Not sure if my dog might be pregnant?

Question

Lyila   QUESTION: Hello, I recently picked up a dog from a couple on craigslist. I named her Lyila,they claim that she is a little over a year old, and not spayed. They had her together with another dog which was a male. I've had her for about 9 days and noticed that possibly some of her nipples seem to be a little larger than before. Also, when she stands on her back legs, her belly seems to stick out a little. My question is- if she is pregnant, do you think she would only be about a month along since her nipples are not too big/filled? I have a vet appointment for her in a few days- I'm just afraid that if she is pregnant and i take her to the vet without knowing that they will spay her and kill the babies without tell me. She is also very, very loving. When we go to bed at night, she has to lay on me...which can be a little difficult since she's about 55 pounds! I had cats that never wanted attention until they became pregnant- so maybe this is another sign?
I have pictures of her belly also.

ANSWER: Hi Davina

The thing is a false pregnancy can have all the same signs as a real one, without the end results.

If the previous owners can't tell you for certain, have the vet do ultra sound and/or x-rays.  It's important to know what she was bred with.  You will need to be prepared if there are complications.  For example, if say, she was bred to a Mastiff and she's a Corgi... that's a sign that there could be problems in whelp.

Good luck


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Lyila   QUESTION: Is it safe to do x-rays on her if she is pregnant? Also, do you think she is part pitbull terrier?

Thanks for the help!

Answer
Absolutely safe to do x-rays, but after day 50 as the bones don't calcify and they won't be visible on x-rays.

You can do DNA testing to determine her breed, if I had to guess just from that picture I would say a Beagle cross but I wouldn't be placing bets.