Puppy News!

This is an update on my potential parents of the puppy.

I have emailed the breeder over the weekend as I didn't hear anything from her about the parents in quite some time. The mother, Kylee, went into her cycle early last week and was bred with the father, Will, on Thursday (May 26th). That was the same day of my convocation ceremony at the university. How special is that? Maybe I did really get a puppy for graduation! Cherie (the breeder) said that she would continue to keep me up to date on the progression of the pregnancy and the hopeful future pups. Also, if the pregnancy is successful the potential birthday of the litter will be July 28th, 2011. I did some figures and I think I'd expect my pup at the last of September (26th-28th).

So it made me think about dog pregnancy and that I know very little about the biological time frame of a dog's pregnancy. Here's what I found out:

There are three distinct stages of pregnancy in dogs.

The first stage is the most obscure. Pregnancy is very difficult to determine in the first few weeks after breeding. There are little change in the mother's nipples, appetite, or behaviour. By the third week, the embryos are multiplying and implant in the uterus. At about 26-36 days a vet can palpate and confirm the presence of puppies in the mother's tummy.

The second stage is the most vulnerable for the pups. Eyes, faces and spinal cords begin to form and by the 5th or 6th week puppies double in size (20-30 cm). The fetus' look like puppies at this stage with toes, claws, and whiskers but the eyes are closed. The bodies are developed enough to determine sex and heartbeats are heard in the mothers tummy.

The third stage is where the pups continue their development in the womb and begin to move around while the mother's body is preparing for the birthing process. The pups usually take one of two positions in the womb: Anterior (nose first in the birth canal) or Posterior (tail first). They are enclosed in two sacs, one of which will break during the birth and the second will be broken by the mother after the birth.