Belly Measuring

[Ole Mule]

Just wondering if any one measures there female right after breeding then every other week until day 40. Why 40 because if no gain by 40 weeks she is not pregnant.

[BAR-NONE]

I would think by 40 weeks you should be able to tell if your female is bred or not beings that a canines pregnancy is to last 63 days. Now your wife and my wife will last 40 weeks during there pregnancies but I'm am not about to take a tape measure anywhere near my wife's belly for safety reasons. I'm sure this is a typo

[TnHoss]

How far along would you guess this female is ?

[TnHoss]

Here is a closer shot

[LR Patch]

5 weeks

[TnHoss]

Anyone else want to chime in before I reveal the answer, it is gonna surprise a few ?

[TnHoss]

Randy that pic was taken less than 12 hrs. before she whelped. She was due wednesday April 8th ( her 1st due date ) and April 10th ( yesterday, her 2nd date ) she never showed hardly any gain at all nor any other signs I am used to seeing that tells me she was getting ready for labor. I feed her minutes before that pic was taken and she was barking,jumping and wagging her tail all excited and happy to see me,she scarfed her food down in just a few minutes and was acting like she has all her life. I had given up on her even having any pups at all figuring it was a miss and she hadn't stuck and at one point started to put her back in the kennel with her kennel mate but decided to wait untill friday ( her last due date ) Well you can imagine my surprise when I went to move her out of the whelping box yesterday and opened the door and found these in there with her

[Pinnacle Valley]

good looking pups

[TnHoss]

Thanks Pinnacle Valley

[S.R.Patch]

She was a fooler that's for sure.
I've had bitches carry them high before, but the last week the milk bar would fill.
The way you described yours never going off food or nesting had to make you wonder with good cause.
Would have been interesting if you'd recorded her body temperature, I'm certain you'd have seen the drop to 98deg before her whelping.
Good luck with your puppies...

[TnHoss]

Thanks S.R.Patch, she fooled me alright. I've never had a bitch go longer than 7 1/2 weeks before her milk dropped but this ones milk didn't drop untill several hours after whelping and then it was only the front teats that bagged up. I always know their close to whelping when I go to feed and they don't come out of their box to eat, they just lurk back in the corner staring at me or scratching the floor and I always check their temp. starting 7 days before their due. I like playing with my hunting buddies by telling them when their bitches will have pups based on their temp. it leaves them scratching their head when I get within 12-14 hours and they just can't believe it ( thank god none of them have internet ) I along with several others had said she didn't stick and wasn't having any pups from her looks as late as last week, hence why I never bothered to take her temp. but I will know better from now on.