Pregnant dog advice

dee1983

Hi,

I am looking for some advice re a pregnant dog, please. I have two male dogs also. I took in the female from an elderly neighbour who had gone into a nursing home. Shortly after she went into heat and unfortunately, only my older dog was neutered at the time and I'm pretty sure Lucy is now pregnant.

I have an appointment for Friday with the vet to confirm, if possible, but I'm really looking for some advice re care of Lucy if she is pregnant.

I have only ever had male dogs before so this would be all new to me.

I am wondering should I put Lucy on a special food, does she need any extra vitamins, are there any precautions I should take?

Any advice on the birth, things I need to do, things I need to look out for and the after care of both Lucy and any pups would be greatly appreciated.

Also, is there any possibility my two male dogs would become jealous of the pups after they are born? Do I need to keep them completely away from the pups?

Sorry for so many questions but I'm pretty terrified of something going wrong.

Knine

Firstly work out when she was in heat & then you can calculate when the puppies will be born. Did you just leave the dogs together when she was in heat?

You can put her onto a good quality puppy food when she is in her second mth of pregnancy. By this I don't mean supermarket or vet recommended food. Have a look at Zooplus or Dogfooddirect. At this stage I also add in beef, chicken & eggs. I give no extra vitamins.

You need to get a safe whelping area away from the other dogs & indoors. Depending on the size of the bitch you may also need puppy rails (a rail around the inside of the whelping box to prevent a bitch rolling on her babies). A whelping box can be made or a large cardboard box with a small lip at the front will do. I usually put the whelping box insude a puppy pen especially when there are other dogs in the house. Start getting the bitch used to this area in the 2 weeks before you expect puppies.

Keep your other dogs well away from her when the puppies are young as she could well attack & injure them. She will be very protective for the first few weeks.

Don't have a stream of visitors either when puppies are very young. What size is the father of the puppies & what type of dogs are they? What age is the mother?

Start saving now. Save newspapers & save lots of money. An emergency C Section out of hours can cost an awful lot of money. Please do not rehome any of these puppies as Christmas presents - even to friends who 'promise' to look after them.

Lastly go out & get a copy of "The Book of the Bitch"

The care of new puppies is a whole other topic. The very best of luck!

Speedwell

If it only just happened, and you really don't want to deal with puppies, get Lucy spayed. It is safe to spay even in early pregnancy. If you don't know whether or not she is pregnant, the vet can test her (don't use a human pregnancy test as they don't work for dogs).

borderlinemeath

What size/breed is she, and what size is your male unneutered dog? If there's a big discrepancy in sizes - ie she's a JRT and your dog is a lab it could kill her to whelp oversize pups.

Bunnyslippers

I'd get her booked in for an emergency Spey, there are enough unwanted puppies about not to mention the cost of rearing a litter can run into a couple of grand and that's if all goes well, an emergency Spey will cost well over a grand, plus the risk of loosing the bitch or having to hand rear pups if she rejects them. It is very expensive and time consuming - you'd need to take a good six weeks off work as pups need 24/7 care! Then there is the nightmare of trying to find suitable homes! Or if it's early enough and she's only recently been mated she could still get the mismate jab - ask your vet, she will still need to be speyed though. You have to think also can you cope with having to keep an entire litter of pups if no one wants them as the rescues are full to bursting?!!

sillysmiles

Depending on how early she is, if she is in pup, talk to your vet about seeing if you can get her injected to throw the litter.

Jen Pigs Fly

I would be of the same opinion - if it's early, get her spayed and rid of pups.
Way too many puppies and dogs in shelters and pounds ... It's best for the bitch and pups to get her neutered now and terminate the pregnancy.

dee1983

Thanks so much for all of your helpful advice. I already use dogfooddirect for the food. I have them all on the Champion premium grain free range. Is it okay to keep Lucy on a grain free food?

I think Lucy was in heat about 5 weeks ago. I'm pretty sure that the only time the dogs were together was when I had left them with the Babysitter/dogsitter and when I returned she had said that she had let them out in the back yard together unsupervised.

Lucy is a Westie mix and Rolo (the unneutered male) is a Bichon so there is not much difference in size.

The reasons why I think Lucy is pregnant is she has gained a lot of weight and her nipples have become a lot bigger. She has also become more solitary and keeps finding spots to be on her own away from the other two dogs. Also, her stools have been looser.

I think it would be too late to get Lucy spayed now but I'm open to advice.

The only place I could reasonably keep Lucy and any pups away from the two male dogs would be the downstairs toilet which is quite small. That's also a great idea about the puppy pen.

sillysmiles

Have you asked a Vet for advice on your options regarding the pregnancy, before working for the cost and contingencies required to whelp and rehome a litter of pups.

Bunnyslippers

Agree with the above, ask your vet about your options, if it were my dog I would get an emergency Spey which is still doable at this stage, don't put it off any longer, you've waited for five weeks for whatever reason before doing anything so get this sorted this week!

A downstairs toilet is not suitable, puppies need space and make a huge amount of mess, and you need to be able to keep an eye on them all the time, shutting them in a little room is not ok. If needs be and you are determined to go ahead with this litter, which as you've waited 5 weeks says you want them, then you need to get sorted now, a whelping box, bottle feeding kit, several pieces of vet bed as we had to change ours at least three times a day etc, the Book Of The Bitch is a good read. I'd find someone to take your two other dogs for the eight weeks or so, if space is limited, or even boarding kennels so the bitch is left alone and doesn't feel threatened.

You need high quality food like Taste of the Wild puppy food, you need to get the bitch on this over the next week or so, a bit of goats milk in the last week or two can just pep them up a bit too, but as with anything introduce gradually.
She needs to be up to date with wormer and vaccinations, when the puppies arrive they'll need the same good quality puppy food from about three weeks old onwards, plus wormed regularly etc. - speak to the vet or find an experienced breeder to advise you. You need to have someone around 24/7 just incase she has trouble delivering or with sitting on a pup you'll need to do this for weeks, I slept in a camp bed next to mine for the first four weeks, but my bitch got fed up with them after this so we did the rest!

Finding homes will be very hard as they are mixed breed pups and people are now more aware of buying from backyard breeders/puppy farmers and 'accidental' litters so be prepared to have to vaccinate, chip (which you have to do by law now before they are sold) and possibly neuter, if you still have them at 6 months old, the whole litter if no one wants them.
Plus you need to be extra careful as it'll be coming upto Xmas and folk will buy pups as presents or on a whim and they'll end up coming back to you when they get bored of them - as a breeder you are responsible for those pups for their entire lives and should take any back for whatever reason in the future, which could mean dogs with issues if they haven't been treated well, you need to draw up contracts saying any pups will be neutered to stop this happening again!

But seriously get your vet on the phone today and get all your options as you only have 4 weeks or less left!!

tk123

OP are you planning on selling the pups or rehoming them for free? You seem pretty much resigned to the fact the dog will be having the pups rather than take advice and go to a vet?

Knine

I'd say finding homes for them will be no problem as they appear to be designer crosses, should be in good time for the Christmas market too

I have a bitch coming out of heat. All week long I have been telling people in no uncertain terms not to let my male near her..............

sillysmiles

Knine wrote: »

they appear to be designer crosses, should be in good time for the Christmas market too

I hope that was not the intention, but it is so sad really.

cocker5

Knine wrote: »

I'd say finding homes for them will be no problem as they appear to be designer crosses, should be in good time for the Christmas market too

I have a bitch coming out of heat. All week long I have been telling people in no uncertain terms not to let my male near her..............

My very first thought when i saw the breeds concerned...:rolleyes:

dee1983

sillysmiles wrote: »

Have you asked a Vet for advice on your options regarding the pregnancy, before working for the cost and contingencies required to whelp and rehome a litter of pups.

Hi, not yet as the appointment for the vet is not until Friday as that's the soonest time I had free. I will be asking all these questions now that I know what to ask. I didn't even know an emergency spay was an option.

dee1983

Bunnyslippers wrote: »

Agree with the above, ask your vet about your options, if it were my dog I would get an emergency Spey which is still doable at this stage, don't put it off any longer, you've waited for five weeks for whatever reason before doing anything so get this sorted this week!

A downstairs toilet is not suitable, puppies need space and make a huge amount of mess, and you need to be able to keep an eye on them all the time, shutting them in a little room is not ok. If needs be and you are determined to go ahead with this litter, which as you've waited 5 weeks says you want them, then you need to get sorted now, a whelping box, bottle feeding kit, several pieces of vet bed as we had to change ours at least three times a day etc, the Book Of The Bitch is a good read. I'd find someone to take your two other dogs for the eight weeks or so, if space is limited, or even boarding kennels so the bitch is left alone and doesn't feel threatened.

You need high quality food like Taste of the Wild puppy food, you need to get the bitch on this over the next week or so, a bit of goats milk in the last week or two can just pep them up a bit too, but as with anything introduce gradually.
She needs to be up to date with wormer and vaccinations, when the puppies arrive they'll need the same good quality puppy food from about three weeks old onwards, plus wormed regularly etc. - speak to the vet or find an experienced breeder to advise you. You need to have someone around 24/7 just incase she has trouble delivering or with sitting on a pup you'll need to do this for weeks, I slept in a camp bed next to mine for the first four weeks, but my bitch got fed up with them after this so we did the rest!

Finding homes will be very hard as they are mixed breed pups and people are now more aware of buying from backyard breeders/puppy farmers and 'accidental' litters so be prepared to have to vaccinate, chip (which you have to do by law now before they are sold) and possibly neuter, if you still have them at 6 months old, the whole litter if no one wants them.
Plus you need to be extra careful as it'll be coming upto Xmas and folk will buy pups as presents or on a whim and they'll end up coming back to you when they get bored of them - as a breeder you are responsible for those pups for their entire lives and should take any back for whatever reason in the future, which could mean dogs with issues if they haven't been treated well, you need to draw up contracts saying any pups will be neutered to stop this happening again!

But seriously get your vet on the phone today and get all your options as you only have 4 weeks or less left!!

Thanks for all of your helpful advice. I will ask the vet on Friday all these questions as I've said previously I'm pretty clueless as regards to all this. I didn't even know an emergency spay was an option. I just thought I'd ask for some advice here as I know my vet won't have time to answer all of the questions I have and knowing me I'll forget to ask half of them.

Being honest, this sounds terrible but I didn't put it together until the weekend as I've been so distracted. My brother died approx 5 weeks ago and my dad has cancer took a bad turn and was in hospital for the last 3 weeks. It was only over the weekend that I thought she may be pregnant and I was trying to work out if and when it could of happened as I was keeping them separated. The only time that it could of happened was when my neighbour was babysitting / dogsitting the day of my brothers funeral as my niece was minding them all of the other times whilst I was up at the hospital with my dad. I asked my neighbour saturday when I finally copped on that Lucy wasn't herself and she had said that she had let them all out together in the yard.

dee1983

tk123 wrote: »

OP are you planning on selling the pups or rehoming them for free? You seem pretty much resigned to the fact the dog will be having the pups rather than take advice and go to a vet?

I'm not resigned to the fact that she will be having pups. I have an appointment for Friday but I didn't know that there was such a thing as a spay whilst pregnant. As I've said previously I've never owned a female dog before precisely because whilst I love my dogs I've never wanted to breed puppies. I will be asking the vet about the spay but only if it will cause no harm to Lucy.

DBB

Jeez op... Sorry to hear of the personal difficulties you've been having. Very tough times for you.

With mod hat on now, sometimes it's best to wait for more information before jumping to conclusions folks.

dee1983

Knine wrote: »

I'd say finding homes for them will be no problem as they appear to be designer crosses, should be in good time for the Christmas market too

I have a bitch coming out of heat. All week long I have been telling people in no uncertain terms not to let my male near her..............

If you'd read my post you'd know that Lucy wasn't mine originally. I took her in from am an elderly neighbour who was going into a nursing home. I thought I was doing the right thing rather than seeing her sitting in a pound waiting to be rehomed. I've never owned a female before and had no intention of ever owning one. It definitely wasn't intentional as believe me this is the last thing I need in my life right now. I came on here looking for advice so that I can do the right thing. As for your hints at designer breeds. Maybe my bichons could be classed as designer but I definitely would not class Lucy as designer. She is some sort of mixed breed. According to my neighbour when I first moved in he thought she was a westie mix but she doesn't look like one to me for starters she's a light brown shade and her ears flop down and her hair has a sort of crimp to it. Best she could be described as funky looking. But then I didn't take her in for her looks.

dee1983

DBB wrote: »

Jeez op... Sorry to hear of the personal difficulties you've been having. Very tough times for you.

With mod hat on now, sometimes it's best to wait for more information before jumping to conclusions folks.

Thanks. It's been a very difficult time. I've been stretched in all directions. I should have noticed before but my mind was elsewhere. Given the choice I wouldn't have a female with having male dogs but I'd grown quite fond of her as I'd walk her along with my two when her owner grew too ill. I feel a bit better knowing that I might have the option of getting her spayed when I speak to thr vet on Friday. I'm working part time and with all the time off I've had to take off recently and with caring for my dad Friday is the first opportunity I had free this week for an appointment with the vet.

DBB

In fairness to the others op, we've had people posting here before essentially looking for help in rearing the designer pups they were deliberately producing for the Christmas puppy market, so once you mentioned a westie x and Bichon, and given that this is the prime time to mate a bitch for the Christmas puppy market, I can see why others feared the worst, so thank you for clarifying the position.

At a push, and depending on the vet, and in my experience, a bitch can be spayed up to max 5 weeks of pregnancy, which is about the time she'd be starting to "show". But certainly have a candid chat with your vet about it, because if you decide to go ahead and let her whelp, you've your work cut out When done well, it's exhausting, frustrating, exhausting, annoying, exhausting, and brilliant!

dee1983

DBB wrote: »

In fairness to the others op, we've had people posting here before essentially looking for help in rearing the designer pups they were deliberately producing for the Christmas puppy market, so once you mentioned a westie x and Bichon, and given that this is the prime time to mate a bitch for the Christmas puppy market, I can see why others feared the worst, so thank you for clarifying the position.

At a push, and depending on the vet, and in my experience, a bitch can be spayed up to max 5 weeks of pregnancy, which is about the time she'd be starting to "show". But certainly have a candid chat with your vet about it, because if you decide to go ahead and let her whelp, you've your work cut out When done well, it's exhausting, frustrating, exhausting, annoying, exhausting, and brilliant!

Thanks for the advice. I really hope it's not too late when I speak to the vet and bring Lucy in. I have absolutely no experience with females or new puppies and the timing is terrible. I'll post back after my appointment friday. Thanks again.

andreac

Firstly, very sorry to hear of the loss of your brother.

Another thing to ask, how old is the bitch do you know? If shes quite old then it could also be risky for her to go through labour and try rear puppies. So the safest option might be the emergency spay.

dee1983

andreac wrote: »

Firstly, very sorry to hear of the loss of your brother.

Another thing to ask, how old is the bitch do you know? If shes quite old then it could also be risky for her to go through labour and try rear puppies. So the safest option might be the emergency spay.

Hi, I'm not sure exactly. Her original owner said he thought she was just about 2 year's when he was given her when his wife died. That was about 3 years ago. She would be about 5 now if he was right. Can the vet tell how old a dog is?

andreac

dee1983 wrote: »

Hi, I'm not sure exactly. Her original owner said he thought she was just about 2 year's when he was given her when his wife died. That was about 3 years ago. She would be about 5 now if he was right. Can the vet tell how old a dog is?

Ah ok, well 5 isn't too old then. Yeah they would have a fair idea of age by looking at her.

dee1983

I just thought I'd get back to everyone who posted.

I visited the vet earlier and it's great news, well for me anyhow. Apparently, it's a phantom pregnancy. I've never heard of it. The vet said that Lucy is not pregnant. She took some bloods to make sure that there is nothing else going on but she said that a phantom pregnancy is pretty common. She said that dogs can have all the symptoms of a real pregnancy but not actually be pregnant.

She also said that it is best to wait to spay until the phantom pregnancy is over as it can make it last longer if they do it now. She said that in most cases that it goes away but to bring Lucy back if the symptoms don't resolve and they can give her something to help.

It's an absolute huge relief, the best news I've had in awhile.

If anybody else has experienced this with their dog I'd love to hear from them.

DBB

Oh lordy op, that's kinda funny, but also makes me feel very sympathetic for the little thing
Your vet is spot on, you're better to wait until she's well over her pseudopregnancy, but also well before she comes in heat again, so you're looking at spaying her in around about 3 months or so.
She may think she has pups soon, and may start nesting and gathering toys ("pups") around her. She *may* also get a bit narky with you or the other dogs if ye go too near her "pups". If this happens, it's the hormone prolactin that's driving the aggression, and your vet will need to give her a jab to terminate the production of prolactin prior to neutering her.
The good news is that neutering is the ultimate cure for false pregnancies!

dee1983

I'm feeling sorry for her now (kind of lol). She thinks she's going to have pups and there's going to be nothing for her. Would she really see toys as her pups? It sounds a bit crazy, that she could have all the symptoms but not be pregnant. I've certainly had a reprieve.

Definitely, neutering as soon as it's safe to do so!

borderlinemeath

My female used to have phantom pregnancies, and yes, she would gather her favourite toys and go and mope in a corner for a couple of weeks! We got her spayed after we got our second dog. He was neutered anyway, but she was aggressive towards him during her phantom pregnancy so it was necessary to get her spayed.