Ultrasound Scheduled

Phoenix's ultrasound is scheduled for March 9th. That will be 30 days after breeding. This is the point where there is enough development of the embryo to make them clear. Before that, they are rounded smudges and the fetus cannot be clearly seen.

I came across this site (Canine Pregnancy Scanning day by day) thanks to a group about whelping. There are several images of dogs through early pregnancy. It is very, very fascinating for those that like the technical nitty-gritty of these types of things. It shows why that 30 day mark is the first time for an ultrasound. We will not know numbers, we will know if there are some puppies in there. If things are clear, and they may be since Phoenix is so slim, we may see a few. That won't be everyone (probably).

There is also a blood test that can be done at this point. It tests for a hormone called relaxin. Relaxin is only present in dogs if there is placenta. However, this can happy even if the pregnancy started and fails and reabsorbs. Relaxin tests tell you that the dog was pregnant. At this point, the ultrasound will be a clearer view and I should score some pictures of shapes that will turn into puppies.

I have also started waist measuring. As of Monday, she is around 21 inches. This is taking in for the wiggle factor and getting whipped in the face with her tail as I wrap the measuring tape around her and my face licked. This gives me a baseline. She won't start expending in size till around 5 weeks. We may see some expansion at 4 if we are going to have a large litter. In most large breeds there is enough room in the abdominal cavity. In sighthounds there is no extra room. This is one reason why 21 day palpation is pretty easy on these guys.

Canine pregnancy is some weird stuff. The embryos float around for two weeks before they implant. The placenta forms around 18 days and they fill with fluid around 21 days, which is what we can feel. They feel like squishy eyeballs. You don't squeeze them, but it does feel like golf balls are lining your girls sides. Again, this is harder on a lot of heavy, muscular breeds but I have always found them. The hardest part is resisting touching them over and over again or trying to count. You will not get an accurate count. 

If all goes well the rest of the schedule looks like this:

The final check will be the x-ray. I will schedule that after 45 days, probably around 48. This should give us an actual puppy count. The count is an important tool to helping us know when a bitch is done or when she may be in distress from exhaustion or other complications.  That will be scheduled around March 31st to April 1st.

After that, we will be in the home stretch. The 12th/13th are day 63. I use both dates because the breeding itself was at 9:45pm. A bitch can go on ether side of these dates, but with the Pegesterone test we know that we hit ovulation and there was only one breeding. I will be off work at that point and it will become all Phoenix all the time.

Afghans tend to whelp easily and they are good mothers. I do not anticipate issues but I will be prepared for them. The cost of unused milk replacement and bottles is worth it. I can donate them to a rescue group at a later time.