Dog pregnancy week by week

Why the due date is a range

Counted from the first mating, the Merck Veterinary Manual gives dog pregnancy a length of 58 to 72 days. That is a wide window because sperm can survive in the female for days and eggs need time to mature after ovulation, so the mating date and the day of conception can be far apart. VCA Hospitals gives a typical length of 62 days, plus or minus 2.

If your vet ran blood tests during the heat cycle, the estimate gets much tighter. Merck puts whelping at 64 to 66 days after the surge in luteinizing hormone (LH), which vets detect through a rise in progesterone, or at 56 to 58 days after the first day of diestrus, which a vet can identify from vaginal smears. The dog pregnancy calculator takes any of these starting points and shows the window that goes with it.

The timeline

The days below are approximate. Sources don’t always say which day they count from, so treat each one as a window rather than a date.

Confirming the pregnancy

There is no reliable home test for dogs. Your vet has three tools, and timing decides which one works. Ultrasound from about day 25 shows the pregnancy; done too early, it can come back negative when the dog is pregnant. A relaxin blood test becomes positive from about day 22 to 27. An X-ray late in pregnancy, after about day 55, is what vets use to count puppies, which helps you know when labor is finished.

Feeding during pregnancy

For the first five weeks or so, a pregnant dog usually needs little or no extra food, because the puppies are still tiny. VCA notes that most fetal growth happens after day 40, and that energy needs rise by roughly 30 to 60% over weeks 6 to 8. It expects a healthy weight gain of 15 to 20% by whelping.

Ask your vet which food to use in late pregnancy and while nursing. The dog food calculator can show a starting calorie range for late pregnancy, and your vet can adjust it from your dog’s weight checks.

The temperature drop before labor

From about day 55 or 56, take your dog’s rectal temperature twice a day at the same times. According to Merck, temperature falls before whelping, to an average of about 98.8°F (range about 98.1 to 100.0°F), usually 8 to 24 hours before labor begins. Writing the readings down makes the drop easy to spot.

Before the due date

• Book a late-pregnancy check, ideally with an X-ray to count the puppies.
• Save your vet’s number and the nearest 24-hour emergency clinic in your phone.
• Set up a quiet, warm whelping area a week or two early so your dog can get used to it.
• Keep a notebook for temperatures, the time each puppy arrives, and anything unusual.