Today I brought Bella in and fed her on my table. Gave her chicken... as she ate I put my hand over her belly and then gently reached up feeling for little hard balls. Sure enough, I felt about 3 in a row! I tried to feel towards her rib cage as I started at her Pelvis and moved up but it was thicker and a little harder, so there could be more but I just can not feel them!
So, it's confirmed. We have puppies on the way!!!!
How to palpate your dog:
This must be done very carefully. You want to feel but not compress at all.
The bitch must be standing and relaxed facing you.
Rub her back and her belly for a few minutes to relax her.
GENTLY place your hand around her belly from underneath.
You are feeling for the uterus, which is a long narrow tube structure lying along the back of the bitch just below her spine, with the intestines filling in below.
Gently reach up towards the bitch's spine to find the uterus (later it might be further down, but at 21 days, the fetuses are smaller and the uterus lies higher.
Carefully, beginning either at the pelvis or the ribcage, bring your fingers together, allowing the insides of the bitch to slide gently through your fingers.
A puppy will feel HARD and Slippery, and usually quite round.
The litter will lie along the uterus like pearls on a string.
So, if you've found the uterus, and a puppy, you want to allow the puppy you've located to easily slide through your fingers and you might find another, another, another!
The idea is to allow them to slip through your fingers, not try to hold onto them. Like reading braille, not like pushing buttons.
21 - 32 days of pregnancy is best to do this, 28 being the better day as the puppies are larger at this time with less swelling from fluids etc...
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