Heat

Question
We rescued a dog back in November 08 and she was pregnant. She had a little pup and then her nipples went down in size. She came into heat in March and her nipples are still huge 10 weeks later. We do have another little yorkie who is not fixed and is much smaller than her but she does not look or act at all like she did when she was pregnant last time. I know her nipples will 'be bigger' after heat but they shouldn't be any larger than they were after she was pregnant should they? I am pretty sure she is not pregnant, has not gained any weight and her temperature is normal, she's 72 days past her first day of heat and she's not food aggressive or anything, just normal w/ extremely large nipples w/ breasts underneath. Weird?

Answer
If you are positive that she is not pregnant, then she is most likely having a false pregnancy (although she could still be hiding one or two puppies in there and whelp in 2-5 days). The symptoms of a false pregnancy can be exactly like a real pregnancy, except that they don't deliver anything. When it is time to whelp, some will start mothering stuff animals, etc. I had one bitch who had milk, and was able to nurse and raise a litter of three sheltie puppies whose mother has mastitis and couldn't nurse them anymore.

You really should have this bitch spayed as an intact bitch can come down with pyometra, a deadly uterine infection. The bitches who have false pregnancies are more apt to get it than those who don't, for some reason.