dog gestation

[blueregard]

how long is the maximum number of days to allow for pregnancy from start of bleed if you do not know when mating took place. The vet thinks it is unlikely that my bitch is pregnant but she behaves like it and has not reponded like this before in seasons and there is a strong possibliity that she was mated. Vet says that one or two pups could be up under the ribs. What is the last possible day that ovulation could have taken place also taking into account how long the sperm is viable?

[lankeela]

I had a bitch mated on day 30, after my dog had been away in kennels for three weeks. He came home and mated his mother!

This has been discussed recently on one of my dog groups and there have been several cases of bitches being mated over 20 days after coming in season. There were some others in the late 20's.

The sperm can remain viable in the bitch for about a week, so you could possibly be looking at five weeks plus the nine weeks of pregnancy, so even up to 98 days although this is unlikely.