In a dog's first pregnancy stage, for example, when she is in the first two weeks of since copulation, the dog's nipples start to enlarge. When you notice this phenomenon your dog should see a veterinarian, to determine if there is a pregnancy and if so what pregnancy stage she is in.
The veterinarian will be able to tell if puppies have been conceived just by feeling the dog's stomach. Just as with human pregnancy tests, the dog's pregnancy or lack of it can be verified through a blood test. Of course, the pregnancy stage for a canine is shorter than that of humans because dogs give birth only sixty three to sixty five days after conception.
Each pregnancy stage for a dog, therefore, is only about 21 days long as compared with a woman's pregnancy trimester of three months. In the dogs sixth week of pregnancy her need for nutrition will increase as will her appetite. At this point she is truly eating for several little ones including herself, and should be fed more food accordingly. Her food consumption will increase approximately 50 percent over what she normally consumes. It is very important that her diet be balanced. For this you should take the advice of your veterinarian.
A dog that is going to have a litter of many puppies will have a visibly enlarged tummy, although there are some dogs - especially those giving birth to just a few - whose abdomen won't enlarge noticeably. For these dogs, the pregnancy stage where they are showing is about one week long. Dogs who deliver a great number of puppies tend to deliver them prematurely.
In general, your dog can deliver her own puppies without the intervention of a veterinarian. There are exceptions to this, of course, and it's important to be able to know what these exceptions are and when they are occurring.
You should call the vet if your dog has been carrying the puppies for more than 65 days, or has been having contractions for more than two hours without delivering any puppies. If your dog has given birth to a puppy or puppies but not all, and now three hours have elapsed since the last birth, call the vet. This is especially crucial if you see your dog pushing and putting in a lot of effort. If your dog is very tired and her contractions are so slight that they don't bring on delivery you should call the vet.
Once your dog has advanced to the stage of pregnancy where she has given birth you'll need to step in to give some care to the newborns. It's important that the babies have heat. A puppy crib is ideal, somewhere away from any circulating air. As puppies are still being delivered those that have been born can be pushed towards their mom for warmth and comfort.
By virtue of your stumbling across this article right now, like most people nowadays you've turned to the internet for answers to your hundreds of pregnancy first stages questions. Then once you've got your head around that, all of the other things you need to know about your new baby ? giving birth, unique baby names, how to breastfeed, etc.
In fact in a recent study by comScore Inc, they listed the 20 most commonly searched health conditions on the internet in one month only. The top five were (000's):
1. Pregnancy - 8,841
2. Cancer - 7,718
3. Flu - 1,824
4. Depression - 1,807
5. Diabetes - 1,758
Whilst it's true there is a lot of misinformation about pregnancy first stages and pregnancy in general on the internet; and that there is no better advice than directly from your obstetrician ? the internet has some fantastic parenting tips and parenting advice to offer.
But when you find all this information on the internet, do you absorb all of the text ? or do you find yourself skimming the content and jumping from link to link?
And how about the books you've no doubt bought or are considering purchasing? Do you and your partner read them cover to cover?
Babypoo.com.au is a new Australian parenting website that features free video parenting tips submitted by real parents. New parents share their tips and secrets the books don't show you.
One example is from a dad whose baby son suffered eczema. His tip is: Before you get prescribed cortisone or invest in expensive medical cream treatments, try "Hemp Cream". This cleared everything up for his son within days.
The site has a plethora of similar free parenting tips that you can search, watch and make comments on. The site also offers for sale a large range of Australian produced pregnancy videos, parenting DVDs, pregnancy exercises DVDs, pregnancy yoga DVDs as well as gifts for the dad to be available through the online shopping store.
Both Dustin Cannon & Mark Dally are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Dustin Cannon has sinced written about articles on various topics from Work From Home, Marketing and Baby Shower. Dustin Cannon is owner of JustArticlesVIP.com and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Dustin recommends you visit: . Dustin Cannon's top article generates over 110000 views. to your Favourites.
Mark Dally has sinced written about articles on various topics from Pregnancy Problems. Mike is author of article written on . For more information, please visit :. Mark Dally's top article generates over 1000 views. to your Favourites.