Gestation refers to the time when a female dog is pregnant with this period normally lasting for 60 to 64 days which is about nine weeks. The number of days, however, differs from breed to breed. A surprising fact about female dogs is that they have menstrual cycles that continue all their lives because of which they can reproduce their entire lives. Every female dog undergoes the Estrus heat cycle twice in a year where each cycle lasts for 6 months and it is during this period that the dog mates. This cycle consists of four stages, the first one being proestrus cycle which is a period before the onset of the heat cycle which lasts for about 7 to 9 days. The next stage is the estrus stage in which the dogs mate and the stage after this is known as the diestrus stage where the male dog is not interested and the female dog may show signs of getting pregnant. The last stage is the anestrus stage where this situation is consistent until the female dog goes into the stage of heating again.
You might not be able to find out if your dog is pregnant even upto five weeks of gestation as there is no concrete blood test that determines it but you can find out by getting her examined by your veterinarian where their abdomen is felt. Also, an x-ray can be done to determine the same and is very accurate to know the exact number of puppies. Dogs undergo a great deal of physical changes during gestation period and the most common is weight gain where the mammary glands swell up between 35 and 45 days after conceiving.
A pregnant dog diet must be healthy and nutritious so that both the mother and baby are in the best of their health. The diet of your dog should be increased but make sure that it is increased steadily and is not forced upon. For the first few weeks, give your dog protein rich food like eggs, lean muscle meats or liver. However, avoid feeding them pork. Serve them with small quantities throughout the day and these need to be followed especially in the last few weeks. Water intake increases considerably during dog pregnancy period therefore, make sure that you keep fresh water available all the time and that is easily accessible. Also during this period, you can make your dog have small walks and moderate exercises making sure that you do not indulge them in strenuous activities.