When can I feel my pregnant dog's puppies move or hear heartbeats?

Sometimes you can feel the puppies move but in some dogs you can't, it depends if your dog is large, fat or lean and it is usually possible toward the last trimester only (more than 50 days of pregnancy).

Generally you cannot feel the puppies moving until the last one to two weeks of the pregnancy and at this point in her pregnancy, you are not expected to be able to feel the puppies. Death of the puppies unfortunately is a potential cause and an abdominal ultrasound will quickly be able to detect if the puppies are alive or not if you are worried. Go ahead and start limiting her jumping. As she gets larger she will get more uncomfortable and the jumping is not likely good for her. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hi and thanks for posting. Yes, at six weeks into pregnancy, you may be able to detect the fetal heart beats but may not be able to distinguish between individual puppy heart beats. I hope this helps!

You are not always able to actually feel or palpate puppies externally even on a large breed dog such as a Newfoundland regardless of how close the dog is to term. The best ways to verify pregnancy (and to determine the age of the puppies) are with x-rays or ultrasound. X-rays will allow the veterinarian to determine if there is any bone development yet. The ultrasound will allow doctor to determine if the fetuses have an active heart rate.

You can feel the puppies typically around the 6th week of pregnancy (days 35-42), but she could be further along than that. A dog's typical gestation length is 58-68 days. I would have Chloe seen by a vet to have her pregnancy confirmed, and the vet can do x-rays or an ultrasound to see how far along she is in her pregnancy.

Unfortunately you can't tell if this is a real pregnancy or a false pregnancy without an ultrasound at this stage. At 22 days, the fetal heart beats can be detected on an ultrasound. At 45 days, the fetal skeletons can be seen on an x-ray. Depending on the size of the mother and the amount of puppies, the fetuses may be palpated in the final weeks of pregnancy. Here are a couple links with additional information: https://www.petcoach.co/article/false-pregnancy-in-dogs/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/pregnancy-diagnosis-caring-for-the-pregnant-dog/ I strongly recommend to have your dog spayed. Otherwise she will have up to two litters of puppies a year. Not only is this a lot of strain on her body, but it contributes to pet over population. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

You should be really careful pressing her abdomen as you could inadvertently damage a puppy/her uterus. If Kailyn seems well in herself and is eating and drinking I would not stress her out by taking her to the vets. If she seems to be in pain, showing signs of illness or has any smelly discharge then AI would take her in for a check up. I wouldn't worry overly about not feeling movement, it would not be that normal to feel the puppies moving, you would have to press quite hard. If you are concerned you could arrange to take her in for an ultrasound exam to check their health. However this could stress her a lot. If she is well in herself I would urge you not to worry too much. I know it is a really concerning time, but dogs are amazing, and they do really well naturally. It is best for her to have minimum stress.