My Theory :)

I *reeeaaallly* thought we'd have some pups by now...

So, I've come up with an explanation as to what may be happening here...

Obviously, I'm way off on Rosie's ovulation date. Her first tie was on day 12 of her cycle, which is completely normal. Usually, a dog is in what's called "standing heat" the day that she ovulates. This is the first day that she will allow a male to breed her. The day that she ovulates is counted as day 1 for pregnancy, even though the eggs don't get fertilized until 3 days later when they are mature. The gestation period of 63 days is actually the age of the eggs from the time they're released from the ovary. So normally, a girl is bred on day 12, 14, and 16 if possible, so that on day 15/16/17 when the eggs are ready there are sperm in there waiting to do the job. Ok, that's how it *normally* works.

Last fall, Rosie was bred on day 12 and 14 and didn't get pregnant. Now I understand why not. Rosie must not ovulate on day 12, even though she will allow a male to breed her. Rosie is a very submissive girl and it's not surprising that she would stand earlier and later than most girls. This time when it was time for her to be bred, I took her up to Robin's house and his wonderful owner kept Rosie there so we would not have another miss. I love ya, Sharon! Rosie and Robin tied on day 12, 14, 16, 18, and on day 20 when I was there to pick her up they tied again before she left. Crazy...she obviously was already pregnant at that time and day 20 is extremely overkill and most girls wouldn't even stand for a male at that point. I know Maggie wouldn't have! But Rosie is absolutely the sweetest girl you will meet. I mean it. :) Robin must have thought so too, because they developed quite the friendship while she was there.

Another point that confirms my theory that Rosie is a late ovulator, is that on day 54 I took her in for her puppy count Xray. Normally this is a good day and all the puppy bones are ossified and the vet counts skulls and backbones and tries to match them all up for an accurate count. Well, on Rosie's Xray the vet felt comfortable saying she could count 5, but there were other bones that were just too faint to match up. Plus with her size of belly, the vet just said "I know there are 5 and I know there are more." This was probably due to the fact that Rosie was more like day 51 or so and I have never tried to get an Xray that early because you run the risk that not all of the bones will be seen.

So, in hindsight...I should NOT have counted 63 days from the first tie. I should have added a few days because now it all makes sense that Rosie's eggs are probably not 66 days old right now...or we'd have puppies!!!

Now I feel better. Well, not really but it helps me pass the time to try and figure out what is going on! :)

I hope you can see that I'm an extremely patient, positive person. I've thought about screaming a few times, but that wouldn't really be productive. Thought about chucking that thermometer in the dumpster, but then I'd have to go buy a new one.

So in the end, all I can really do is wait...and take you all along for this ride called "Dog Breeding" otherwise known as "Guess What?...You're Not In Charge!"

Blessings Everyone!