The Developing Story Of The Puppies

Ultrasound of a dog's pregnancy at 25 days.

I am assuming Vega is pregnant. And if I'm right, her puppies will look about like this in just a few days.

A canine pregnancy lasts 63-67 days from fertilization to birth according to Dr. Vicki Myers-Wallen from Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. It's hard to pinpoint when Vega's eggs were fertilized. We bred her three times: July 28, 30 and August 1. You do your own math.

In any case, here's a calendar of puppy development. By the end of the second week of pregnancy, each puppy's embryo achieves a 64-cell mass and by day 19 implants itself in the uterine wall where continues to grow, receive nutrients and oxygen from the newly emerging placenta and develop into a fetus.

By day 30, the fetal puppy cells will become committed to forming mucous membranes, digestive and respiratory glands, muscles, bone, the puppy's cirulatory, genital and urinary systems, the skin and hair, the nervous system and all of the puppy's sensory organs including the eyes, inner ear and peripheral nerves.

This is the time the fetus starts to actually look like a dog with whisker buds showing on its developing face, and claws and toes differntiating on the feet. By week six, the fetal puppy forms skin pigments and it's possible to palpate the puppies and even hear a heartbeat with a stethoscope.

The last three weeks are when the greatest weight gain of the developing puppies occur with most of the organ systems beginning to enlarge and refine themselves and the puppies readying themselves for birth. 

If Vega is carrying puppies, I expect them to be born sometime around the end of September.