Dog pregnant? I hope not!

[mustangrooster]

I need a bit of confirmation here please……..whilst I know it may be a bit early, I’m going to try and get an idea…

My dog has just come of her first heat, being a larger dog breed, she is a lot older than 6 months old. I think its been a bit over a week, if that, since her heat has finished.

We do have a full male Pitbull x Red Heeler x another dog breed, but we tried our best to separate them, there was only one night where she was outside with him unsupervised during the time where she could breed…don’t know how long she was outside for, but the little rascal is smart.
But other than that, she was separated from him, and when they were together, they were supervised at all times.

We also have a desexed dog, but he couldn’t do any harm to her. Apart from being a pain in the butt during that time……..

I notice she now has very swollen nipples, and the area beneath the nipples are ‘devolving’ and are not flat like before her heat.
The nipples by her hind legs are also getting hints of pink.

(Im looking here for the early signs of dog pregnancy: https://sykesvillevetclinic.com/dog...ant-the-early-signs-and-what-to-do-if-she-is/ )

I sure hope she is not pregnant. But I think im wrong. I did a lot of research when she was little as to spay her or not, I found a lot of negatives to spaying, so I decided not to get her spayed.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

A vet would be able to confirm pregnancy and go over options with you. They should also be able to give a rough estimate of age based on the length of the fetuses. Options for unwanted litters can include medically induced abortion or spaying the dog (even if she is pregnant). Even if you decide to keep the puppies, the vet can go over what to expect, diet mom and puppies should be on, and vaccination schedules for the pups.

I have found a lot of conflicting information about neutering male dogs and I'm not sure I think it's always medically more appropriate. However, I have found much less conflicting research about the cons of spaying females. Spaying them early (and after first heat is still early enough!) can help greatly reduce the risk of mammary tumors and will pretty much eliminate the possibility of a pyometra (uterine infection) which is very common in unspayed females. The risks of spaying are much lower in prevalence than the risk of not spaying and include things like bleeding after surgery (very rare) and incontinence (often transient due to irritation to the bladder during surgery). In large breed dogs, they can have their stomach secured to the body wall at the same time to help prevent GDV.

I don't make judgements but I do encourage owners that find themselves dealing with unwanted dog litters to learn as much as they can and to make sure that they give the puppies the best start in life. Socializing puppies, knowing when to wean them, and giving them appropriate vaccinations can help that puppy have more success in life.

 

[sannabelle]

Take her to a vet.
If you have an intact male and an intact female in heat and they were outside together then she is pregnant.
Curious what negatives you found about spaying? There are risks involved as with any surgery but far less risks then going through a pregnancy and whelping a litter. Especially a pregnancy from a first heat.
I find it odd that you have no idea how old she is and no idea if she was in heat a week ago or a month ago. Which also means you have no idea when she is due.
She needs to go to a vet to confirm pregnancy, find out how far along she is, if it is too late to abort or not and if she is old enough and healthy enough to survive this.
I am not against having intact dogs or breeding dogs but you have to have some sense about it.
You need to have her spayed.

X2

Owning intact male and female dogs in the same home and expecting them not to breed is ridiculous, sorry. You need to get them fixed. There are millions of mixed breed pups and dogs dying in shelters every day. I work for a rescue, so I get to see this first hand.

Unaltered animals are also difficult to manage and much more likely to run off, get in fights, get hit by cars....

If you want to breed dogs, do it responsibly, and breed dogs that people want to buy that are held to a high standard.

 

[eggbert420]

X2

Owning intact male and female dogs in the same home and expecting them not to breed is ridiculous, sorry. You need to get them fixed. There are millions of mixed breed pups and dogs dying in shelters every day. I work for a rescue, so I get to see this first hand.

Unaltered animals are also difficult to manage and much more likely to run off, get in fights, get hit by cars....

If you want to breed dogs, do it responsibly, and breed dogs that people want to buy that are held to a high standard.

I'm glad humans dont don't live by your standards because we are all mixed breed of some sort. What gives you the right to Tell everyone else how or when to breed their dog. A dog is a dog, companions aren't better if they cost more money. Any breed mixed or pure can give and receive love. Statements like that are ignorant and insulting.

 

[mrsdee]

I would just keep an eye on her then! I've heard of dogs getting a little "morning sick" from pregnancy too

sounds like you might have a pregnant momma on your hands! But like I said earlier I wasn't able to tell for sure until about 3 or 4 weeks into it. If you've never had a litter of pups before, it's an experience! But I wouldn't trade it for the world. The only bit of advise I would give above all others is to get an x-ray once she is about a week away from her expected due date. Ours showed 7 or 8 pups so we knew what to expect if she stopped at only a few. Because that could lead to major issues if she has trouble and you don't know roughly how many she has in there. Good luck!

 

[mrsdee]

If you know what day she was unsupervised with your male I would start that as day 1. Most dogs are pregnant from 60-63 days. Once again, don't let anyone make you feel like a bad person or dog owner. From what you have explained, this was an accidental pregnancy. Mistakes and accidents happen. If you have any more questions as time goes on about her pregnancy (if she is indeed pregnant) please don't hesitate to message me personally. I don't like to judge, I just try to help people out as best I can. If you were considering being a hobby or professional breeder I would say that the above poster (dainerra) has some good insight. But most people who have accidental litters just wanna get through the pregnancy and prevent future ones, either by spay/neuter or by other methods.

 

[dainerra]

for future information, you can get a mismate shot within the first 24 hours to prevent pregnancy

 

[eggbert420]

Has she ever had a litter?

 

[mustangrooster]

No, she has just come off her first heat

 

[eggbert420]

According to the pictures she's been off heat longer than a week.