I have a female I bred Aug 19, 21, and 23. The vet I used to do the smears is not great with the reproductive end of things. I bred her the day he recommended. She flagged a bit when bred, but wasn't crazy over her boyfriend, the following weekend she wouldn't leave any of my girls alone, drove me crazy for about 3 days. The last day I bred her was a thursday, I couldn't take her back to the stud that weekend because the family had surgery. Now my question is What whelping date would I use, from time bred or from the weekend I think she ovulated?? By the size of her she looks as though she is a week behind, at 4 wks I didn't think she took, at 5 wks she was just begining to have a little pocket, now at 6 weeks she looks about 5 wks along. Thanks Shanni

Unless you did progesterone testing, it is very hard to say. Next time, do the progesterone, and you will have an accurate due date.

the description you are giving of your bitch seems about right in that many times you can't tell much at 4 weeks and all of a sudden at 5 weeks little pouches start to show. The other poster is also correct, progesterone testing and knowing when she is ready for breeding will help you. Gestation is 63 days (technically) though most of my girls whelp at 60/61 from the date of the AI they conceived on. I always know because of progesterone testing. I probably would suggest your being ready and set up day 59/60 from the 1st breeding. That way no matter what you are ready. You can also do a sonogram or xray maybe 5 days from 1st due date and get a better idea where you are. Good Luck.

Since you don't really know when she ovulated, the best indication of a due date now would be to get an ultrasound done by a good repro vet when she's far enough along. They should be able to get a good enough photo to measure the size of one of the pups and give you a pretty good guess at a due date.

I have bred before with no idea of progesterone levels and was off by almost a week. The ultrasound's estimated due date was much more accurate than mine estimated from the date of first breeding.

In any case, I have had girls whelp around week early before, so be ready a good week before you think she's really due, and take daily temps starting a week before too. My bitches will generally drop a few degrees and they'll stop eating a day or two before they deliver.

Best of Luck!

So with progesterone testing, do you go from the 2.0 or the 5.0, and how many days is it?
TIA

I honestly don't even remeber as it's been so long since having a progesterone test done. I only take a girl to the vet for progesterone testing when I'm planning to do and AI with a shipped sample, which isn't too often. Otherwise, I just breed when they both seem interested in eachother, which generally works.

Progesterone is the only way to know ovulation and the only way to predict due dates with any accuracy. Before we did progest testing I took her temp 3 days either side of predicted due dates (63 days from breedings) and when she drops temp below 99.0 (usually around 98.5 or 98.3 or the like) you know puppies are due in 12-48 hrs. It will rise back up before puppies are born, so if you don't take it 2x a day you can miss the drop. Now I take temps 48 hrs of official due date (63 days from 5.0, not a window of dates like you have to work with this time). We have not been off yet, knock on wood.

There is one 100% method of knowing the due date... Wait until a puppy pops out, and that's your day!

Sorry... just couldn't resist...

Just keep a good eye on your girl as the time approaches. You will not have an exact time for this whelping. Nature has a part in all of this also. Without the test there is no way of being closer for you. Numbers do help.