Guess how many puppies!

We had an ultrasound done on Garnet on Monday afternoon. Before revealing the results, I invited our puppies’ families to guess how many pups will be in this litter. The guesses are noted below:

Linda R           3

Sandi              3

Scott              4

Kim                4

Tes                4

Martin L          4

Erin                4

Teya              5

Melese           5

Roma             5

Mary              5

Beth D           5

Wendy           5

Tristan           6

Mathom          6

Carole            6

Heather          6

Haragwan       6

Barbara           7

Zirci (Yolande) 7

David Q          8

Martin M         8

Monica           8

And the result?

Our vet clearly saw 5 foetuses and was pretty certain there was a 6^th too!!

Before those of you who guessed 5 or 6 get too excited, note that ultrasounds are not always accurate and there may be pups that were not seen – and sometimes pups get reabsorbed for various reasons. For example, with Amore’s 2^nd litter, the vet also said 5, maybe 6, and we had just 4 puppies born. However, that ultrasound was done at around 30 days gestation, when the foetuses were still quite small (about 1.5cm long). This time we waited until about day 42 and those extra 12 days mean the pups are a lot bigger – around 6-7cm long! This both makes them  a lot easier to see and also means they are not as likely to be reabsorbed.

Indeed, we saw little beating hearts and little waving legs. At this stage – the sixth week of gestation – their nervous system is already formed, their sexual characteristics are present (though not easily seen!), the eyes are covered by eyelids, the leg buds are lengthening and developing toes, their fur is forming along with pigmentation. As of now they will begin to grow very fast, almost tripling their length over the final 3 weeks. Their bones will calcify around the middle of next week, after which they will be visible on x-ray. Garnet has so far gained about 2.3kg (5 lbs) over her usual petite size and will no doubt gain more over the next 3 weeks. She ate a lot while she was with us – repeated small helpings as there is not much stomach room left!

Full gestation is 63 days (9 weeks) post-ovulation, which puts Garnet’s due date at about November 28^th (best estimate). Some dogs deliver earlier, closer to 58 days and some deliver as late as 67 days, so we can expect puppies anywhere between November 23^rd and December 2^nd.  Last time, Garnet whelped at 61 days, which would be November 26^th.

We have an x-ray scheduled for November 25^th – with the expectation she won’t yet have whelped!! That should give us a firm puppy count (though there too, for Amore’s 3^rd litter the x-ray clearly showed 2 puppies but I thought I saw a 3^rd and in effect, a third was born, though she had some deformities and did not survive).

Since so many people guessed 5 or 6, to narrow down the winner’s field, I invite everyone who guessed 4, 5, 6, or 7 puppies to also guess when Garnet will deliver. Specify the date and time you think the FIRST puppy will be born, and whoever has correctly guessed the number of puppies actually born and is closest to the date and time of birth will win the prize.

(For the record, my guess is Sunday 27 Nov at 4:15pm.)