My friends dog went to stud nearly 5 weeks ago.it was a much planned litter and if she is pregnant is hoping to keep a pup for showing.However due to a family crisis( see earlier post) she only had one visit to the stud ( 10 minute tie). Although the bitch is showing signs such as temprement and was also sick around 3 weeks there is little change physically,nipples only slightly darker and no change in her shape at all.This is a medium size breed,not that big.Do all bitches show physical signs at this stage?She has only had one litter previously 2 years ago with a different bitch and she had a litter of 7 and was showing more signs at this stage.The stud used is retiring so she will be quite upset if she has missed.

It is early days yet, some show at 5 weeks others dont, we mated our female in Germany almost 8 weeks ago (1 mating) this is all you are allowed with their top dogs, a 20 minute tie, and she is heavily in welp now, only started to show properly at 6.5 weeks, if the day is correct 1 mating can result in puppies, most who use our stud dog only had 1 mating (their choice) as they had a long way to travel, all have had litters.
Get your friend to get her female scanned, to put her out of her misery, they can scan at 4 weeks, some earlier with the modern ultrasound machines. good luck x

I couldn't see much difference in my girl, she only had 2 puppies and was hiding them somewhere clever as when they were born they were massive! If not for the vet promising she could feel them I would have sworn she had missed again!

Yes that can be the case also, i would get her scanned.

Hi , I would have her scanned also ,one of my large breed bitches was showing no signs and I wasn't going to have her scanned just incase it upset her as she was very nervous throughout her pregnancy , but the wondering if she was got the better of me , so I took her and they confirmed two pups , I was so relieved it was definitely worth taking her. And she was absolutely fine with the vet , her nervousness also subsided once the pups were born. She had six so the scan wasn't right but at least I knew there was a pregnancy.

Yes scans can often be wrong, i just scan to confirm a pregnancy really, pups can hide behind the ribcage which ultrasound cant pick up.

I have my own scanner and up till our last pregnancy had been just one out, this time because mum was a lot smaller than her previous litter, and I could only find 4 pups on the scan (and she was scanned quite a few times I can tell you) was convinced it was just a small litter, she went on to have 8, which is more than her first litter!  I was absolutely amazed, so I wouldn't worry about size.

My friend called last night to say her tummy all of a sudden has a very slightly rounded shape and is more firm,she also has a clear discharge so things are looking a little more hopeful,i am getting excited and she isnt even my dog!!

We had our girl mated and only did it once with a short tye so i was a little unsure she would have taken,she had no change at all and just seemed exactly the same, we got her scanned and they saw 8 puppies and over the last 2/3 days shes just got massive, so it can just come on very quickly,think our girl was just waiting for the scan before she let her belly go...lol

Our female did exactly the same, after the scan she got fatter overnight, scanned for 5 pupies had 4 yesterday, she has finished now,

Great - clear discharge is a pretty good sign I think.

Yes it is a good sign, good luck with your litter.

Good luck with this litter!

I know someone who took her bitch to be mated, no tie, and the stud dog kept jumping off.  the result was 11 pups!  just goes to show.  I usually get prepared in any case because scans are not always reliable.  Although our local sheep scanner is usually pretty accurate.  But considering the bitch a absorb pups right up to term it is not always as easy as that.  Best of luck to all with pups due.