pregnant puppy

Question
QUESTION: I have a 9 mth old yorkie puppy.  I think she is pregnant and my Vet. is out of town for 2 weeks.  I have always been very careful with my dogs, I do not breed dogs. I thought she was in her first heat, but then her teats began to swell. She is also acting different. I am worried because she is so small an so young(appx. 4 lbs.) Problem is I am not sure who the sire is. We have no stray dogs, and Sophie stays in the back yard and in the house. We did find a place she might have been getting out and there is a winnie dog there??? I'm worried about her being so young and small and complications or maybe a false pregnancy. And she plays so rough with my son's Alaskan Husky(6mth. fml). My city (Shreveport and Bossier City LA) is having a problem with fleas. We have treated the yard and dogs and we still have a problem. I am worried to treat her much more because of the puppies. I don't want the puppies to be covered with fleas. My biggest concern is about the delivery since I don't know who the father is. I know I am problem over thinking this, even though I thought I took all precautions she still got pregnant. Please help. I just can't wait for my Vet to get back to town. Just to help put some of my fears at rest.
Thank you
Cyndie

http://www.petremembrances.com/Yorkie%20Advise.html

ANSWER: Cyndie,

Stress causes us to not think clearly and to be overwhelmed by our problems.  Stress itself is caused by uncertainty or the what if's that go unanswered.  One of the quickest ways to eliminate stress is to answer the questions that are causing the stress.  In your case all of your stress could be eliminated just by answering one simple question.  Is your dog pregnant?  Once you have answered that question you will be able to take a definitive action that will relieve your stress completely.

Since you have no idea if she is pregnant and who the potential father is your only recourse is to take her to the vet.  I know you said your vet is out of town but most vets refer their patients to another vet when they are away.  In order to solve this problem you first need to find out if she is pregnant.  A vet can tell by just feeling their abdomen if they are pregnant and how many puppies there are.  

If she is pregnant the next step is to have her spayed immediately.  Dogs cannot have an abortion per say, but in order to terminate a pregnancy they must be spayed.  With your female being only four pounds it would be unwise to let her pregnancy go to full term.  Even when a four pound female is bred with a smaller male there can be serious complications because of her size.  There are dangers involved in having them spayed when they are pregnant so getting her spayed early in the pregnancy is the safest thing to do.  That is why I say take her to another vet as soon as possible.  I agree with you that you cannot wait two weeks to get the answers to your questions.


If she was in heat and she was able to get out of the yard she could very well be pregnant.  If she didn't get out of the yard she could still be pregnant because a male dog will do whatever it takes to get to a female in heat and this includes climbing fences.  You did not say how long ago you thought she was in heat.  The teats do not usually start to swell until they are a couple weeks away from delivery.  The gestation period is nine weeks so if she was in heat six to seven weeks ago then there is a good possibility she is pregnant. After her heat her pee pee should have stayed swollen. It usually stays swollen and continues to swell bigger and bigger until she has the puppies.  It can sometimes swell to be five times larger than its original size.  If the vet determines she is not pregnant then she could have a hormonal problem.  If it is hormonal then a simple hormone shot should fix the problem.  

As far as the flea problem, having her spayed will eliminate your concern about the puppies.  I live in Georgia and we have terrible problems with fleas as well.  My husband sprays the yard every year but it does not eliminate the fleas completely.  I use Frontline plus because even after they have a bath it keeps working.  There is no other product on the market that works this way.  The other flea products like Advantage do a good job killing the Adult fleas, larva and baby fleas but once your dog gets wet it has to be re-applied.  With Frontline it doesn't matter if they get wet or how many times they get wet it keeps on working.  The only thing you have to be careful about is that they do not get wet (or have a bath)two day prior to or two days after you put it on them.

My vet also told me that it was safe to put it on them every three weeks instead of every four weeks if the flea problem is really bad.  What I usually do is wash all of the bedding that my dog comes in contact with the day after I have put the flea stuff on them.  I also pick up and wash any throw rugs, afghans, throw blankets etc. and wash them.  I spray the surfaces of my carpets and furniture with flea spray that is for carpet and furniture. By doing this I am killing off the existing flea population and any fleas that jump on my dog when she is in the yard will die if they bite her because of the Frontline.  Any fleas that make it into the house will die when they jump off of her onto the flea protected areas.  If she sleeps with you, you will need to wash all of the bedding on your bed as well.  The reason I wait until the day after I flea her is to give the Frontline a chance to completely cover her body.  Frontline is distributed on the skin and it takes about 24 hours for it to get on their whole body.

If you can, let me know what you find out and what you decided to do.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you hun, I will take her to the vet tomorrow. But after what you said I don't think she is pregnant. Her belly is not distended at all, so I think it maybe a hormone problem.  And about the flea problem, I do use Frontline Plus on all the dogs (13yr pom fml, 6mth Husky fml, my yorkie) I just can't keep the fleas off the Husky. I also use Adams flea and tick mist,(used and suggested by my vet, a good old country doc) which works to kill the fleas, and it is supposed to keep them clear for 3 months, but that part is not working. I am about to put Ortho on my yard to see if it works, but the weather is not cooperating with us right now. My groomer suggested a pill for the Husky along with another dose of FLP. I've never heard of a pill for fleas but I will let you know. Our winters are just not cold enough to kill fleas, ticks, ants, or any type of pests is part of the problem. Thank you again for your info. I'm glad I found your site, I have never found a site that would answer a question without trying to charge me a fortune or sell me book or join a club when all I needed was a answer to a simple question. Thank you for offering your invaluable advice free of charge. I will forward your site to all my pet lovers.
Thank you
Cyndie

Answer
Cyndie,

The pill your groomer was referring to is mostly used by veterinarians when a dog is going to be boarded in their facility.  It is a fast working pill that kills the fleas on a dog within minutes of the dog taking the pill.  Vets use it so that the kennel does not get fleas.  It is not a preventative however, it just kills the fleas on the dog at that time.  There is also a flea pill that is used as a preventative that you can give your dog once a month but I am not sure if it is still used as widely as when it first came out several years ago.  

Fleas are attracted to dogs that have white hair.  I am not sure why but if a dog is going to get fleas the one with white hair will get them first and usually is the hardest one to get the fleas off.  I have an Australian Shepherd mix that has long hair like a Husky.  We usually have her body shaved in the summer because it helps eliminate the flea problem.  It looks funny but as long as she is more comfortable we don't care how she looks.  Contrary to what some believe shaving their hair is not harmful for them and it makes they more comfortable in the hot weather.  The coat on a Husky is very thick and that makes it difficult for the flea stuff to penetrate the hair and get on the skin, which is what makes it work.

My husband uses a flea and tick spray that he gets at Home Depot.  It's main ingredient is Diazanon (not sure about the spelling).  It comes in a bottle (liquid) and you mix it with water and spray it on the grass and dirt areas of your yard.  It usually works the entire summer.

I agree with you about being able to ask a simple question and not have to pay to get the answer.  I do however, offer the book I have written about Yorkshire Terriers sometimes when the questioner has a lot of questions or needs extensive information.  Even though I offer the book I will always answer any and as many questions that a person has because of my belief that the Internet should be a place where people can get answers to their questions free of charge.

Good luck with your female and your flea problem.  Oh, and if she is not pregnant I would get her spayed as soon as possible so you don't have to worry like this again.