How do u know if your dog is pregnant?
 

My 2 1/2 year old chocolate Lab was out in my yard, (we have to put her on a pully system because she is the master escape artist) And her b/f a mixed breed who lives 2 houses down locked onto her. We call him her b/f only as a joke. He is always trying to come over and play with her...and cocoa does the same...hence the pully system! Anyways she was very receptive to allowing him to lock. They were both in heat, I did my research and I know that there is a good chance that she may be pregnant. She wasn't fixed yet because We have a friend with a male chocolate who wanted to mate him so we were going to attempt it, only my neighbors dog beat hershey to it!!! Well my other question is If she is pregnant...which if any of the pups should we keep? Male or Female?

Your post is going to generate alot of heat, you will not find any answers here that are going to satisfy you.

Your dog is most likely pregnate, with more mutts that will most likely end up in shelters.

[QUOTE]She wasn't fixed yet because We have a friend with a male chocolate who wanted to mate him so we were going to attempt it[/QUOTE] What titles have they acheived and what health tests have been done???

Here is a listing of Chocolate Lab and Chocolate Lab mixes currently looking for homes in your area.

[url]http://search.petfinder.com/search/search.cgi[/url]

Should you decide to keep these pups this is what you will be adding to. I would recommend that you have your dog Spayed ASAP and ensure That YOU dont add to the pet overpopulation problem.

[QUOTE]They were both in heat[/QUOTE]

Also, you stated that you have done your research... well then you would know that a male dog never goes into heat, he is able to mate at any time a female dog is in heat.

If you read through the rules of the board you will see that this is a VERY pro spay/neuter board. The majority of the memebers here are involved in rescues and they work very hard to find loving long term homes for unwanted dogs and cats which most likely ended up in rescue because of back yard breeding.
Im sorry if i am coming across harsh but I just really hope you understand the magnitude of the decision you have made.

ditto erykah. Please take Hershey to a vet and get her spayed immediately. There is no need to make your girl go through this, nor to put more helpless puppies into the world.
Also, your dog isa puppymill dog, she should never be bred. Not even if you had planned it.

Ok I understand the anger towards my situation. We will be keeping any of the pups that we cannot find homes for. This was not planned and I too am against backyard breeding. We were going to mate her with a friends dog and all the pups were going to have homes. I wanted to get cocoa fixed my husband is the one who was for mating her. This has become my problem. I posted the question because I neede answers. I also do know that male dogs don't go into heat. I am for animal rescuing. This situation was not planned or arranged!! I am asking on how can I tell and so on!

The only way to really know is to take her to the vet and have her x-rayed.

There are [B]21,727[/B] labradors listed on Petfinder! With an average litter size of 8 puppies - why in the world would you allow your girl to have a litter.

Do some research on what can go wrong with a canine pregnancy and present your husband with the facts. You could lose the entire litter while aquiring a HUGE vet bill or you could lose your girl.

Take her to the vet. They will be able to advise you on whether or not she is pregnant. And don't let her out of your sight until she goes out of season! She can be bred more then once and more then one male can contribute to a litter.

well your best bet would be to go to the vet in a few weeks and get him to check, it could be hard to tell on your own for a while.

[QUOTE]I too am against backyard breeding. We were going to mate her with a friends dog and all the pups were going to have homes[/QUOTE]


[QUOTE]I am for animal rescuing[/QUOTE]:confused:

Well the best I can say on this without sounding too harsh is I hope you ask for an adoption fee and get the new owners of the pups to sign spay neuter contracts. Otherwise, someone elses husband would want to breed them too, you never know.

And just a bit on that subject with your husband wanting to breed, So what? My b/f at the time wanted to keep his Border Collie intact so he could breed him, ( cause he is a purebred and apparently thats what you are supposed to do) WEll not on my watch, he is neutered! I put my foot down and that was the end of that!.
I still recommend that you get her spayed. So if she is pregnate ( which is mostly likely a YES) and the pups all find homes, will your husband still want to breed her with another Chocolate Lab?? Or will this "accident" be the last litter for her?

You can tell by taking your dog to the vet for a simple blood test, much like you would if it were yourself going to a dr. to find out if you were pregnant. I strongly advise you to make an appointment right then and there to get her spayed, just *wanting* your dog to go through a pregnancy is not enough of a reason to further the unwanted animal population in the States. There is much involved with breeding a dog, so if you are serious about this, I would firmly recommend finding yourself a breeding mentor to help you make the right choices and decisions. I truly hope you decide to get her spayed, puppies are wonderful however, it's a very dangerous and tricky business getting a dog through a pregnancy. Good luck :pawprint:

Thank you to those who are a bit more understanding...She is going to the vet on Wednesday. I was just wondering if there was any way of finding out before hand. As for the fact that I do have 2 small children and I did not want them to hurt her. [And just a bit on that subject with your husband wanting to breed, So what? My b/f at the time wanted to keep his Border Collie intact so he could breed him, ( cause he is a purebred and apparently thats what you are supposed to do) WEll not on my watch, he is neutered!] Some peoples relationships are different!!!

Well seeing as though i am less than understanding, Im just going to say, I hope all goes well , your poor Lab doesnt have any complications in her litters to come, and all the pups find wonderful responsible homes.

Im done now, and wish you the best!

There's a new frequently asked questions section here that has info for you. We get that question a ton so you might want to check there first.

[url]http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=30266[/url]

The only way to know is to take her to the vet.

People here may come across as harsh, but alot of them work in animal rescue and have to have had beautifull sweet labs put down because the owners thought it would be a good idea to breed them. It's not a personal attack, it's just hard to hold a sweet dog in your arms and watch the life go out of him because people thought it would be great to see the 'miracle of birth'

I wish you the best of luck. I hope you have a little bit of money saved up, because pregnancies are often VERY expensive. That is, if you decide to go through with the pregnancy (it's not too late to have her spayed....)

So how did the Lothario get in your backyard? Gate open? Through a hole in the fence? Dug a tunnel? And what was your "in heat" female doing out unsupervised? Yeah, I'm not at all sympathetic.

You say you're willing to keep all the unadopted puppies? Your dog may have 6 to 8 pups, are you willing to keep 4 or 5 of them? Come on, get real!

Why do you want to breed your dog? Is she a shining example of her breed--registered, super intelligent, a great hunter, obedience, or agility winner, a proven champion? You should know that a litter of pups radically increases her chances of breast cancer. And having a litter isn't inexpensive--both for prenatal and post natal care. Or easy. Think about picking up stinky, wet newspapers three or 4 times (or more) a day for 6 to 8 weeks, multiple un-housebroken dogs, multiple series of shots, worming, dew claw removal--those are all standard if you have healthy puppies--imagine if they have health problems.

I know we won't change your mind, but [B]pets shouldn't have babies-- [U]period![/U][/B] Especially unplanned, unwanted, mongrel babies.


You have three choices, one/go through the pregnancy and all it's consequences. two/have the pregnancy aborted--yes it's possible and can be done with pharmaceuticals. three/ have your dog immediately spayed--the best and easiest choice, no more worries about spotting on the furniture and rugs, or having to keep an eagle eye on your dog, or unwanted and unneeded pregnancies.

Please do the right thing!

well said, angies man :thumbs up

[QUOTE=jawert1] puppies are wonderful [/QUOTE]


Puppies ARE wonderful! I love having a puppy around. That's why when I get a new dog, I get a puppy.

(Hypocracy alert: I admit it, I buy purebred dogs from fairly reputable breeders--but being part of a market DOES encourage the production of puppies. I recognize the hypocracy of not adopting a rescue puppy--mea culpa--I'm part of the problem.):o

[QUOTE=Angies Man]
(Hypocracy alert: I admit it, I buy purebred dogs from fairly reputable breeders--but being part of a market DOES encourage the production of puppies. I recognize the hypocracy of not adopting a rescue puppy--mea culpa--I'm part of the problem.):o[/QUOTE]

Reputable breeders Angies Man, there is nothing wrong with that, its not BYB's!

why do we waste time with people like this..............they just don't get it and never will........focus on helping the people with real problems and not amusing trolls.

i disagree
i think helping those confused people is a good effort, because many people don't spay/neuter their pets because they don't know any better. Once educated they will know and hopefully next time they'll think twice about their mistake, and think things through before waiting out for a dog in heat to breed it.

if they don't take the advice, at least you tried, but at least we got through that barrier of ignorance and now they are aware of the consequences.

(by the way i'm not calling anyone ignorant, but not "ignorance is bliss" is a dumb saying :o. The more we know the better we treat our pets )

[QUOTE=wdawson]why do we waste time with people like this.[/QUOTE]


I don't think it's wasted time. I was one of those people 6 years ago. I always rescued cats, but one day someone came to my house with a dog. She was a puppy and since I never had an intact female dog before I didn't realise that letting her out for a pee one morning while in heat; she would get pregnant by a a huge and old lab who crushed through my 6 foot fence and before I could stop him he mounted her and I did not know how to separate the 2.
Needless to say I took her to the vets later and when I found out she was pregnant expecting 8 babies ;I had them aborted...and I still feel guilty about how I dealt with it...BUT I did learn a hard lesson. I killed 8 lives that day just because I did not know how quickly a dog can become pregnant behind a 6 foot fence. If I came to the board with the story I would have been crucified for my stupidity, but I learned and I am sure there are other people that really don't know any better, until they are taught.

i see your point.........but how many of these posts do we see and they are all along the same lines.....my dog is vomiting,my dog is bleeding,where can i find a breeding partner...ect...ect.........these questions should be in a sticky...and should be in a pop up type box when you log in........instead of media whatever or the smiley thing. jmo

[QUOTE=mamasina]This was not planned and I too am against backyard breeding.[/QUOTE]

Congrats, cause you sound like a byb now.

This thread has run its course and will now be closed.