# Is my dog pregnant



## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

Hello. Before i start please don't shout down my throat about being a BYB as I have had a lot of abuse from other sites. I followed the advise of my vet as he said my dog needed to have a season before e would spay her. So we were doing this when she got out and we lost her for 4 days. Thankfully she was handed to the police and due to her being microchipped they contacted us and we got her back. So now she could be 59-62 days pregnant. She has got bigger in the rib cage, licks her vulva alot, lazy, digs at her bed a little, her teats are only ever so slightly bigger but I can't feel movement in there. Been to vets and they aren't sure and are reluctant to do an X-ray unless they really have to as he said it can damage the puppies if there are any. They say her uterus is enlarged but couldn't feel anything in there. Should her teats be huge by now if she was? There is no liquid coming from them. The vet doesn't seem that worried and told us if nothing happens within a week and half then she is having either a false pregnancy or has absorbed them? But I can't stand the not knowing. I want to do the best for my dog but feel my vet is not helping and advising me as best he can. 
If I figure out how to put photos on here I will show u her.


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## kaisa624 (Mar 5, 2010)

Vets should offer an ultrasound, not an xray...

See if there are any other vets in the area that are more helpful...


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## dexter (Nov 29, 2008)

what area are you?


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## babycham2002 (Oct 18, 2009)

my goodness your vet is rubbish
you cant just sit around waiting to see if puppies pop out, you need to be prepared.
Contact other vets to get an ultrasound
or if we know where you are we may be able to find someone who knows of a sheep scanner near you.

Good luck


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## Devil-Dogz (Oct 4, 2009)

You really need an ultrasound to determin if she is pregnant or not! - what worries me here is the male is unknown and could possibly be bigger than her, which means she may have trouble passing puppies if their big/big heads. That is something that needs to be prepared for you most certainly can not wait and see with this.


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## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

we are in ~Slough in Berkshire. I have contacted another vet this evening (whcih is running out of hours now due to it being a sunday) and they have said to take her in tomorrow at 3pm. 
We never wanted this to happen but as we were informed by the vet that she needed to have a first season before she was spayed we thought this was standard practise. We only want the best for her.
she started her first season late i think as she was 15 mths and i thought they had the first one at 12 months?
So i think she is to young to go through this all. She has changed so much, she is more sleepy and just looks generally unhappy most of the time.
i have tried to include a picture of her on my first post to show you.
The vet i have spoken with today thinks she might be having a false pregnancy but can not be sure without seeing her. There is no liquid coming out of her teats and as i have said before they are only a little bigger than normal, i have seen some pictures on the interent of HUGE teats and surely if she was pregnant she would have big boobies by now? We have not felt any movement of puppies so i am guessing there is notnign in there although the vet did say if there is only one in there she might not look that pregnant and we wont feel anything.
any advice or help out there? any opioins welcome? will have to wait till tomorrow afternoon but i hate waiting! LOL


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## babycham2002 (Oct 18, 2009)

Hopefully she will not be pregnant and you can have her spayed as originally planned
Is this vets going to do a scan?


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## ClaireandDaisy (Jul 4, 2010)

There`s no point trying to put a photo on. 
The only person who will tell you if your dog is prenant is a vet.
I`m a bit surprised you`re trawling forums asking complete strangers this question tbh. I`d be phoning round local vets, personally.


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## lindaslater (Jun 8, 2011)

the worrying thing is that she is 59-62 days? should u not be able to feel them at this point? ur vet doesnt sound like they are helping u much with this! try and have a good feel around to see if u can feel any puppy in there, my dog had pups this morning and it got to the point where we could feel the pups in there sacks, x


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Fingers crossed she isn't pregnant & that you find out as soon as possible
What breed is she?


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## Linden_Tree (Jan 6, 2011)

If she is nearing 63 days, then scanning really would be pointless at this time.

Have you prepared yourselves for if she is in whelp? 

Did your vet not inform you about the mismate jab when you took her in?


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## Devil-Dogz (Oct 4, 2009)

It would not be pointless infact it would be far from pointless. It would confirm pregnancy and 'hopefully' show size of puppies.
mismate cant be given after 42days.


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## lindaslater (Jun 8, 2011)

i really thik u should get urself prapared just incase but i think u would feel em by now if not moving then individual? im no expert tho so dont shoot me down but even when my other dog had a phantom she had milk in her teats and they got big and so did she. but couldnt feel ANYTHING. x


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## Linden_Tree (Jan 6, 2011)

Devil-Dogz said:


> It would not be pointless infact it would be far from pointless. It would confirm pregnancy and 'hopefully' show size of puppies.
> mismate cant be given after 42days.


I would not put a bitch through a stressful procedure so late during pregnancy. Now is the time to be getting her settled and prepared for potential birth. A scan wont prevent any potential problems, and presonally, i'd prepare for the worst and have the vet on call and prepared for a c-section.

Im well aware of the mismate jab and its administration. I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that the op went to the vets when they first picked their dog up as they knew she was in season when she went missing. So surely pregnancy must have crossed their minds.


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## lindaslater (Jun 8, 2011)

Linden_Tree said:


> I would not put a bitch through a stressful procedure so late during pregnancy. Now is the time to be getting her settled and prepared for potential birth. A scan wont prevent any potential problems, and presonally, i'd prepare for the worst and have the vet on call and prepared for a c-section.
> 
> Im well aware of the mismate jab and its administration. I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that the op went to the vets when they first picked their dog up as they knew she was in season when she went missing. So surely pregnancy must have crossed their minds.


sorry but i think ur very rude! u have just commented on my thread being very up front and inconsiderate! this lady is purely just asking for advice and ur not giving her any at all, ur just being nasty and shooting her down


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## MrRustyRead (Mar 14, 2011)

an ultrasound would be the best option


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## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

She is a chocolate Labrador and I have rung another vet but if a so called professional is telling you to take one course of action then surely you can not look down on me for taking their advise? Would you question the advise of a doctor if you had no information regarding a condition you had? the only reason i have come to these sites is because i started to wonder about her teats as i assumed they would be large and have seen pictures of huge teats and i got worried. The vet tomorrow said they will give her an ultra sound if he cant feel anything to make sure and said if it was clear we can scedule a spaying for next week. He to said not to worry as larger dogs can go up to 68 days without needing intervention from us and she could only be 58 days.
Also someone mentioned a sheep scanner? do they scan dogs as well then? i dont think we have any farms near here so probably wouldnt be one near here.


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## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

just reading through all the replys and trying to answer them all. thanks for the person for sticking up for me! 
To be honest pregnancy didnt cross our minds as we here just so happy to have her back home with us and as she was no longer bleeding we just forgot i guess (probably irrisponsible but was just so so happy to have her home). it was a good few weeks beofre it crossed our minds about pregnancy and as soon as we thought about this we took her to the vet (the vet that i am starting to feel needs to go and research dogs a little more after reading things on here!). he had a good feel of her and said her uterous was enlarged but couldnt feel any walnut sized bumps which would indicate puppies but could have been to late as they would be covered in fluid?
he never once mentioned ending the pregnancy and to be honest i dont really like the thought of putting her through that (i am sure some of you on here will judge me for that to)
All i want is the best for my baby


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## kaisa624 (Mar 5, 2010)

Sheep scanners are better than vet scanners in detecting pups in the womb. Slough is only about an hour from me, but if you try to get hold of any other vets in the area to get a scan done, that way you will be more prepared as to how many pups she may or may not be having.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Ellamaeellamae said:


> just reading through all the replys and trying to answer them all. thanks for the person for sticking up for me!
> To be honest pregnancy didnt cross our minds as we here just so happy to have her back home with us and as she was no longer bleeding we just forgot i guess (probably irrisponsible but was just so so happy to have her home). it was a good few weeks beofre it crossed our minds about pregnancy and as soon as we thought about this we took her to the vet (the vet that i am starting to feel needs to go and research dogs a little more after reading things on here!). he had a good feel of her and said her uterous was enlarged but couldnt feel any walnut sized bumps which would indicate puppies but could have been to late as they would be covered in fluid?
> he never once mentioned ending the pregnancy and to be honest i dont really like the thought of putting her through that (i am sure some of you on here will judge me for that to)
> All i want is the best for my baby


Its because a lot of people on here are really passionate about animals & their welfare, there's currently a massive rescue crisis & more puppies just means more homes will need to be found, don't take it personally


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## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

we have made a whelping box for her just incase which we have lined with newspaper and last night she has ripped all the paper up so i guess she doesnt want it in there.
We went out and got all the stuff that is on the whelping kit posts on here so if anything does happen we are ready.
i have read that we should take her temperature from now so we are going to do that in a while to see if that is normal.
So these vets scan are 100% accurate? they will be able to tell me wont they?


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## lindaslater (Jun 8, 2011)

just thought i would say that we got our dog just over six weeks ago and the lady we got her from sai she was on her season about 2 or 3 weeks before we got her, we dod not no she was pregnant until we noticed her gettin a bit bigger, i asked around what people thought and they said that maybe we are over feeding her, we then realised she was pregnant as we could feel the dogs moving but even the day she was goin into whelp she was playing with our other dog so her temperment didnt really change much.

it is worrying not knowing if she is or if she isnt, especially with us as we got her and she was so skinng u wouldnt have thought she was pregnant! but ripping of paper could be a sign she is gettin ready for whelping,
my dog had pups this morning so if u want to ask anything then go ahead as my mind is still fresh from when she had her pups.

maybe read both my threads of pregnant dog and her temperature (as we took her temp when we definately new she was pregnant) and my other thread lexi's day x 

hope i can help in any way, im no expert but as i say she had pups this morning everything is still fresh in my mind x


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## vizzy24 (Aug 31, 2008)

Judging by her picture she does look a little full in her stomach, but its hard to tell without a picture of her before to compare it. The vet will be able to tell you the accuracy but tbh at this late in her pregnancy I imagine if everything goes to plan she could tell you a yes or no. Have you tried to feel for movement? Does she normally dig? How old is she? Have you any idea on the fathers size?


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## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

she is nearly 18mth old and as she escaped for 4 days we have no idea about the father (if there is one) or fathers for that matter as i have been informed they can have muliple fathers.
we have tried sitting for hours with our hands on her stomach but have olny really felt the odd gurgling of the stomach really. i dont want to push to hard just incase.
Hopefully tomorrow will enlighten us more and there are no babies and spaying can go ahead as planned (with this other vet that seems a little more helpful than the first)
but if things turn out that there are pups at least we are ready and i know there are lots of you on here that can help if i need 
with regards to the pic and the last post i read she has got alot bigger than she use to be (we use to be able to feel her ribs and you cant now) and her nipples are a little bigger but not huge. i guess i am wondereing if their teats have to be all puffy and four times the size as normal by this stage?


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## lindaslater (Jun 8, 2011)

This is my dog lexi in whelp.


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## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

her teats dont look overly big either? or is that just how she is laying. what dog is she? she looks beautiful


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## lindaslater (Jun 8, 2011)

her teats didnt get massive just pointier i guess, when she was in whelp they seemd to go erect and then obviously when she had the puppies they are now really big and saggy full of milk  she is a SBT. love her to bits, only had her just over 6 weeks n now we have 4 more! x


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## vizzy24 (Aug 31, 2008)

They dont always get milk before, some do and some get it when the pups are born. Their nipples get bigger but again this can depend on the individual dog. Can you get a pic of her standing? or on her back


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## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

gosh you have your hands full!
I bet they are just adorable.


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## lindaslater (Jun 8, 2011)

they are gorgeous! 
yea like the other lady said some dont produce milk till after but my dog produced a few days before, it all depends on the dog, its like humans all are different with pregnancy x


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## Guest (Jun 12, 2011)

lindaslater said:


> the worrying thing is that she is 59-62 days? should u not be able to feel them at this point? ur vet doesnt sound like they are helping u much with this! try and have a good feel around to see if u can feel any puppy in there, my dog had pups this morning and it got to the point where we could feel the pups in there sacks, x


Surely feeling around for puppies is dangerous if you are a novice. The op said that she is taking her to the vet tomorrow so hopefully they are going to be scanning her to find out one way or another. I hope the outcome is that she is not pregnant and that you can book her in for a spay as soon as its possible to do so.


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## lindaslater (Jun 8, 2011)

no i never push around to feel for a puppy, all i would need to do i rest my hand on her belly and i would feel them moving, i would never push around to feel for anything. 
They moved that much you could even see it through her belly without even touching her x


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## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

i cant get her to roll on her back. but managed to get this pic of her side. but its not a great one.
We keep looking at her and one minute we think we see something moving and the next we think she doesnt even look pregnant at all!! so who knows! it might all be in our heads!


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## xoxkaykxox (May 13, 2011)

sit with her and rest your palm on her side really really gently, no pressure at all while shes sleeping you might have to stay their for a while, i did it for half an hour before i felt it but you can feel little gentle like flicks on your hand and as the pups get bigger you will feel like a rolling sensation under your hand. That was a tip i got from someone on here when i didnt know if my dog was pregnant or not or how far she might be x


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## vizzy24 (Aug 31, 2008)

From the pics it doesnt look obvious. You are doing the right thing getting her checked out at the vet Fingers crossed that she is not but you never know it could be a singleton or she could have a small litter she is carrying up high. Keep us posted on how she gets on


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## reddogs (Feb 6, 2009)

Good luck tomorrow at the vets

thing is you don't know so you need to be sure and it doesn't help you if people are unhelpful and for those that criticise, this forum can be very helpful if you ignore the nay sayers especially when you are not sure and want tome reassurance

she is a lab so if she was as far on as you think then I would imagine she would be looking quite big by now BUT if she only has one or two pups then I guess it wouldn't be that obvious, she was under a load of stress being lost so who knows

Don't be too upset if the vet says no tomorrow, it wasn't something you had planned although I guess now you have been getting excited in the back of your mind, it is a lot of hard work even when you are expecting it - as you can see from some of the current threads running


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## momentofmadness (Jul 19, 2008)

Ellamaeellamae said:


> i cant get her to roll on her back. but managed to get this pic of her side. but its not a great one.
> We keep looking at her and one minute we think we see something moving and the next we think she doesnt even look pregnant at all!! so who knows! it might all be in our heads!


Just a couple of questions.. Ive had a quick read.. have you shaved her belly?

You say she doesn't particularly look pregnant.. Is there a possibility of Pyrometry (sp) Or some sort of infection..

And I know you will have said but how far gone do you think she is?

And good luck at the vets tomorrow.. x


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## vizzy24 (Aug 31, 2008)

How did you get on?


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## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

Hi all. Well went to vet today and there are no puppys in there. So have scheduled a spaying for Friday. 
We had shaved her belly ( to answer a previous post) as she had so much hair down there the vet (the one that doesn't sound like he knew what was doing) told us to as it would be hard for any potnetial babies to find the teats. 
The vet today has heard other customers not being satisfied with the other vet and switching to them so I guess it wasn't just me he gave rubbish advice to. 
Thanks for all your help and advise


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## reddogs (Feb 6, 2009)

I hope you aren't too disappointed about there being no puppies

Good job you have found a sensible vet are you going to change now?

and shaving her! - the hair falls out so the babies can easily find the nipples and even if it doesn't it could be sorted out if necessary


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## vizzy24 (Aug 31, 2008)

Thats great news at least you can relax and enjoy your girl now


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## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

Yes we have switched vets now and it's such a relief to be able to move on and get my lounge back!! I guess it would have been nice to have a few babies around the house but then I thought about how they don't stay babies for long and couldn't imagen a few brandies jumping all over the place! So not disappointed!!


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## swarthy (Apr 24, 2010)

Ellamaeellamae said:


> Hi all. Well went to vet today and there are no puppys in there. So have scheduled a spaying for Friday.


She is being spayed during a phantom? this isn't commonplace and I know of people who have encountered problems with their bitches as a result of doing this.



Ellamaeellamae said:


> Yes we have switched vets now and it's such a relief to be able to move on and get my lounge back!! I guess it would have been nice to have a few babies around the house but then I thought about how they don't stay babies for long and couldn't imagen a few brandies jumping all over the place! So not disappointed!!


I am glad she isn't pregnant and this has been confirmed - you would have been bringing unknown cross-breeds from unhealth-tested parents into the world while simultaneously placing your girls life at risk - litter sizes could also be a couple - but could be 10 + puppies to care for, raise, feed etc - no mean feat.

===========================

It does seem you have been poorly advised all the way along - when your bitch went missing during her season (and some bitches will actively seek out a mate) and then was found (well done for microchipping - good to know the system can work) - someone should have advised you then to get her to a vet and get her the mismate jab to be on the safe side.


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## comfortcreature (Oct 11, 2008)

Glad to know all is well with your girl.

Please do not spay during a phantom.

My own father took bad advice and did this, and he had a toy breed girl that scratched and dug and snuck under couches or beds and nested with beany toys for the better part of four years following her spay. She was the extreme of what can happen and there are some dogs that have no ill effects, but it is not a chance that I would advise taking.

CC


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## mia'smum (Sep 10, 2010)

Hi, just caught up with this thread. I'm so glad of the outcome! Not knowing the dad could have been disasterous for your girl.
I agree with the no spay during a phantom, it can drive them nuts for a while.
Mia had one and produced milk and everything. When the vet okayed her operation we booked her in but she came into season again 2 days before she was due to go in so they couldn't do it!
Woody jumped out of a window (downstairs) to get to her and we ended up with a litter of 7 spots!


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## mia'smum (Sep 10, 2010)

Just to add - mine have all been "done" now!!


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## Ellamaeellamae (Jun 12, 2011)

Hi again.
after reading your posts about spaying during phantom i rang the vet and told him my concerns and he to thinks it is best to wait till she has got rid of all symptoms (i thought it would be best to do it asap and i booked the spaying in) but after talking to him and being told what can happen we have put the spaying back at least 2 weeks till she is 100% back to her lovley bubbley self
xx


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