Possible pregnant dog

I'm just curious. My sister n law has a jack russell. She got it all checked out and in good health so she went ahead a bred her. She was bred 1/21/16 - 1/22/16. I occasionally go over and stay for awhile to spend time and help her with my niece and nephew. Well I have noticed her dogs behavior has changed to being very affectionate. She has also gained a little bit of weight but not much. Her nipples are more pronounced but no milk. She has been keeping herself clean. She licks so much it sounds gross. Yesterday marked day 63 I believe. No signs of nesting or any change in behavior. She eats a little here and there. She rather beg for human food like she is starving but she doesn't get human food besides maybe a scrambled egg on occasion or cottage cheese on occasion. I was talking to my sister n law about her asking if she is indeed pregnant. She isn't sure. I think she may be having a false pregnancy but I'm not sure since I have never been around a pregnant dog in forever. Last pregnant dog I was around was when I was a kid. My sister n law has been taken her temp though. Last night it was 100.1 This morning it was 99.9 Just a few minutes ago is was still 99.9 She plans on checking again before bed tonight. What do you think?

I know when the stray JR (mix?) that we had for a little while was pregnant it was very, very obvious. Her belly was almost dragging on the floor :x . She had 7 pups in there! It was crazy to see the x-ray. It could be a false pregnancy... I don't have any experience with that in dogs. <br /><br /> __________ Fri Mar 25, 2016 4:42 pm __________ <br /><br /> Found the pics!

I've known dogs to have false pregnancies. Meaning they were bred but it just didn't take, but the body goes through pregnancy symptoms but no pups.

It's happened to a few of my friend's dogs actually.

If your sister is sure of when she was bred and the dates are correct.. this could be a false pregnancy.

Well she was bred 1/21 and 1/22. I guess the ties lasted at least 5 minutes. I was checking her nipples to see if anything is in there. Well I checked all of them and something came out. Looks to be all clear but can't tell because poor lighting in the room.

When I took our dog (above) to the vet there was a bigger dog (boxer maybe?) that had a slightly droopy belly and full nipples/teats (not sure what they are called in dogs??) - it was a false pregnancy for her (they did an xray). I obviously don't know what she looked like before hand though to have a direct comparison.

I finally decided to do an xray on the one because she had a scar on her belly (we though she had been spayed, obviously that wasn't the case :roll: so the next assumption was a c-section) and we weren't sure if she had a few large puppies or a bunch of smaller ones and I wanted to be mentally prepared if they were bigger so I could keep a closer eye on her.

Any type of discharge from a nipple usually means lactation. as long as it isn't colourful and stink

It's any where from 58-68 days gestation for a dog.. so if she caught on Jan 22nd (my oldest's birthday btw!) then she should be due this weekend.. moving into the 30th. So any day now.

Make sure she has a welping area ready.. some dogs just don't nest, others go over board. So provide her with something.. like you would for a Doe who is about to kindle and she will do the rest. If she hasn't welped by April 5th.. I'd take her to the vet to check her over.

Ok. Well she has a large whelping box. She took her temp again an it was 100.0 <br /><br /> __________ Fri Mar 25, 2016 11:43 pm __________ <br /><br /> Would their temp change even if they aren't pregnant

I have no idea on that. Sorry!

Hopefully she welps soon so you guys don't have to keep wondering what's going on.

I have heard of dogs even lactating during a false pregnancy as well... so i dunno

if you were to palpate her, do you think you'd feel pups move? if she's this close, you'd be able to feel something move.

Ok thanks for trying to help.

I would try to palpate her but I don't know how to go about palpating a dog

My dad used to breed our English Pointer female to my uncles male, I wasn't part of the breeding but when she was close to having her babies she would get hotter than normal.

I would honestly just feel around her belly... not to hard obviously. you should be able to feel something moving in there!

Good idea to x ray her so you know for sure, and how many to expect. She may only have a few, and you need to know if she is done at two or four, so one doesn't get stuck in there and cause real problems.

Well I tried to feel around and didn't feel anything but she kept moving so that could be why. I'm dog sitting for a week now so thought I would try to use a stethoscope. I'm not for certain that I heard something but I think I heard a heartbeat. So I checked hers then checked back at where I heard the heartbeat or noise. It wasn't her heartbeat. I'm sure because I kept my fingers over her heart to feel how her beat was going. This one seemed faster I think. Well I let her out to go potty and then checked again in same spot and can't find it. I have no idea what I heard but I'm sure it wasn't her heartbeat. If it was for sure a puppy I think she was due on the 24 or 25 but not sure. She seems to be herself. Wanting to be a hyper jack russell running and jumping. She still is drinking and has ate some today. So I have no idea what I hear. If it was a puppy shouldn't she have had it already or do first time mom's go past due? I would take her to my vet but have no money. So what do you think? I really thought from visiting she was just having a false pregnancy like my dad's hound has. What signs should I look for if something is wrong?

if there was something wrong.. it would be VERY obvious. if she's acting normal, eating and drinking.. then I'd say she's most likely fine, just not due yet. if she's looking tired it would be from being pregnant.. she could be in early stages of labour too.



I googled "How to tell if a dog is in Labour" and the first thing that popped up was this link
https://www.purina.co.uk/dogs/health-an ... ving-birth

Basically when a dog is about to welp, ther temp drops from 101.3 F to 98.6 F if you can take her temp 2 times a day.

Loss of appetite is common during the last 12-24 hours before labour begins
The Vulva may swell in preparation to dilate.
Mother dog may become restless and start to pant or shiver.. this is normal, do not worry.


I've never been around a welping dog before.. but some of these signs are pretty in line with what most mammals do before birth. even women become restless and have temperature changes during the last few hours of birth. (I know i did!) So use your common sense here. If she looks like something is going on, it most likely is.

read the link i gave.. see if it helps.

Good luck!

Thanks so much. I will read the link.

I tried to take temp but I think the thermometer is broken because first reading was 100.7 then I tried again and it was 99.4 then again 100.1 then 99.1. I don't see it changing all like that in a matter of seconds

No... the thermometer is wonky.. but if her temp is low.. it may be an indication of labour.

You may have pups in the morning.

Well nothing this morning. She seems fine and hyper running down the stairs to go potty. I just got back for the store. I checked her temp back to back 3 times. Her temp is now 99.6. I will be checking ever hour. If it was a false pregnancy her temp shouldn't drop should it. Vet is on call if any thing changes

What kind of Rabbit got the Dog Pregnant? Just Kidding! Hope everything goes alright!

Frankallen":6v6pt9wk said:

What kind of Rabbit got the Dog Pregnant? Just Kidding! Hope everything goes alright!

Click to expand...

A rabbit dog of course :lol: :lol:

*snort*

Anything today?

gosh this is just as bad as me constantly checking my nest boxes for kits!!! I could go insane just from that and this site