pregnant?

Question
My female jack russell's last season was 3 weeks ago, and during that time we sent her to a male jack russell's home to see if it would work out. Since then she has been eating a lot and it very quiet and incredibly lazy. In the last few days she has stopped eating, she is always lying at my feet, her nipples are big and her nose is dry and warm. Could these be signs of pregnancy? I have already sent the same question and I recieved no reply.
Thanks!


Answer
There are many signs of pregnancy, unfortunately it takes about 4 weeks to start to see them, so we spend a lot of time wondering "is she pregnant"? Yes, they do eat more, sleep more, lick and clean themselves more, nipples enlarge, urination increases, and they sleep more. I'm not sure about the dry nose!  Make sure you get a good book or video on birthing puppies and care for the pregnant dog. They need extra calcium (supplement their food with some cottage cheese, etc) and she should be eating a high quality puppy food during the last two weeks of pregnancy that directly helps the growing puppies.
There are SO MANY things that can go wrong in the delivery so please make sure you educate yourself now on what to do in case of emergencies, learn how to pull a puppy out correctly, learn how to stimulate breathing, suctioning fluids, tying umbilical cord off, and temperature control of the whelping box. Then comes puppy tail docking, vaccinations, de-worming, feeding etc.... It's an exciting time but it is also very serious and you have to be completely prepared. There are many good books available online. I recommend the Leerburg Series. They breed German Shepherds but are highly professional and give excellent advice.
Very best of luck to all of you.
The best indicator of pregnancy is a blood test at your veterinarians office if you want to be absolutely sure.
Take care