Canine Pregnancy

Question
I do have a few questions regarding my doberman. She has never come into a visible heat. Although, once when she was 5 months old, then once again when she was 11 months old, my male became very interested in her. There is a possibility that my male impregnanted her at this 11 month old mark. I did not think she was in heat, and did not seperate her from him. However, they would play around and he was very interested in her at this point. Some other breeders I spoke with did state that he could be a neighborhood bitch in heat that was exciting him, but looking back on the situation, Im wondering if she was in a "silent" heat, as another breeder told me about. I do remember on a few occasions where Iris would stand, legs spread and tail over to the side. He did attempt mounting, but she would run. I never did notice a connection, but there were times they were left unattended. There have been so many factors that could have been causing behavioral changes, such as her getting over 280 porcupine quills a couple weeks ago, and the death of both of my other dogs on March 13 (my lab cross was shot at the same time as my other Doberman when someone mistook them for coyotes)However, she has become very loving, needing lots of attention. She's always been loving, but even more so at this time. Also, she has been on guard even more so lately, very protective of the house, vehicle and family. She has been a bit moody towards strangers lately as well. Her appetite has declined. Her activity level has declined. I was just seeing If you thought she came into heat on the two occasions above and if you believed she might be pregnant, or is it just because of the traumatic events she's experienced lately? I did attempt to palpate, and seemed to feel a few rather large objects, but did not dare to squeeze too much in fear of breaking their sacs in the event they were fetuses. Any help you can give me at this time would be very much appreciated.

Answer
Hi, it is a good possibility that she came into a silent heat at 11 months old.  Has it been approx. 63 days since then?  The gestation period for a dog is 63 days.  She is going through all the changes, but she has also been through a lot of external changes to affect her life also, so it is really hard to say.  I would count backwards and if the days are close I would proceed on the side of caution and start preparing for puppies.  Ince she gets to the 63 day mark you could arrange to get x-rays done to verify if there are puppies or not.  Hope this helps,

Dawn