dog pregnant??

Question
QUESTION: Penny,

  I have a 15 month old bassett female, and a 9 month old male...I did plan on breeding them...but I was planning on waiting until she was 2 yrs. She went into heat about 3 weeks ago...I called my breeder that I got my bassetts from and asked her about separating them, she said that I shouldn't have anything to worry about this time because the male was too young...so I didn't. Then I saw him trying...I never saw them tie...so I wasn't sure if he could still get her pregnant or not...but since then she has
changed a little in personality...and I know that..that can also happen just with a heat cycle. Do you think its possible that she did get pregnant? If she is do you recommend getting a x-ray to tell how many their are? I've been told that they aren't that accurate. Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Cindy.  I'm not sure how long your breeder has been breeding dogs, but a 9 month old male can most certainly produce a litter of puppies.  Most veterinarians recommend neutering a male dog at 16 weeks (4 months) due to the fact that they can mature as young as 6 months of age.

I'm not a big believer in taking X-Rays on a possibly pregnant dog, for the same reason that they will not X-Ray a pregnant human.  Your veterinarian can perform an exam and more than likely will take a blood sample to determine if your female is expecting a litter or not.

A simple blood test will provide your Veterinarian with the hormone called "Relaxin" levels, which is a  reliable indicator of pregnancy. Relaxin can be detected in blood samples soon after implantation of the fertilized egg, which occurs about 22-27 days after mating.

Good luck, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,
Penny DiLoreto
www.puppies-dot-com.com



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

QUESTION: Thanks Penny...my breeder said that she has only had this occur once in 20 yrs of breeding. My bassetts tits have started to get larger..but I know that this also happens just with the heat cycle itself. Will there be any other changes that I should be aware of early on? I did talk to my vet and he said that sometimes you can't really tell until about 2 weeks before delivery. Thanks

Answer
Hi Cindy.  I could send you a list of symptoms to look for, but it will be better if I send you the link to a really cool "Whelping Calendar" that I use.  The website is as follows:

http://www.debbiejensen.com/date.html

Just type in the date you mated your female, at the top, and the calendar will print out a complete - week by week- listing of what you should expect.

Good luck, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,
Penny DiLoreto
www.puppies-dot-com.com