Pregnancy?

Question
Hi,
I have a Chihuahua bitch who I took to get mated on day  12 of her heat cycle, the breeder thought she may not be ready as she did not like the male mating her at all although he did manage with are help, I left her with the breeder for the week and she was mated twice more. She is now coming up to six weeks from the first mating and although she is behaving more clingy and sleeping rather alot there are no obvious signs of her tummy enlarging at all, Do you think she should be enlarging by now or do you think its likely that she is not pregnant? She is quite a large bitch and very solid not a tiny Chihuahua!
Thank you for you help
LJ


Answer
Hi Lesley.  Being clingy and sleeping a lot are both signs that she could be expecting a litter, but no guarantees.

The normal gestation for dogs is between 58 - 63 days.   Here ( below) is a link to a Dog Pregnancy Calendar that I use and love.

http://www.debbiejensen.com/date.html

Just type in the date you mated your female, at the top, and the calendar will print out a complete - week by week- listing of what you should expect, if your dog is expecting a litter.

On the Whelping Calendar, it does mention feeling for the puppies at the 4 week stage, but it also points out that this should only be done by an experienced breeder or a veterinarian.

You can check with your veterinarian concerning X-Rays.  The actual puppies themselves do not show up on the X-Rays, but the skulls and spinal cords do. However; I'm not a big believer in taking X-Rays on a possibly pregnant dog, for the same reason that they will not X-Ray a pregnant human.  

As an alternative to X-Rays, Your veterinarian can perform a physical exam, During the exam, you can request that a simple blood sample be taken. A blood test will provide your Veterinarian with the hormone called "Relaxin" levels, which is a  reliable indicator of pregnancy. Relaxin can be detected in blood samples soon after the eggs are fertilized and implanted in the uterine horns -  which occurs in most dogs 22-27 days after mating.

Good luck, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,
Penny DiLoreto
www.puppies-dot-com.com