What Are the Early Stages of Dog Pregnancy?

For dog owners, recognizing the early stages of dog pregnancy is critical to ensuring the health of the mother dog and her litter. While for dog owners with experience breeding dogs, identifying what are the early stages of dog pregnancy might be quite simple, for those not anticipating the upcoming litter, noticing the early stages of dog pregnancy is somewhat trickier. However, by paying close attention to the mother dog and taking her to a veterinarian if pregnancy symptoms are present, all dog owners can interpret and understand the early stages of dog pregnancy.

  1. Time Frame

    • The average gestation for dogs is 63 days, making the early stage of dog pregnancy roughly 3 weeks in length. This gestation period is counted starting from the day of breeding, unlike in humans where it is counted from the last menstrual cycle. While pregnancy symptoms can become quite obvious during the later stages of dog pregnancy, there are also several indicators present during the early stages of dog pregnancy.

    Physical Changes

    • The early stages of dog pregnancy are characterized by subtle physical changes in the mother dog. While not all dogs may exhibit these changes, they are present in most dogs. Physical changes in the mother dog during the early stages of dog pregnancy include a temporary decrease in appetite as the mother experiences the dog version of "morning sickness," nipple growth and darkening, and a sudden decrease in activity due to exhaustion from growing the puppy embryos.

    Behavioral Changes

    • Behavioral changes in the mother dog may also help define the early stages of dog pregnancy. The most common behavioral symptom of pregnancy in dogs is an increase in mothering activity, which may include mothering of household objects or toys and an increase in affection for her owners. Some dogs may experience the opposite behavioral change and prefer to be left alone during their pregnancy. Fatigue is also commonly reported in pregnant dogs during the early stages of pregnancy.

    Diagnosis

    • For dog owners with any question as to whether their dog is pregnant, a veterinarian can help diagnose pregnancy towards the end of the early stages of dog pregnancy. An abdominal ultrasound performed by a veterinarian at 21 days after breeding can confirm a pregnancy and give an estimate of the litter size. Shortly thereafter, the presence of the puppy fetuses can be felt by massaging the mother's abdomen, and x-rays can be performed at 45 days after breeding with a higher accuracy of determining the number of puppies present.

    Considerations

    • Proper prenatal care for dogs is easy for dog owners to accomplish and helps to ensure the health of the mother dog and her growing puppies. During the early stages of dog pregnancy, few adjustments to the dog's normal feeding and care routine are necessary, though adding small amounts of protein supplements is advised by many veterinarians. The pregnant dog should be moderately exercised throughout her pregnancy to prevent excessive weight gain.