Breeding - Do ultrasounds work? ?

Question

Do you have any experience using ultrasounds on pregnant b*****s? Have you found them to be accurate in telling you how many pups the mom is carrying and if the size of the pups is too great for her to deliver naturally? I have a female who might be pregnant and I'd love to know for sure but it is far too soon for an x-ray. Everyone seems to only use x-rays, but I had a breeder friend come over from Europe who only uses ultrasounds. I like the idea of an ultrasound more because it doesn't expose the mom and babies to radiation but I'd like to read about some pros and cons from people who've used it. Mainly, if the puppy count was accurate.

Thank you,

Answer 1

Ultrasound is used to work out if the ***** is actually pregnant or not & not a great tool to determine size of a litter as puppies not only form around the stomach area but also up within the ribcage.

My last ***** had an ultrasound done around 30 days & the vet counted at least nine fetuses, well she had her nine pups plus 4 others that had probably been up inside her ribcage at the time of the ultrasound.

I personally only get an Ultrasound, around the 30 day mark to see if she's pregnant or not & to get an estimate on the size of the litter. Ultrasounds & X rays can be very stressful on the *****, as well as the pregnancy, birth & rearing of a litter is. So the aim is to make her as stress-free as possible.

      

Answer 2

Ultrasound (from about 30 days) is used for confirming pregnancy but is really not useful for counting pups.  Even an x-ray later can be difficult to read.

I personally don't x-ray pregnant b*tches as I feel that as pregnant people shouldn't be x-rayed then dogs shouldn't be either.

You will find out soon enough how many pups are there - just be patient.  If you have chosen the sire correctly there shouldn't really be issues with the size of the pups unless you have a brachycephalic breed (boxer, pug, bulldog etc).

** hmm - why the thumbs down for this