“How early do you start monitoring the temp? How close can you be?”

I was asked a couple questions about taking a dog’s temperature before she has babies, so I thought I’d go ahead and explain it a bit here.

Well, to begin with; an average gestation for a dog is 63 days (with 58-65 days in the “normal” range). So I mark on my calendar 63 after the female is first bred.

About a week before the due date is a good time to start checking the dogs temperature, morning and evening.

A dog’s normal temp is around 101.5 to 102. About a week before, it will drop down in the 100.5 to 100 degree range. As time goes on you will see it continue to drop down between 100 to 99.5. It can fluctuate during the day and will usually be higher in the evening. As whelping becomes imminent, it will drop down even further, to 98-99 degree range. When that happens, whelping usually occurs within 8-12 hours.

Apparently, I need to start about a week before the earliest due date (58-59 days) instead of the average 63 days because my dogs seem to not be “average”. 😉

Day 58 and it’s imminent!

She’s nesting!