fertile

Question
I just adoped a 13 month old toy poodle,well more like    rescued.It   is a female,the   problem is I also have a 2 year male teddy    bear,they get along great when do i need to seperate them cause i dont want the poodle to have babys are there signs i need to look for?I know i need to fix one of them but Im not sure which one.I have a big heart and don't want either one to have to go under the knife.These dogs are like my kids I only want what's best for them.

Answer
Hello Tisha,
Actually, it is more beneficial to have your babies neutered/spayed for a number of reasons.  Reason 1 is that you will know for sure that there is no chance of your female getting pregnant from your male.  2 it will keep your male from roaming around looking for other girls in heat to mate with.  3. It helps keep your babies healthy by preventing Testisicular cancer in male dogs and Uterine and Mammary (helps reduce the chances) cancer in female dogs.  

If you don't get one, the other, or both of them fixed, then you should shave your females valva and watch her for bleeding.  Female dogs will bleed for about 9-11 days before going into Standing Heat, which is the stage where they can become pregnant.  They stay in Standing Heat for about 1 1/2-2 weeks before going out of heat where the male isn't interested anymore.  
You can also watch for swelling in her valva, but sometimes it doesn't swell much.  Also, watch her carefully for the bleeding because a female can keep herself clean down there and you can miss it if you aren't watching.  
Some Pet Stores have Sanitary Pants that you can buy for your girl when she comes into heat.  Some of them are cute and come in neat girl colors.  You can buy regular female peroid pads to put in them and that can help to catch her when she starts to bleed.  
A female dog usually comes into heat every 6 months, so if you or her previous owners know when she came into heat last, you can estimate when she will come in again.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions about this, or other questions in general, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim