Free dog pregnancy calculator with key vet dates
Enter one date and see when the puppies are due. This VerifiedStuds tool also lists the best days for a pregnancy test, an ultrasound and an x-ray, so you can book the vet early. It gives estimates only, and your vet has the final word.
Choose the date you know best. An ovulation date from progesterone testing gives the tightest estimate. However, a mating date works too.
Dogs carry their puppies for about 63 days, counted from ovulation. That number is remarkably steady. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, the gap from the hormone surge that triggers ovulation to birth varies by only a day or two.
However, most owners count from a mating, and that is less exact. Sperm can live for several days inside the female, and she may be bred before or after she ovulates. As a result, the normal range from a first mating is about 58 to 68 days. So the calculator shows a wider window when you enter a mating date.
The tool also lists five dates. Each one matches a point when something useful can be done.
Day
What happens
Why it matters
22 to 27
Relaxin blood test
The earliest reliable pregnancy test
25 to 35
Ultrasound
Confirms pregnancy and shows heartbeats
45 onward
X-ray
Puppy skeletons show, so they can be counted
55
Whelping box ready
She needs time to settle in it
57
Temperature checks
A drop warns that labor is near
A relaxin test taken too early can give a false negative. Therefore, if the first result is negative, many vets repeat it a week later. Similarly, an x-ray is clearest after day 55, when the bones are fully visible.
The best method is progesterone testing during her heat. A series of blood tests shows the day she ovulates, and the due date is 63 days later, give or take one day. Our guide to progesterone testing for dogs explains how it works.
Without testing, write down every mating date. Then ask your vet to estimate the stage of pregnancy at the ultrasound. In addition, an x-ray late in pregnancy tells you how many puppies to expect, which helps you know when she has finished.
Book the vet early. Schedule the ultrasound and the x-ray as soon as you know the dates, because clinics fill up.
Change her food late, not early. Most vets advise moving to a puppy or performance diet in the last third of pregnancy. See how long dogs are pregnant, week by week.
Prepare the whelping area. Set up the box by day 55 in a quiet, warm room. Our whelping guide lists the supplies.
Take her temperature. From day 57, check it twice a day. A fall below 100 degrees Fahrenheit usually means labor within 24 hours.
Know your vet's emergency number. If she passes day 68 from her first mating with no labor, call the clinic.
A good due date starts with a well-timed breeding. Before her next heat, learn when to breed a dog in heat and use the dog heat cycle calculator to plan ahead. Then find a health-tested stud and compare fees in the stud fee guide. Stud owners can list their stud free.
How long is a dog pregnant?
About 63 days from ovulation. Counted from the first mating, the normal range is roughly 58 to 68 days.
How accurate is a dog pregnancy calculator?
It is accurate to within a day or two when you enter an ovulation date. With a mating date, expect a window of about ten days.
When can a vet confirm a dog is pregnant?
A relaxin blood test works from about day 22 to 27, and an ultrasound from about day 25. Before that, tests are unreliable.
When can puppies be counted on an x-ray?
From about day 45, when the skeletons harden. However, the count is most reliable after day 55.
What if my dog goes past her due date?
Call your vet. A female more than 68 days from her first mating, or 65 days from ovulation, should be examined.
Sources: Merck Veterinary Manual, labor, delivery and postpartum care, VCA Animal Hospitals, pregnancy testing in the dog, American Kennel Club, dog pregnancy. This page is general information, not veterinary advice.
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