“Trust biology, Mom.” This is what my 16-year-old said to me after 3 weeks of my morning musings about whether Cricket is in fact pregnant.
I have become friends with the thoughts that swirl around in my mind with each breeding I attempt.
“Was the timing right?”
“I know she has some morning sickness, but maybe she is actually sick.”
“Oh no! What if she is actually sick?”
“She has been a little less active lately and her appetite is fluctuating. Surely she is pregnant.”
“I wonder if one mating tie did the trick?”
“She looks a little wider if I look at her from this angle. Does she look wider to you?”
“What if it is a false pregnancy?”
“It’s too early for an ultrasound, should I just wait and let nature take its course?”
“I know I saw the mating occur, but what if something isn’t working right?”
I could go on with even more obsessive thoughts that creep up in the night, but you get the point. Waiting to know if a mating is viable can be intense. A lot of time, expense, and heart felt planning go into preparing for a breeding and the hopes and dreams of many families, including my own, are hanging on whether it was a success. You may be thinking it would be obvious that a dog is pregnant. We have all seen pictures of those poor mama dogs who look as though they are about to burst with puppies! However, the long coat, long body, and deep rib cage of a collie can make it very difficult to see pronounced changes in body shape until very late in the pregnancy. Especially with a first time mama. Many of the puppy fetuses nestle into the ribcage area rather than the litter expanding the abdomen, so while there are definite changes in behavior and symptoms that indicate a pregnancy, a collie’s appearance and propensity for remaining very active can keep me guessing.
Traditional methods for detecting pregnancy involve partnering with a veterinarian for a blood test, or an ultrasound around 30 days, or waiting until the bones of the fetus begin to mineralize and have radiographs taken at the veterinarian’s office. The wait for radiographs is the longest as they are usually not taken until a week before whelping.
While all of those methods have advantages, there can also be drawbacks. Ultrasounds can give an indication of pregnancy and fetal heartbeats, but are not extremely successful at pinpointing the number of puppies in the litter. They can also require awkward positioning that is stressful for some mamas. Radiographs can give a better idea of the number of puppies expected, but I prefer not to expose mama and puppies to that if possible. I won’t go into all of the pros and cons of these methods in this post. I will say that my primary concern is unnecessarily exposing the mother and litter to possible illness by taking her to high traffic areas prior to whelping. So, you can imagine my excitement when I discovered the Bellylabs Home Pregnancy test for dogs. A great option for relieving the suspense of whether or not I should set up the whelping box and schedule the next 4 months to be immersed in puppy bliss. So after multiple votes from the kids to take the dive, I ordered the test kit.
With a little help from my son to distract and comfort Cricket, a quick click of the lancet on her lip, and I was able to collect the sample to drop into the test cassette. Fifteen minutes later we were cheering and jumping with delight over two simple lines that appeared in the test window! Cricket joined in our happy dance with barks and bewilderment at the sudden eruption of excitement. To everyone’s relief, the process didn’t require me to convince her to pee on a stick.
Did you ever think you would see the day when a canine home pregnancy test would be available? As a breeder, I have always hoped for this option. My daughter was right; trust biology to work the way it was designed to work. Bellylabs just gave me the tools to move on from the question of “if” to the suspense of when and how many. But even one less variable in the breeding equation is a win in my book!
Read our latest litter update to see the results of Cricket’s positive pregnancy test for yourself. I promise, they are very adorable results.