Possible Pregnancy between Briard and Boxer

Question
Hi, Shawn.
My female Briard, Marie, just finished her heat cycle about 5 days ago. She may be pregnant, but my neighbor and I (the Boxer, King's, owner) are sure that Marie and King had contact, but we aren't breeders and don't know if it was long enough to do anything. We were wondering how to tell if Marie is pregnant, because this happened about three weeks ago, Marie has been losing her appetite steadily, and her nipples seem to be swelling. We were also just curious about a Briard and Boxer mix, and if it would be an ideal breed, and if it has been done before, just so that we would know the name of the breed.
Thank you for your time,
Lucy (and her neighbor, Joelle)
along with Marie and King

Answer
Hi Lucy-

Do you know if the two dogs tied? If they remained "stuck" together for a period of a few minutes, then there is a good chance she is pregnant. Other factors come into play, the ages of the dogs, the health of the dogs, how far into her heat cycle she was when they tied etc. Any more information there could help a lot!

Nipples swelling and going off her food is a sign of pregnancy, as well as classic "morning sickness" but that can also be a sign of a false pregnancy. She can also gain weight and get milk with a false pregnancy, and go through all of the signs of whelping. At about 30 days, I'd take her into your vet to have her palpated. The vet should be able to tell you if the horns of the uterus feel swollen due to fetuses or not. I would also offer her bland foods in the morning, like cooked white rice, plain yogurt, light cottage cheese, scrambled eggs, etc. She should also be on a good high quality (preferably no grain, or at least high quality grain) all natural puppy food. Canidae, Wellness, Innova EVO, Taste of the Wild, Blue Wilderness are all good choices. The other alternative is if you are not competing in conformation with her or planning to breed her, you can go ahead and spay her to terminate the pregnancy.

I am sure that somewhere along the lines a briard and a boxer have crossed paths, but there is no name for their offspring, except perhaps mutt, mixed breed, mongrel, briard/boxer mix, and well, Dog. :) The puppies you will be producing will not be a breed at all- a breed is identified as such when for multiple generations the breed is easily defined and breeds "true to type"- for instance, if you breed golden retrievers together you are 100% positive what size, color, shape and hair type you are going to get. If you breed a poodle and a cocker spaniel together, you have no idea what size, color, shape, hair type etc, you will get, it will all be mixed together, because it is a mixed breed. The name "Cockapoo" is just a designer term thrown in to sell mixed breed puppies. If you notice, every cockapoo looks completely different.

As for what to expect from the mix- no one can be 100% positive with a mixed breed pairing, but a briard and boxer mix would be an odd puppy. First, since boxers are brachycephalic, you have to be concerned about the length of the nasal passages, muzzle and trachea, and ensure the puppies can breath properly. Also, I'd imagine the puppies would be very high energy coming from both herding and working backgrounds. Also very very headstrong and stubborn, since boxers and briards are both notoriously stubborn breeds. I'd expect them to be good guard dogs, and would want the puppies to be extremely well socialized as early as possible to prevent any bad habits from developing and to get them used to as much of the world as possible. You will probably have a mix of colors, hair lengths, muzzle lengths, sizes etc.

So all in all, palpation check at 30 days with the vet, and come back here if you have any questions about preparing a whelping kit/box, and what to do until the puppies are born and during the actual whelping. I'll also be glad to help you with spay/neuter contracts for the pet homes you find for the puppies if you need that information.

Good luck!