Hi everyone,
I post this with some hesitation, as I know people have strong opinions about this topic. However, we find ourselves in a bit of a situation.
My bitch is 18 months old, and has just had her second season. We planned to mate her and keep puppies when she turned 2 or 3, so she is not spayed. I took her for a walk last week, early morning with nobody around. We keep her on lead when she is in season, for her safety. Another dog bounded into the park out of nowhere, and she managed to get out of her harness and run off with him. She's never done this before, she is normally attached to me and really obedient, but natural impulses, I guess. They ran to the other side of the field/park and started mating. The other dog owner had appeared by now, and both of us were running after them to try and get them apart. By the time we got to them, they were tied. The 'stud' is a gorgeous 9 month old of the same breed (popular breed). They are a medium breed, if that makes any difference, and neither have mated before. It happened so quickly, and they were tied for about 10-15 minutes.
I have spoken with my vet, and he said it is far from ideal as she's only 18 months old, but that she has definitely stopped growing and as she's not a big breed, she is just about mature enough to carry a litter. He gave us options, but we've decided to go ahead with the possible pregnancy. I really don't know whether she is yet, as it's only been 10 days. She is sleeping a lot, and slightly more protective than usual, but it's hard to say as she had a phantom pregnancy last time, and behaved in the same way. She could have another phantom, so we won't really know unless we ultrasound later in the pregnancy.
I am not sure what I am asking here, but I wonder how commonly this happens? As the dog was only 9 months old, is it likely it won't have worked? My bitch was on about day 10/11 of her season, but it's hard to tell because she's very clean and doesn't bleed much.
Thanks

popular breed often equals health issues that should be tested for in both bitch and stud.   I would end the pregnancy - its not fair to the future puppy owners and yes you will sell them easy enough but its still not fair to sell people potential health disasters that develop as the dogs mature.
up to how you view it ethically really . 
and yes 9 months is plenty old enough to sire a litter. not old enough to be health tested though

I would give the alizin jab and stop the pregnancy. Get all the health tests done and find a suitable stud who is also health tested when the time is right.
This is totally irresponsible to allow this potential pregnancy to continue.

I would give her the Alizin injections to prevent any possible pregnancy. As I assume neither she nor the dog have had the breed-recommended it would be highly irresponsible to allow it to continue. 9 months old is plenty old enough for the dog to be fertile; any time from about 5 months can result in a litter.

I think it's pretty probable that you are going to have a litter of puppies on your hands.  Day 10-11 is incredibly common timing for people trying to breed (we're not talking day 1 or 28 here, although successful breedings have happened then as well.)  The fact that she was so desperately into being bred that she slipped her harness and ran off, also indicates this is the right timing.  So - just as anyone who bred their bitch deliberately, I would assume that she is pregnant and treat her as if she is.

Assuming you want to keep the litter and go ahead with things (which it sounds like you've decided to do):  I would get as much health testing of both dog and bitch done as is possible.  You won't be able to x-ray the bitch for elbow and hip scores if she is pregnant without affecting the puppies, but you can for sure get any DNA tests done for the breed and a current eye test done. 

The DNA tests in particular are important because if it comes back that she is a Carrier for any conditions, then you should ask to pay for the stud dog to be DNA tested also - to ensure he is Clear.  If you breed two Carriers together, you will create Affected puppies.  With often hideous diseases.  If your bitch is Clear for everything, then you don't need to test the stud (assuming he's not Affected).

Then, I would also pay for the stud to get a current eye test - which he can do now, at 9 months.  He won't be able to be hip or elbow scored if he is only 9 months, but by the time the litter is whelped, he will be 11 months and by the time they are 4 weeks old, he will be over 12 months and able to be tested.

You don't get to absolve yourself of all health testing just through an ooops mating - quite the opposite.  As the owner of the bitch, it's your responsibility to pay for these tests if you want the pregnancy to go ahead.  Moreover, when it comes to finding homes for the puppies, you will find it much easier if you have done as much of this health testing as possible.  Is the stud KC registered?  If so, are you going to register the litter with the KC?  Should you offer to pay the owner a stud fee?  (Particularly if you are going to be selling the puppies?)  And so on...

Well the shot to stop a pregnancy as I understand it, has to be given the next day for it to work, and even then it doesn't always work.

So right now you have to decide whether to go ahead and let her have these puppies, or take her in now for a gravid spay.   And if you do go ahead with this pregnancy (if she was in standing heat - accepted the male so they did mate there's a 99% change of a pregnancy),  however unintended it was, don't be surprised if the dog's owner comes to you for a Stud Fee!!   Is he KC registered because, assuming your bitch is too, if you want to KC register any puppies they might have, you'll need the owner of the dog's signature - so the question of a stud fee may well come up!

As for the inheritable fault status of both - Mendels Theory of hereditary says

Affected to Clear will mean the puppies will all be Carriers
Carrier to Carrier = 25% Clear, 50% Carrier and 25% Affected
Clear to Carrier = 50% Clear and 50% Carrier.

You may get lucky with this (the luck began with the fact they were both of the same breed - how likely was that to happen!!?) but you may not.  So the decision about what to do now, is totally your's.  And you have to bear in mind the fact that things can and do go wrong with a whelping and rearing a litter.

Oh and btw I had a pup I'd not long imported and had intended to mate with one of my girls, not on the season she was having.   At only 8.5 months, he got at her, mated unaided (rare in my breed but he turned out to be a good little lad) and she had 7 puppies.   Not the best I'd ever had actually!   So yes, that dog was of an age he would be fertile.

We're sure we are keeping the litter. Thank you for the information about health checks, I have booked my bitch in with vets to arrange as many tests as we can safely do if she's pregnant.

No, they aren't KC registered as they are a cross breed.

The pregnancy can be aborted quite far into the pregnancy, my vet explained. We aren't going this route, though.

We are booked in for health tests.

No, we aren't paying a stud fee. We don't know the owner, and we aren't in touch with them. They left pretty sharpish after it happened, the woman seemed embarrassed about it, not that she needed to be. I don't see why we'd pay though, since that's presumably to cover things like health checks of the stud dog, and a stay at their house or two. None of that happened, obviously, so they are not out of pocket or inconvenienced in anyway.

>Well the shot to stop a pregnancy as I understand it, has to be given the next day for it to work, and even then it doesn't always work.

Incorrect; Alizin is 2 injections, 24 hours apart, ideally given at the end of the season, but up to 42 days after mating. Obviously the later it's given the more obvious the after-effects, but if given before 21 days after mating there should be minimal problems.

>No, we aren't paying a stud fee. I don't see why we'd pay though

A stud fee is payment for the use of the dog. That has happened already and is therefore technically payable immediately.

Your vet can't do the necessary eye tests; that needs a specialist ophthamologist. Nobody wants to be responsible for producing puppies that go blind at an early age; apart from the distress and the moral upset, there's also the matter of compensation for the new owners.

Alizin is given in 2 shots 24 hours apart up to 45 days after the mating.

Nowhere in the information leaflet(information can be viewed on the Virbac site)does it state that to be effective it has to be given within 24 hours of the mating- perhaps this was a drug used many years ago. In fact Alizin is MORE effective if given after the end of the bitches season

I'm not sure if I agree. Anyway, I am not in touch with the stud dog owner.

I'm confused you state your bitch & the male are the same breed, but then that they are crossbreeds ??

The 'stud' is a gorgeous 9 month old of the same breed (popular breed)

No, they aren't KC registered as they are a cross breed.



So what health tests are you having done ? Hips & elbow scoring obviously as these are universal tests. Clinical eye testing & then a full screen of all DNA tests available for all breeds if your dogs are crosses of unknown origins(like the 2 male mongrels I have)or of the two/three/four breeds if they are first crosses of pedigree breeds. Wow going to cost you £100s if not £1,000s to carry out depending on how many DNA tests are done & to miss one out on either parent is totally irresponsible.
For the Male he's too young got UK hips & elbow scoring, but he could be PennHipped now.

You state you are not in contact with the males owners yet had enough time to get to know he is 9 months old & that he is the same breed/ cross as your bitch ?? All very confusing. How old does it take to exchange telephone numbers ?

Hi, they are the same popular crossbreed, I should have said. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say what crossbreed on this forum, am I? They are a cross between 2 breeds, their mums are the same breed and so are their dads (we were chatting while they were tied). My bitch's parents are both KC registered and health checked clear - does that mean my bitch will be clear if her parents are both not carriers? I am not able to test the dog, as I am not in touch with his owners. I can't do hips and elbows while she is pregnant (maybe), but I will do as many tests as I can safely do while she is pregnant. I'm willing to spend 1000s to do everything I can to make sure they are healthy.

Oh dear I can guess the designer cross then & even if both your bitches parents have 0 hip & elbow score doesn't mean she will have good results as both conditions are polygenetic & environs affected. Her parents are fully healthed ie. current eye certificates for conditions that don't have a DNA test, normal for ALL DNA tests ??
If not then you HAVE to test your bitch to see if she is a carrier & as you "know nothing" about the males breeding(he might even be closely related to your bitch BTW) & also test ALL the puppies as you don't know if the male could be a carrier & if your bitch is a carrier, then the puppies could be affected.

Won't matter though will it as you are "keeping"" the litter, rather you than me raising a full litter to adulthood isn't easy even for experts.

BTW doing the tests now won't make the puppies "healthy"testing is done to PREVENT affected puppies being conceived

Not sure why oh dear, they are a lovely breed and cross breeds tend to be healthier than pedigrees due to more diverse genetics.

Keeping the litter as in not aborting the pregnancy. Although if she only has 1 or 2 then we'd probably keep.

I honestly think it will be fine. Thanks for the info.

I wouldn't run away with the idea that crossbreeds are healthier than pedigrees. I am sure there are plenty on here who will explain why that is not the case much more clearly than I can

Hopefully there wont be any health issues bearing in mind many of these don't appear at birth 

if you do decide to mate her in the future please do a lot of research on both breeds and get all the test done before doing anything . Also find out how to choose an appropriate stud that may mean travelling many miles to find the right one. it I snot a matter of finding oine who seems nice and you like the look of. Research coefficient of in breeding to help with that .

Then, I would also pay for the stud to get a current eye test - which he can do now, at 9 months.  He won't be able to be hip or elbow scored if he is only 9 months, but by the time the litter is whelped, he will be 11 months and by the time they are 4 weeks old, he will be over 12 months and able to be tested.

And if the sire's scores come back as totally unacceptable, do you have the litter of 4 week old pups put down to stop them from suffering down the line? Offer the new owners to pay for hip replacement surgery? They won't be able to get insurance. Keep the entire litter? Or what? And what about the bitch? Much preferable to use Alizin.

Not necessarily will cross breeds be healthy I don't know what mix you have but if there are the same health conditions in the pure bred parents in your female the odds are multiples the health issues will crop up.

Diverse genetics do not mean anything it is a pure myth, the only reason we know what issues there are in pedigrees dogs are is because we test for them dogs can be healthy all of their lives and drop down dead because of an unknown heart condition and pets do not get autopsies because of sudden death.

It is on public record that the man who created the labradoodle for guide dogs in Australia deeply regrets now

Crossbreeds are not healthier. ESPECIALLY as far too few puppy producers bother to eye test, hip score etc. Put together two different breeds with two different sets of genetic problems and you could instead double it, in particular when both parents are a first cross as then you double the possibility of recessive genes from both breeds appearing. Research has been done which proved it's not true that crossbreeds are healthier:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/pets-health/10762988/Pedigree-dogs-as-healthy-as-mongrels-say-vets.html

This link from the BVA, under "What breeds are more commonly at risk?" on their page about HD does list 2 common crossbreeds as particularly prone to HD.
https://www.bva.co.uk/canine-health-schemes/hip-scheme/
and the same for ED: https://www.bva.co.uk/canine-health-schemes/elbow-scheme/

And it's the same for eyes.

Then, as you are not breeding for showing or working, have you considered that you might need a council license to not break the law by having a litter? (Unless you give the pups away for free and can prove this.)

I wouldn't count on a small litter, one or two pups are typically born to toydogs only. A medium sized dog can easily have 7-8 pups.

Thanks for this. Really interesting. Luckily, my crossbreed is not on that list, though I know that doesn't in any way mean she's not at risk of health issues. I thought you had to breed more than 3 litters per year to get a license?

Nice to see one common cross has a "breed" club which does tell the truth about health problems, and again points out that two dogs of the same cross will have a higher chance of producing pups with multiple health problems when mated together: cockapoo club

So I was incorrect re the 'morning after' shot.   Me bad.   But in fairness, I've NEVER had to have this done!!  This is just from what I've heard others do. 

> No, they aren't KC registered as they are a cross breed.

So they are not the 'same breed'.   Just the same mix. eh and as such, the question of a stud fee doesn't matter if the puppies can't be KC Registered.

"My bitch's parents are both KC registered"
So she's not a mix/cross breed?

Confused.com.

ps   A Stud fee is for the Service and is usually paid at the time of the mating, unless the dog is unproven in which case breeders will waive immediate payment until there is a litter on the ground.

I thought you had to breed more than 3 litters per year to get a license?

It's more than 2 litters and currently councils apply their own criteria. Some demand a license for a single litter. My own council said they would not expect a license for one or two litters for somebody breeding for showing/regularly showing dogs due to the high costs involved in showing, but that they could not guarantee that this would be the case if a litter brought in a good profit. For somebody not involved in a dog related hobby they would expect a license.

The parents of cross breeds can be KC registered, just not the same breed.  So if both dogs were cockapoos as an example, all four parents could still be KC registered, but their progeny would be cross breeds.

The bitches parents appear to be pedigree from what the op has said but two different  breeds so a first cross ?

OP has been told.the dogs parents  are the same . 

In any event it doesn't matter op has decided she won't terminate and the ,health of pups will be in the lap of the gods.

Personnaly I would terminate asap .

Sorry sleeping lion I seem to have repeated what u said:)

That is a very informative article  but I was surprised as to how many health tests were recommended
Food for thought

Must have crossed posted, I share your sentiments entirely btw, I don't think it's fair to gamble on the lives of pups without any knowledge of health behind the parents, and then possibly pass this on to puppy owners who may find themselves with pups that have health issues that could have been prevented. 

If breeders want to do things right then they have to be prepared to accept the consequences in situations like this, putting a bitch in whelp is no small decision, with no knowledge of the lines behind this strangers dog, anything could happen.  And they may have said it's a dog of the same cross breed, but as has been said, it could be a close relative, or they may have been misled, there's no proof.  I personally would use the mismate and then go about things properly, get health tests done and look for a health tested dog to use, preferrably one with a proven track record where you can see progeny and how they've developed.

It's pretty difficult to give advice on this situation without knowing what 'popular crossbreed' we are talking about.  Can an exception be made to forum rules? 

I mean, the specific health tests to recommend are going to vary - even with the doodle breeds - based on the size of poodle used, whether a cocker or a labrador cross and so on.  There are so many different variations here that it's hard to us to advise the OP on necessary health tests.

another issue for this accidental breeder to consider.   Tax.    tax is payable on the litter and the tax man has got very good at looking at the small ads and going after people.  if the household receives benefits- tax credits etc these can be effected and would be a right mess to sort out.   

in addition breeding the descendants of a first cross can produce some odd results. i knew someone who bred their labradoodle to another labradoodle- the variety of coat types and sizes of pup was immense.  most were smooth coated- and doodle buyers all seem to want curly type coats and some were enormous which again was not popular.   pups are all cute- and these were but looking at them they did not look what people expect a doodle to look like- just looked like load of mongrels.

It's quite simple really, her mum is a pedigree and her dad is a pedigree. They are not the same pedigree, so she is a crossbreed.

Oh yes, we would be declaring any profit made. With any luck, I will be able to give them to friends and family though. I know about 6 people that want puppies, so it may not be something we have to go through and I don't really agree with making money out of animals, so I'll be happier to give them away. We don't receive any benefits.

and crossbreds are often the most beautiful of dogs and each unique which is the attraction.  I am sure she is a wonderful pet and as the owner of a wonderful pet its natural to want to share that joy and make a few more... the snags are legion though, honestly it is not worth the grief to breed.  crossbreeding does not eliminate genetic disease, and 2 of the same cross increases the risks,  the tax issue is unfunny to deal with,  puppy buyers can be right idiots - you get to see people you would not trust with a potted plant,  the having to have a spare couple of thousand in bank in case bitch needs a cesar.  the weeks off work to supervise the birth and early weeks, the mess and destruction of whichever room you rear the litter in .. I wouldn't do it.  have a lovely whippet bitch pup here, she is a smasher- i get people asking if she'll be bred as want one and she will not be having any. she'll be spayed as soon as old enough

Update, if anyone is interested:
I spoke with the vet this evening, at length, and he will carry out/ refer me to others to carry out tests for all of the common health problems in this breed that can safely be carried out while she is pregnant. That includes: Prcd-PRA, Glaucoma, Hip Dysplasia, Familial Nephropathy, PFK, Retinal Dysplasia, vWD 1. Regarding the hip dysplasia, we need to think long and hard about whether to test for this, as it does carry a small risk to the puppies if she is pregnant. I have found a number of local canine Opthalomogist, so I need to decide which to go with and make an appointment. Vet is able to fast track results of most of the tests, so that we still have time to make decisions about terminating if necessary. It's a real shame we can't do the same for the dog, but I'm going to keep walking where we ran into him last time and hope that I might bump into them again so that I can explain the situation and see if they are willing for me to get him tested too. Thanks for everyone's advice, it's been really helpful. If you're interested, I can let you know the test results when I get them back.

well done. its refreshing to hear of someone responsible enough to do the tests- and act on their results if necessary.
its not an easy or a cheap thing you are planing but if determined its good to know you are trying to get it right.

Whilst it is admirable that you're intending to health test, in the meantime, what if you bump into the owners of the other dog and find out he's closely related?  Or one of the health tests comes back with something like a carrier status, and you don't manage to find and test the dog?  It is much harder to terminate later on, than it is now, so by leaving it until results come in, you're pretty much going to make life hard for your bitch, because if you do want to breed on in the future it will be the mismate, so she will basically have to go through a whelping, have dead pups, and suffer from the loss of her pups as well. 

I get that you want to be responsible etc, but I think you're missing the point a bit, the most responsible thing to do is to use the mismate and plan properly, which has been backed up by the previous answers.  It's not nice to have to do something like this, but unfortunately that's life, and we have to make those decisions on behalf of our dogs. 

Take my old girl for example, who is 14 1/2 and snoring her head off.  I had her hips and elbows done when she was about a year old, hips were fine, but elbows came back as a 2/1, despite never showing any problems with them (even to this day).  If I'd had an accidental mating, and hadn't had that information, and let pups be born and they'd gone on to develop elbow problems that would just simply have been awful, and that's what people are trying to get through in their replies. 

Having had a litter where I lost two pups, one for unknown reasons at about three days of age, and another with an inoperable deformity that wasn't apparent until nine weeks of age (the other choice was a slow death), I can't begin to tell you how hard it is to make the decision to have to snuff a young life out. 

I'm sorry if I'm going over old ground and I am really not trying to be rotten, but just posting the reality of the situation.  People think breeding is about lovely pups arriving and them all being lovely and fluffy and healthy, they don't often see the side of it where pups die because of something that could have been prevented.  Having had the problems with the pups in that one litter, I know i wouldn't even combine the type of lines that I did, there's no saying what the exact cause is in cases like that, but knowing the breeding behind my dogs, I can at least avoid mixing those lines again, and hopefully avoid something similar happening. 

Also worth baring in mind are vets fees, emergency spays are not cheap, and not generally insured against, costs can easily go into the £1000s, so unless you have plenty of money stashed away, now may not be the time financially to have a litter.  Again, I'm not trying to be rotten, but this is an unplanned mating so you perhaps haven't had time to save up for vets fees.  For my first litter the vets fees were in excess of £3k in total, thankfully my bitch came through and six surviving pups; the money I can live with, but if I'd lost my bitch I would have been inconsolable. 

I genuinely wish you the best with your decision, I'm sorry if I'm sounding all negative, I am just being honest about the situation as I see it.

Good post sleeping lion covering many difficult but true areas. Something that has occured to me is  if the op still feels she wont terminate should.the canine herpes vaccination be given ? Or is it too late ?

I've never used the canine herpes vaccination, and with a maiden bitch and dog, I don't think that's a huge worry if I'm honest.  But then I don't breed often, only three litters in ten years.  I'd be more worried about the lack of health tests and knowledge behind the parents in this instance.

Just be aware anything can go wrong with the pregnancy, basically what can go wrong with a woman can go wrong with a dog, speaking as a person who lost a two and a half year old dog on the vets operating table while four vets and five nurses fought to save her life from pre eclampsia they where squeezing bags of fluid into her trying to stabilise her blood pressure and save her life.

She went to bed next to me at night next morning rushing her to the vets it was that quick we lost her and all the puppies she was carrying and we knew what we where doing, hips elbows scored both passed carefully picked stud dog had seen his progeny in the ring liked what saw.

Even now twenty years later we are paranoid with a female in season she sneezes the wrong way and is at the vets.

We mated her and caused her to die can you face this it still haunts me to this day, if we hadn't wanted a puppy she would not have died so young

I still remember being sat in the vet waiting room first thing on a Sunday morning, having had my bitch scanned, then x-rayed, which showed a puppy with it's back to the exit, never gonna come out naturally, and having to give the go ahead for an emergency c-section (and spay).  I was covered in snot and tears, having had very little sleep at all for 72 hours, and knowing it had been my decision that had put her there.  Thankfully she is now asleep beside me, aged 13, and I have her daughter, and granddaughter, but every time I do it I am absolutely beside myself with the fear of something going wrong and losing one of my girls.  I know too well how things can go wrong, that first litter was particularly bad, but at least I had six pups and my bitch come out of it, it could have been a lot worse. 

Funnily enough I ran into the vet the other day who did the emergency spay and section, and my girl was in to have a lump looked at.  He'd not seen her for a few years, so came and gave her a fuss.  Apparently he got a speeding ticket and 3 points on his licence driving in to do the emergency op.

Well belarusio, it's obviously that you care strongly.   I hope that your girl goes on to have a straightforward pregnancy, and has beautiful pups.   Good Luck.  I think you have been condemned harshly.

You can do all the health tests and really put your all into it, and unfortunately it still just comes down to luck. Sorry you went through such a dreadful experience; I really hope we don't. I am not a stranger to pregnancy complications in humans, having had twins myself. I was luckily complication free, but a lot of my twin mum friends were less lucky.

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words and reassurance. It's nice to have a balance, and I understand and have taken in people's concerns, but I'm not some BYB that's going to shove them in a shed until they are 8 weeks old and I can sell them and make loads of money. I will spend the money on their health and take the time to socialise them well so they are wonderful pets. I'll almost certainly be out of pocket by the time this is over, but I'm a strong believer in fate, and I kind of feel like this was meant to happen.

I assume you'll have her spayed in about 3 months time, after the puppies have left, to make sure this doesn't happen again?

> It's quite simple really, her mum is a pedigree and her dad is a pedigree. They are not the same pedigree, so she is a crossbreed.

   For the record, ALL dogs have a 'pedigree'.   It's just whether or not the owner knows those dogs in the background, from parents to grandparents, to gg grandparents and so on which is less likely to be possible with a crossbred/mongrel.  Most purebred dogs are registered with the official Kennel Club of their country of birth but many are not which doesn't make them any less purebred = a breed.

Your bitch apparently has parents who are KC Registered, so even if she isn't registered, she is still A BREED.  Further her parents may not be closely related, meaning they are the result of an OUTCROSS mating.   Which is way different to 'a crossbreed'.  

A CROSSBREED , or mix-breed is a dog with parents of two different BREEDS.

If your bitch happened to have a chance mating to another male of THE SAME BREED (which would be soo unlikely, although could happen with popular breeds) would make her puppies purebred.

You do need to find out how close this mating is - ie are there any common ancestors there, to be aware of what common problems their puppies could have.

Sleeping Lion's post is definitely worth reading.

Add - looking back, IS your bitch a purebred or an 'oodle and the dog the same kind of 'oodle?
Unfortunately people think 'a pedigree' automatically means 'purebred', which it doesn't.   Still the main potential problem here is re any common faults either dog is carrying which will appear in their puppies.   To say nothing of whether OP is ready to have a potential 6 + puppies to accommodate to the time they go home, to whether or not her bitch survives what lies ahead. 

I hope whatever happens, all will go smoothly of course.

This dog is from kc registered parents of two different breeds which does make her a cross breed as the op had correctly said

In fairness, it is confusing that the KC in it's wisdom, allows registration of some mixes now!   There is still the difference between 'pedigreed' and 'purebred'.   But again, it doesn't matter really other than what problems any puppies might have, from this unplanned mating.  It's all good to have her tested for what can be tested for now, but what about the sire?

If I am correct the registration of mixes is not on the same register as purebred breeds.
It does give rise to confusion if people are unaware or dont explain properly . However there are a number of.things the kc could be criticised for
Yes there is a difference between pure and pedigree. 
It's a very unsatisfactory situation which the op is aware of .as for.the sire she is hoping to find him and get the owner to test. However that will have to be done quickly as time is not on  their side if the bitch is pregnant and some.tests will not beable to be done

Belarusio I would not hip or elbow score her whilst pregnant due to the risk to the puppies. This is partly the radiation involved in taking an X-ray (we don’t take xrays of pregnant women and women’s ovaries are always protected with lead aprons at other times) and also the risk of the sedation or GA whilst pregnant.

I think if you decide to go ahead this is one risk you’d need to take. She could be hip or elbow scored once pups are weaned but that would only give you a couple of weeks before they go to new homes so not sure that would be worth it either.

But the eye testing and the DNA tests are simple, non-invasive and don’t require sedation. You can do the DNA swabs yourself from saliva/cheek cells - but I don’t know which to recommend you get done because I still don’t know what crossbreed your girl is.

For eg, if she is a labradoodle, I know the Labrador part of her would need prcd PRA, CNM, EIC and SD2. Someone else here will know what the poodle part of her would need - but that will depend on what size poodle was used. If she is a cockerpoo she will not need these Labrador tests, there will be others relevant to cockers... So whilst these tests are easy for you to order yourself and do at home, I don’t know which tell you to get....