Normal pregnant dog behavior?

[QChickieMama]

Our English Springer Spaniel has been bred a few weeks ago, and now we are seeing puzzling behavior. Why does she shiver much of the time, like when she's sleeping, every time she inhales her muscles twitch. Her appetite is down. Her energy is down. She eats the fresh grass every time we let her outside if we don't carefully prevent it, and then she throws up about once per day but it's usually just grass and bile, not food.

She's 7yo and in excellent health, a highly trained hunting dog. Does this all seem like normal pregnant behavior?

 

[alexa009]

When was the last time she was in heat? Was there ever a male around since that period? I had the same problem with my dog although she wasn't pregnant she had swallowed and digested too much meat and even once chewed up her ham bone and ate it and I noticed lately She ended shivering after that. We never gave her a ham bone again after that. That is what can cause death in dogs and at least ours was lucky.

 

[OkieChickenGal]

Sounds like she has morning sickness.
(Yes, dogs get morning sickness ) They usually get it after a few weeks of being pregnant.The symptoms are a loss of appetite, and vomiting throughout the day. So yes, this is normal behavior

 

[pennyJo1960]

she is 7 has she been bread before this ? she could have the onset of eclampsia more prevalent in Springers

 

[Cyprus]

Dogs eat grass when they have an upset stomach. As for the rest, I don't know if it's normal behavior.

 

[SugarGroveFarm]

7 is pretty old to breed a dog could possible be age related as even though she's in good health she's not in her prime and her body might not be handling the stress of puppies very well, try switching her dog food. Is she still eating adult food or is she on puppy? If she isn't on puppy food I would switch her over as it is much more nutritious and higher in calories so it will support her and the puppies and it will help with milk production a change in dog food might also help want to eat more again as dogs are just like us and they can get tired of the same dog food everyday. I would also try adding canned food to her normal food to make her want to eat, a pregnant dog should eat more than normal just like a person and by the end of her gestation and while she's nursing she should have slowly worked her way up to eating 3 times the calories that she normally would These are just some general tips for pregnant dogs especially since she's an older dog she'll need some extra help. As for the shaking in her sleep and eating and puking up grass I would at least call your vet and tell them the symptoms and I highly recommend taking her in for a check up to make sure nothing is wrong with her or the puppies. A trip to the vet is always good because nothing is worth the risk of losing her or her unborn pups.

 

[SugarGroveFarm]

The beginning of the pregnancy is the most important just like in a person there could be something really wrong with her or the pups since shaking can be a sign of a fever and eating grass is a sign of sickness so I would take her to the vet as soon as they can get her in and do anything you can to make her eat it is definitely not normal for a pregnant dog that is already a couple weeks in to have a slower appetite I would have her looked at by the vet and make sure nothing serious is going on

 

[theoldchick]

Due to her age, I would have her checked by a Vet. Also investigate the stud's health status. There are certain STDs that must be ruled out before a dog is put up for stud. When I bred Dobermans, I rarely bred past the age of five. And from what you are describing here, I would suspect an early case of pyometra. If so, this needs to be treated immediately before you have a true emergency situation. Good luck with her. Your hunting champion deserves best.

 

[QChickieMama]

She was professionally dual bred by AI vet with a frozen sample from a champion plus a sample from our 5yo ESS. First breeding. We have started adding cooked liver to her regular dry food plus 1/3 can wet food. She carefully picks out the liver and only eats that. I'm going to dice it smaller today.

We took her in at 20 days: no fever, no suspicious blood labs, too early to see puppies via ultrasound. Planning another U/S at 30 days with a different more skilled vet.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Did your vet say 7 is way past a age to breed and springer's are high risk for eclampsia