dogs and pregnancy

Question
QUESTION: Hi i have a 15month old pure breed Chihuahua that was mated on the 24 of september with my male pure breed Chihuahua. she has gained waight she went through the stage of wanting like nothing to eat at all and now she is eating everything in site her tummy has enlarged and her nipples are large and flushed when the vet took a look at her she said she looks about seven weeks pregnant i said she cant be because i saw her get hooked with my male and she would only be 5 weeks pregnant so the vet took an xray to see what they could she and she said she was not pregnant because there was no skeletons on the image and that all you could see was that her bowels where full i would think at 5 weeks it may be too early to see anything on xray am i correct in saying this or if she was pregnant would she be able to see on xray also the vet said that when she felt her her uterus felt full im very confused.

ANSWER: Hi Rachelle

Just a couple of questions.  

1.  Did you breed her only the one day?
2.  What day in her season was she?

Gestation is 63 days and she is technically at 37.  Remember that it takes the egg 7 days to mature and sperm can last 72 hours so she may only be 34 or 35.

Calcification of bones occurs at day 50 so it's too early for x-rays to pick anything up.  AND conversely, a false pregnancy has all the signs of a true one without the end result.  

I would wait to have her x-rayed again in 3 weeks, even if by then you can confidentially say she is pregnant, it's a good idea with the small dogs so you know what to expect and placement of the pups.  Chi's are known for c-sections.

Good luck




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi my female was with my male at all times so they could of mated several time but i witnessed this mating witch accured on the 24th september they where tied for about 20 mins. My chi's heat sicle went for 4 weeks witch i have never experiance before i notice a week before the day she got hoocked she was sticking her tale to the side and allowing him to mount her she was teasing him alot and then 3 days after they tied she refused him and growled every time that he tried to mount her. She does look pregnant and i know as you said that she will if she is having a false pregnancy as well but will she become lathargic, snappy, have no appitite then all of a sudden eat everything in site, boobs to grow,hardening of the belly and going to the toilet excesivly?. She used to not lay with my happy and was a real mummy girl but now she wont come to me as offten but will lap up all the attention she can get from my husband and anymale really i have notice lol alot of questions i know but i do appreciate you help.
Kind regards Rachelle

ANSWER: 21 days is typical for a season, they just shouldn't breed for the entire time.  

The thing to remember with the false pregnancy is the signs are EXACTLY the same.  The hormonal changes,  the appetite change and weight gain.  

Again, wait until she's 50 plus days and have her x-rayed again.

Good luck.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi we finally confirmed that my Chihuahua is deffernantly pregnant with 3 maybe 4 puppies. we found this out through the Xray on Tuesday in the last day my chi has gorn nearly completely of off her food she is hiding her food under her blankets she is nesting and she is being very wingy and clingy she is also sleeping allot we have also been able to feel and see the pups move for about a weeks now they are very active. the problem is that by my dates of when her and our stud got hooked on the 24th of September meaning she would only be 54 days pregnant could she go into labor now or if she does is it to early. Also i have been taking her temp every 4 hours and it varies between 36.9 and 37.5 at what temperature drop should i think the pups could be coming and will her milk come in before she has the puppies

Answer
Okay first off, you must be making that little thing crazy.  Stop with the temperature and the stressing.

Gestation is 64 days.  Are you planning on doing a c-section or letting her whelp this litter naturally?

It's common for a female to be off their food, nest and sleep.   The best thing to do is to boil water, and make a nice cup of tea and let Mother Nature do her thing.

Good luck