I wanted to know if you think it’s possible for a very small 6kg male dog to breed with a large 25kg female dog unaided. My girl was in contact with a very small dog while in heat but would it even be physically possible for him to mount her on his own. My husband was left in charge while I was at work and they were together for a couple of hours. Could she be pregnant

I think u will find a determined pair can manage yes. Others with more experience will give u more information but if its likley she is pregnant then thinking about using alzin which will stop the pregnancy and prevent a clearly unwanted litter.

Yes, it is certainly physically possible.

Yes it's entirely possible.

My husband has only just admitted this to me and we had a few choice words. This would have been about 6 and a half weeks ago. She doesn’t look pregnant she has been quite tired but other than that nothing. I will be going straight to the vet next week when they open. I fear the only option now would be to get her spayed which means my carefully planned breeding I postponed due to Covid and deciding now is not the time to mate her is all ruined. I could bloody swing for him, I only trusted him for a few hours while I was at work.

One of our postets resvued a large breed bitch who turned out to be pregnant.

The only male she had been in vontact with was a male Chihuahua.

The rescuer had her doubts, but as the pups developed (now adult), it became obvious that they were sired by the Chihuahua!!!

I would have her scanned, and hope for a small litter.

Seems a shame to abandon breeding plans if she is a good bitch.

Assuming there are no health issues likely in the pairing then rearing them can be a dummy run for her.

These days it is not difficult to home crossbred pups, not ideal, but better than the option of wasting her potential..

Thanks everyone she will be straight off for a scan next week. I’m so cross, I could of easily sorted it if he had said straight away, she could of had the mismate jab, job done. She really doesn’t look pregnant but I worry as she has such a deep chest and I would assume puppy’s would be smaller than I would expect if she had been breed with the correct dog so they could hide. Fingers crossed she’s not pregnant and everything will be fine.

Brainless:> as the pups developed (now adult), it became obvious that they were sired by the Chihuahua!!!

Not a great outcome of crossbred Puppies but what you posted has given me a picture in my head that makes me giggle at the thought of the visual performance hee hee!

Those of us following pups de development and guessing potential parentage found it amazing, but it became blatantly obvious that it was the case.

We are talking of a bitch of around 22 - 24 inches at shoulder.

I have to admit I would never have guessed that particular combination myself!

I had a large breed bitch who was on day 28 of her season.  We had just got back from seeing the vet, as I was concerned that she was still bleeding.  He was happy that she had nothing wrong with her.

I let all the Chihuahuas up the garden for a wee and came back into the kitchen to put the kettle on.  Maisey was laid on the floor with a Long Coat Chihuahua on her back.  I said "Maisey, what are you doing?"  Maisey stood up and they were tied.  He was dangling in mid air with his little paws waving.  I had to hold him in the air for 17 minutes until the tie ended.

9 weeks later Maisey had 7 gorgeous puppies.  Really pretty little ones.  Not one grew bigger than a Chihuahua.  I still have 2 bitches here, they are 9 years old now, and cute as can be.  I knew that they couldn't be used for breeding, after all, they still had mum's big dog genes.  But, as pets, they are fantastic.

I agree with others, yes it is 100% possible!

JeanSW:

> Maisey was laid on the floor with a Long Coat Chihuahua on her back.
> He was dangling in mid air with his little paws waving.  I had to hold him in the air for 17 minutes until the tie ended.

OMG! Hilarious!  Maybe it's just me or the sherry while preparing the veg but please stop - my ribs are sore laughing at the thought!
I've seen many a tie but never the sire's paws dangling!

It's ok, you're not the only person who laughed.

I told one of the lady vets at the Veterinary Hospital about it.  She was fine in front of me.  It was the following week when one of the partners told me that she was telling other vets while in the operating theatre.  She was hysterical laughing and wet her drawers!!!!

JeanSW what breed was the Mum?

JeanSW:  Tena Lady required - maybe two?  Think I should put them on Santa's last minute stocking list ...

Collie cross Barbara

Ooh! 7 little Mouse herders

ROFL!!!

Out of interest who did they take after most behaviour/temperament wise?

The 4 Collie Cross Elkhounds I dealt with were very much Collie, perhaps with a more stubborn streak.

I was told by a Collie person that nearly all Collie first crosses need to be treated/trained like Collies.

They were obedient and laid back.  To be fair, I've always done obedience with the Bearded Collies and the Border Collies.  So, no way would I accept a Chi that didn't recall.  They have never been treated as handbag dogs, and allowed to play in the compost heap with the Collies.  I don't know what I did with all my old photographs, but I had one Beardie with Chi's asleep on top of her.  I think that any breed responds well to obedience when trained from very young.  I even did tracking with a Toy Poodle.  So you're probably right that Collie crosses need to be treated as Collies.  I guess I just treat mine as dogs.  They are my world, but I've never been the "Come to mummy" type of dog owner.  I accept that they are dogs.  (I just prefer them to people.)

They sound very similar in size to the breeds that I might be facing. I’m sure she would be showing more signs if she were pregnant (that’s what I’m telling myself anyway) the wait till the vet opens is going to feel like a long one. My husband said he didn’t see them tied or anything but going by the fact I gave him very strict instructions to keep all the gates closed at all time and they were not allowed even in the same room I’m not hopeful he was watching properly when he let them run around for 2 hours together. She was on day 13 of her season so I know it’s about the right time for her.

> I’m sure she would be showing more signs if she were pregnant

I found with my pups being so tiny, they tended to be up under the ribcage most of the time, so it's not easy to feel them when this happens.

She must have laid down for him

Maisey was laid on the floor

Did you read the post?

I wasn't talking about your post, I was replying to brainless.

Crazy dog lady:> I wasn't talking about your post, I was replying to brainless.

Thank goodness someone else gets upset when things are taken out of context:  Merry Christmas X

No ones upset just clarifying.

Enjoy your Christmas

Crazy dog lady:> No ones upset just clarifying

My apologies - misread the feeling of the post.

No worries, it's easy to do with writing. No facial expressions or tone of voice.

I am having an absolute nightmare. We are in the uk in a tier 4 area. My vet has said that it wasn’t a medical emergency and wouldn’t do it. After a bit of persuasion they agreed but she would have to go into the vets alone while I waited outside which has been there policy all through COVID. This would stress her out so I don’t know what to do. The local mobile scanner isn’t allowed into the house or I would use her as she is fantastic I’m pulling my hair out. She has put on very minimal weight and only slightly round the ribs her tummy isn’t big. Very slight development in her mammory glands but that’s it. She would be just over 7 weeks so do I just wait and see. She really doesn’t look pregnant.
She has had a false pregnancy once before and one litter reabsorbed

Not easy. I think I would scan as I don't like not knowing things.

If she isn't overdue from the possible mating, and is well I would not worry and wait and see.

Even if she goes over by about 4 days I would not be cincerned as the pups if any are not going to be over size.

As it's stress of overcrowding that sets off labour, if pregnant and small litter it is more likely she will go over.

Thank you for the reply. It’s the whole unplanned nature of it’s that is making me so anxious. We had another litter without a hitch but that was a whole different situation and it was all under control from much earlier on.

I would just wait and see. You might have a litter of crossbred pups, but it's pretty easy to sell pups of any combination of anything these days so you won't have trouble homing them.

I'd just be ready for her to whelp whenever the due date is and feel lucky that it was the male who was small and the female large, rather than the other way round, when you really would need to look at ending the pregnancy for her sake.

Personally I think scans stress dogs out at the best of times and don't do them.

And breath biglis onetwothreefour is right. Take a deep breath and wait and see. Getting so wound up is not going to help your bitch or you. She will pick up on your stress but she won't understand what you are stressing about. Take a step back and wait and see. There is a huge demand for pups at the moment, so finding homes (if she does have any) will not be hard. Good luck.

And by the way, there is a slight silver lining if she is pregnant - you will be able to delay the litter you plan from her a bit longer. Whereas you'd be aiming to have it by 4 yo or earlier usually, if she has a litter now you could wait till 5 or 6yo or even 7yo, as it will then be her second litter. So it gives you more flexibility later. (Just trying to think of positives!)

Thank you everyone. I’m starting to feel a bit calmer now, this would be this bitches first litter if she is pregnant so I suppose I should try and see it as a practice for when we are ready for her planned mating. I have everything here ready for whelping just in case, the last few supplies should arrive on Monday.  I’m ready just in case if not I can keep everything until the time is right. This has been one of the most stressful experiences. Our only other litter was a few years back now and went like clockwork. My bitches breeder is on the phone but it’s so difficult being in tier 4.

If the litter and pups are small then, as you have had trouble getting her in whelp before, it might be best to strike while the iron is hot, and mate her on the next season.

In my experience the next season tends to be delayed 4 - 8 weeks than if they had not whelped.

My most problematic litters have occured on 2 occasions when I left a big gap betwen litters (2 1/2 - 3 years).

Brainless:> My most problematic litters have occured on 2 occasions when I left a big gap betwen litters (2 1/2 - 3 years)

I couldn't agree more.  Our lovely bitches have a very short window of continuing their blood lines. It is recommended that they don't have a litter before 2
years of age (mine are coming on 3 yrs before their first litter).  They should not have a litter after 6 yrs of age without a 'fit to breed document from your Vet'.
(mine wouldn't have a litter after 6 yrs of age whether they had documentation or not).
Problems occur with a big gap as highlighted (and quite rightly back to back mating is something that should never be undertaken), so it's important to have
a planned programme of breeding  during our girl's early seasons.

Sorry a bit long winded but felt it relevant to support Brainless' comment regarding large gaps between litters...

Well today is day 63. She still doesn’t look fat in the slightest but she hasn’t eaten since lunch time yesterday and has been sick twice in the night. She is still acting normally although sleepy. She is certainly keeping me on my toes until the last minute. To look at her you would say definitely no but the fact she was sick makes me think this is the beginning. Everything is all set and ready just in case.

Good luck, keep us posted.

It could be a false pregnancy. Let us know!

Of course some people might disagree with me but I'd leave it to day 64 and if nothing has happened, take her in for an x-ray.  At least you'll know whether she's empty or not.

The OP's Vet has already refused pregnancy detection as non essential.

With no obvious sign of pregnancy, and likely smaller size of pups I would not bebrushing to vet until 4 or 5 days past.

But, but, but, we all know what happened only recently when somebody waited and lost all but one of the litter ................  If this vet won't cooperate, find another one because I'd have a need to know whether she is or isn't empty.  Inertia?   Up to OP.

Brainless:  >> With no obvious sign of pregnancy, I would not bebrushing to vet until 4 or 5 days past.

Exactly - give the dam every chance to deliver naturally - yes there was a recent post when all but one pup was lost however in my experience,
having had many litters, unless Mum is poorly, shows signs of distress other than that of normal labour (slight aggitation, spinning. scraping),
or despite obvious straining and no pups arriving, we shouldn't be interfering with nature and certainly not 'frightening' inexperienced Breeders
IMO - sorry but I feel there are too many of these horrendous stories which in relation to the number of Puppies born are very few and far between.

biglis:> Everything is all set and ready just in case

Well done as you are ready for any eventuality.  I had a Lab girl who didn't look pregnant through the whole 65 DAYS but gave birth to 2 beautiful
healthy male Puppies on day 66.  Despite all the Breeding Books you read, 63 days is not a guarantee - just a guideline.  Best of luck biglis.
what will be will be and maybe just a couple of little Puppies could be the end result.

Thank you everyone for all you advice. She has been perfectly relaxed all day not showing any signs of either labour or distress at all. I have support lined up on the phone from both her breeder and the vet if needs be. I haven’t left her side and won’t be either. I have only helped whelp our one previous litter before a few years back so am by no means experienced but am as prepared as I can be either way.  I will update you all when I have news either way.

Well, she is perfectly happy and is showing absolutely no signs of whelping. I have spoken to the Vet and she is booked in on Friday just to make absolutely sure, he wasn’t concerned at all as she is perfectly well I don’t think he will find anything.