies in the kitchen so that they are exposed to noises and activities. Puppies must be kept at 90 degrees the first two weeks.

Get yourself a good book on whelping puppies; there are several out there. One I highly recommend is Muriel Lee's "The Whelping and Rearing of Puppies: A Complete and Practical Guide". I think it may be out-of-print now, but there are copies available through the internet. And while you are book shopping, get yourself the book "How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With" by Rutherford and Neil.

Karen