Yorkshire 60 days pregnant

Question
Hi, My cousins 6lb. yorkie is about 60 days pregnant.They locked up on Jan.1st.My question is, this is her first litter.Do they normally have their puppies early on their first litter? or do they go the full 63 days.My mini aussies always had their pups a week early on their first litter.Should we be concerned yet? Thanks,   Shelly

Answer
Hi Shelly

It's take 63 days for gestation, that's once the eggs are fertilized. It doesn't matter which day she was bred on, as long as her eggs are ready to go.   Because the sperm can live 48 hours and the egg takes a week to fertilize, there are a few days each way as leeway.

A female may have eggs that have hatched, so she's early.  Or haven't completely fertilized, so she's late. It may appear that the female is either "early" or "late" according to the calender BUT in fact she's right on schedule.

The only way to know for certain when counting, is to do progesterone tests.