hello all, i need some advice, i have two bernese mountain dogs, brother and sister they are 10 months old. I had to leave them with my mum as i had to go away for the weekend on buisness.
I had a phone call from my mum yesterday saying that misty the bitch had come into season, she seperated them, but she came back in the evening and they were together! i reckon they mated. could she be pregnant? i wanted her to have a litter, but would the puppies be deformed? being brother sister mating.

many thanks
Mrs Garter

If shes only just come into season it is unlikly they have mated but seasons can be funny so its possible.  The pups should be healthy from a brother/sister BUT she is only 10 months old and is nowhere near physically ready for puppies.  Also you could not get them registared with the kennel club as she is too young.  Another thing is I assum with them both being young that you have not yet had any health checks done so therefore possible that puppies will be deformd or unhealthy.

I Would suggest you get her down to a vet ASAP to check and if she has to give her an injection that will hopefully stop anything if anythign has happend.

Rox 

Hello Guest,

Well done for asking so promptly.  I would take her to the vets asap and they will give her a 'morning after' injection to stop the pregnancy.
  Whether you want to breed from her or not, she is far too young to be having puppies, especially as she is a very large breed.  She will not mature until she is at least 2 years old plus and ,although I'm not an expert on your breed, I'm sure that you would want what is best for her.  As for your question about brother-sister matings, I would think that it may be too close, but more experienced breeders should be along soon to advise you.

Your first course of action is definitly to get her to the vet ASAP.
Then you need to sort out a way of stopping this happening again- did you not have any plans organised for when this happened before you got the pups?

Good luck
Ali :)  

a.  She's far too young!
b.  They've obviously not been hip scored yet!
c.  Brother & sister isn't a good mating without sufficient knowledge about what is behind them!  Bernese have far too many hereditary health problems to be produced by inexperienced breeders.
SO take her straight away to your Vet for the "morning after" jab!

brother and sister is fine, provided the brother and sister concerned do not come from a long line of linbred dogs, in which case you may have problems. we breed half brother and half sister and have had success with this mating ;-)

The 'morning after' treatment is the answer as long as she has ovulated. It can cause problems in a bitch that has not ovulated and this early in her season she may not have. Your vet should check to see if she has ovulated by taking a blood test and repeating it in a few days. The repeat test is because sperm can live for 5 + days and if there are still live sperm present when she does ovulate she can still get pregnant. If that happens she can be given the jab. If it doesn't, she doesn't need it. This early in the season there is a good chance that ovulation is still 10+ days in the future, and they probably didn't mate at all. But better safe than sorry!

sorry but brother and sister mating in a 10mnth old dog is completely unacceptable not even top breeders would line a brother  and sister unless they had valid reasons!!!!!! as everyone has advised get the injsection done and be much more careful, perhaps you could put the dog in kennels for a while if you cannot keep them separated as if he is mating her this early in her season then when she is ready to mate then she will definatly stand for him and he'll get all upset and be howling and stuff. I put my male in kennels for 10 days over the vital part of my bitxhes season and he was fine it stands them in good stead for the future in case you ever need to put him in kennels for a nother reason.