dog ultrasound Help!! - Page 1

Hi Guys + girls. 

At the moment I am looking at buying a Bitch dog German Shepherded, who is pregnant.  I have attached a copy of her ultrasound.  Any guess on how many puppies...
 
Thanks

Shepherd

I don't think you're going to find anyone on here who is skilled in reading ultrasounds. Also, even if they were, they would likely need more info than just those picture to go by. They would need to know just what part of the uterus they were looking at, as the ultrasound probe, unlike an x-ray takes 'pictures' at all different angles, so the same pup can show up in more than one 'picture'.  The bitch's uterus also has 2 horns, and pups are usually present in both horns, but when scanning one side of the uterus, only the pups on that side will be visible.

In my experience, x-rays taken a week or so prior to the bitch's due date are much more accurate. A friend of mine was told the ultrasound scan showed a small litter of just 2 or 3 puppies.

The bitch delivered NINE. And we lost the last two, mainly because we had NO IDEA there were so many, and they were just in there too long. 

Other people I know have had similar experiences.

That said, I am a retired nurse, so I am somewhat familiar with ultrasounds, and know what an embryo looks like on an US scan. I've also had lots of friends and relatives who have delighted in showing me the ultrasounds of their babies. I think Scan #4 shows three embryonic sacs, and the next scan below it MAY show 4.

Not enough clarity to tell.  How many days since she was bred?  If under 24-28 days;  well hard to tell.   Nan

I asked my wife to look (she is a nurse practitioner who does labor and delivery for high risk babies) she sees these all the time. Not 100% sure but she said she saw 8 sacs whatever that means I assume separate placentas maybe. 

She is 31 days pregnant.
 
Scott so 8 sack’s might mean 8 puppies?

......

The embryo develops in a fluid filled bubble, called the amniotic sac (no 'k', and an apostrophe does NOT make a plural!) In humans, that's the sac that ruptures when a woman's 'water' breaks. And yes, 8 sacs may mean 8 puppies. Sometimes puppies can be re-absorbed (though probably not this late in the pregnancy) and some can also be still born. So, 8 amniotic sacs does not necessarily mean 8 live puppies.

I see now what troopscott's wife was looking at. The sacs she was counting are highlighted with green arrows.

I couldn't find a picture for a dog, but here is a picture showing the amniotic sac and embryo for a  human:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray34.png

The dark bubbles in the ultrasound images above are the amniotic sacs, and the lighter areas within the sac are the developing puppies (fetuses)