Im new to this forum and looking for some advice ... i have a 3 year old bitch that im not sure if she is pregnant .. she was accidently caught by my male .. and should she be pregnant she is due today ... i have another bitch who is 7 weeks pregnant .. and the reason im not sure if she is pregant is because she only seems to have put any weight on this week ... she was a rescue dog and has always been a bit underweight but this week she looks almost normal for her breed ... my other bitch who as i say is only 7 weeks is huge compared to this bitch.. we were convinced until today that taz is having a phantom but when i got up this morning she is off her food and all she seems to want to do is sleep ... i havent been able to feel any pups in taz where as my other bitch i can ... i havent seen any discharge either but then taz has always been the time of dog that keeps her back end very clean ... was just wondering if i should expect pups from her or not

Have your vet check her over

I rang my vet he says just to keep an eye on her tonight he wants to see her tomorrow .. he said it does sound like she could be pregnant .. im just wondering is it possible for a bitch to be pregnant without showing any signs til the last minute ... i know that if she is pregnant its not her first litter which would maybe explain why she is so calm .. this will be her 3rd .. im just wondering if because my other bitch has been so noticable with her pregnancy could i have completely overlooked taz,, as her i have noticed her temperement has changed over last few weeks but i had put that down to jazmyne being pregnant ...

She may be pregnant with a very small litter, if that's the case you may not feel movement from pups, but you will have to be very careful, if she's only got one or two pups, then labour may not start on it's own and she may need a section.

Take her to the vet, get her checked out, they'll probably want to x-ray her to make sure, then at least you'll know for certain one way or the other.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

thats what im thinking .. it could be a small litter ... well i'll have to see what the vet says tomorrow and i'll stay up with her tonight just to be on the safe side .. thnx for the advice

just wanted to ask as i have now got to wait til tomorrow to see the vet .... i have been watching taz closely all day and have noticed that her back end is twitching alot .. could this mean anything or am i just being paranoid ... i never really noticed this when my other dog had her pups last year ..

please excuse me for seeming a little neurotic i just want to be sure that im prepared for anything that happens as i really thought i had over 2 weeks til i'd be seeing any puppies... this is really panicking me now especially as we have only owned taz for a few months i really dont know what to expect from her

I would think that small litter or not, she would have had signs. There would certainly have been a change in her teats at least. If not, then I think shes not pregnant. Her 'back end' would be soft and swollen too, but twitching, who knows. If she was a rescue, wouldn't she have been spayed prior to being rehomed?

Dawn R.

when i say rescue i dont mean from a rescue centre .. a friend of mine rescued her from someone who wasnt looking after her properly .. but couldnt keep her as the rottie she owned kept attacking her so i took her in .. we are planning on having her spayed but the vet wanted her to gain some weight first .. as i say if she is pregnant it wasnt planned my step daughter allowed the male to get to her by accident while i was out .. her teats are a little swollen but not alot and she is losing a little milk again not alot ... she has been very subdued .. almost vacant all day and is a little restless .. i took her temp earlier and it is 98.8 compared to her normal 101.5 .. like i said earlier we have been convinced all along that it was just a phantom my doubts only arrived today with her behaviour

I would be really worried that this dog will need lots of extra care if she is actually pregnant.  If she was too thin to be speyed 9 weeks ago then she would have needed to increase her food intake considerably to be able to give the pups all the nourishment they need. 

There are others on these boards who will be more able to advise as to her diet post whelping (if it happens).

i understand fully what you are saying .. i have been allowing her to eat as much as she wants to help the weight gain ,, if she has been looking around for food i feed her even if she has not long had a feed ( i checked this with the vet first and he said if she is hungry feed her what ever she will eat) she's not a greedy dog anyway she will only eat til she feels full ( i have a male that would never stop if i allowed it).. also to save any fighting amongst her and my other bitch who is on double her normal diet at the moment .. im now wondering that IF she is pregnant could this be why she hasnt shown much with the fact that she was already thin and all the food will have gone to the pups ... im prepared to do whatever it takes to help her tho as she is my number one priority as are all of my dogs 

What breed do you have Caz?  is the one that got caught the same breed as the others?

Warm regards Susan

they are rottweilers .. yes the pups (if she is pregnant will be full rotties )  .. im hoping im wrong to be honest coz id be distraught if she is pregnant as i havent had her hip scored with not planning to breed from her ,, im still half way convinced its just a phantom to be honest but i guess i'll findout tomorrow one way or another

Did you consider having the morning after injection when you knew that she'd been mated, considering that she wasn't fit enough to be spayed and hadn't been hip scored either??
Is it difficult to home Rotties who aren't health tested?

to be perfectly honest i wasnt 100% sure they had mated .. my 11 year old step-daughter let them together while i was out and told me she thought they had ... i had her to the vet a few weeks back and he said he couldnt feel anything at which stage he would normally be able to .. as i say until now she hasnt shown any real signs of being pregnant .. i asked my vet about the injection and he said it wasnt worth it as it was probably unlikely they had mated 

as i explained earlier isabel my vet wouldnt spay her yet as she was underweight .. i was and still am waiting for the go ahead from my vet to have the op done,, he said it could be dangerous to put her under an aneasthetic while she was in such poor condition,,

You did but I thought you were saying she was eating better :)  Actually I have reread the thread and I got confused which bitch was 7 weeks, I see that this one is due today so it would be too late to spay if she was pregnant as the pups would no doubt be born alive!  Oh well you are likely to find out tomorrow for sure.

yep if i had thought she was pregnant a few weeks back i most certainly would have but i cant :( i just hope everything turns out ok ...  if she does have pups i will have her hip scored .. i do know that her hips are fine as i had her thoroughly checked over when i got her,  down to her poor condition .so hopefully the score will be ok

I was confused too Isabel ;)

Well maybe an honest lesson to be learned by all who own a dog and bitch in season - don't go out and leave an 11 year old in charge of the dogs! :(  The result is either an unplanned litter at worse or a lot of worry, like this poor owner.

i fully agree with you val .. wouldnt mind but id only nipped to the shop was gone a whole 20 mins :(

If you were not planning to breed her you could have her spayed at this point.  If you do not know the state of her hips you could be bringing puppies into the world that may be hard to place, if you subsequently have her scored (which you should) and the score is poor it may be almost impossible to get homes to take on puppies with an uncertain future to their health.

I am also very aware of the potential problems surrounding her not being hip-scored .. and also having pups while she isnt very healthy ..hence the reason i never wanted to breed her in the first place .. it was an honest mistake .. i took all the precautions i thought i needed to but it didnt work .. i would have had her spayed straight away but i followed my vets advice

It was a suggestion not a critisism :)

i know sorry im just a little highly strung at the mo with all the worry (blushes)  i thought i had enough on my hands with my other girl expecting and now i have to face the possibility of 2 litters within 2 weeks of each other its scary

Chin up, my personal feeling is if she has gone to term and still looks so thin your vet considers her unfit to spay then the likehood of her being pregnant seems slim (if you'll pardon the pun :)). 

Hi Caz did your vet say she was thin purely due to lack of nutrition and not no other underlying illness.  I believe she is probably having a phantom because if she was pregnant surely she would be showing if she is underweight and she would definitely have some teats on her if she is due today.  Is she restless today, do you know for certain that she never got caught at any other time except the one you have mentioned.

vet gave her a full health check when i got her and he just said her weight was purely down to bad nutrition and she was riddled with worms at the time . she did have an infection which was treated with antibiotics and she was slightly aneamic which was also treated ..she was checked again a few weeks back and he was really happy with her progress took some bloods etc .. all came back normal .. he said once she was the right weight we could have her into be spayed

It sounds like she's had a bad time was she anemic due to being riddled with worms?   I hope everything turns out okay for you and her the poor thing, sounds very much like she's had a hard time and been neglect.  Has she put any condition on now she's in your care.  I love rottwielers my mum has one and she's so intelligent.

Warm regards Susan

i know that if he got her at all it was only that one time .. she actually been very subdued today i wouldnt say restless .. she has slept more than normal .. her teats are a tiny bit bigger than normal .. this is why i have thought all along its a phantom... she hasnt even shed any of her under fur which most pregnant dogs do .. she actually seems alot more active and happier tonight .. i actually think she is just in sympathy for the other bitch as they are very close haha

in all honesty susan she has improved so much since we got her you wouldnt think she was the same dog :) she has had it very rough ... top and bottom of the situation is she was kept on a farm with 20 odd other dogs all living in one barn .. my friend spotted her and took instant pity on her and took her but she already owned a rottie and she wouldnt take to her so we took her on.. she is much happier now .. she is such a pleasant sweet little thing .. when we got her she wasnt used to being in the house or around people .. now she just loves all the attention she can get :D

All woman are the same to, if you are close with woman you seem to have your monthlys at the same time, strange isn't it.  I hope she's okay, keep us informed of any changes.  Good luck.

Warm regards Susan

Well done to you, i'm sure she deserves lots of attention i bet she knows her luck.  It's strange isn't it how people treat dogs and they still trust no matter what.

i think so ... it makes me so mad how anyone can neglect any animal not just dogs .. my dogs are my babies.. spoilt rotten every last one of them .. i wouldnt dream of mistreating or neglecting any of them .. to the point when my husband was off work sick for 6 months because he had a bike accident our money was very short .. there were many night that we went without food just to make sure that the dogs had enough food in .. if i had no money and had run out of dog food i would empty my cupboards and freezer of fresh meat and pasta to cook for them .... then i found this wonderful place near to me that sells 15kg sacks of complete food so now i stock well up on that so im never in that position again :D

Same here, i get angry myself there's no need for it, our dogs actually eat better than us.  I spend a fortune each week on feeding them, i'm one of those people who likes to see a well looked after dog with a sparkle in it's eye and a shine on it's coat my dogs run when they see me with the brush i constantly faff with them especially the Westies i love trimming them not so much the bullmastiff as she doesn't need much doing, but their so pleasant to look at when they are in good health.  I hope your husbands okay.

Warm regards Susan

I just thought id pop in and let you all know that i just got back from the vets with taz and she is definately not pregnant ,, as the vet put it she is having a sever case of sympathy for my other dog ,, poor thing.. we have decided to book her into be spayed in 2 weeks time as she now of a nice weight to do so .. bet is also absolutely over the moon with her progress since we got her :D

Phew, that is good news.

Hi Caz i'm glad to hear Caz is okay, i bet thats a weight of your chest.

Warm regards Susan

hi thankyou all,, you are very much right it is a huge relief
i just want to say a huge thankyou to all for all your advice and kind thoughts :)
Cazz xx