breeding young male dogs

Question
I have a 7 month old male who tried to breed my 2 yr old female....I think he bred her only because he was hard and hanging out of his sheath, for about 15 min. He did not tie with the female and I was wondering if there was a possibility that she may be PG, even though they did not tie up...I guess my question would be is Do dogs have to tie up to get bred?
Thanks Debbie

Answer
Hi Debbie. I'm not sure what breed your dogs are, but the smaller ones tend to mature faster than the larger ones, and if your boy is a large breed, at 7 months he may not even have viable sperm yet. And no, dogs don't absolutely have to have a tie for the female to become pregnant. Breeders want a tie, as that helps to keep the sperm in place, and you have much better odds at obtaining a pregnancy with the tie.