About Pregnant Dogs

Discovering that your dog is pregnant can be a wonderful experience or it can be a total shock. There are some basic facts about dog pregnancy to consider when you are thinking about breeding your dog or if you discover an accidental pregnancy.

  1. Types

    • There are two types of dog pregnancy: natural and artificial. In a natural pregnancy, the dogs mate naturally without any assistance. In an artificial pregnancy, the female is inseminated by a veterinarian with sperm from the potential sire that is collected by a veterinarian. Once the collection is finished, it can be used immediately, chilled for use within 24 to 48 hours or frozen for use long into the future.

    Identification

    • There are numerous ways to identify pregnancy in a dog. The easiest way to identify pregnancy is to take the dog to the veterinarian four weeks after mating. A vet should do an ultrasound, x-ray or Repro test to verify pregnancy. Some other signs of dog pregnancy are increased appetite, urinating more often than normal, a firm abdomen, lethargy, restlessness and clear vaginal discharge.

    Time Frame

    • The average length of canine pregnancy is 58 to 65 days from the day the dogs mated. Puppies born before the 55th day of pregnancy are considered pre-mature due to the short gestation period of dogs. In most cases, the pregnancy won't be visible until the last 1 to 2 weeks of the pregnancy. When whelping puppies, it shouldn't take longer than 30 to 45 minutes between each birth. Any time it has been longer than an hour since the previous birth and you know there are still puppies to be born, take your dog to a veterinarian immediately.

    Expert Insight

    • A pregnant dog's temperature is 100 to 101 degrees Fahrenheit, which is caused by the excess of hormones throughout the pregnancy. The temperature drops to below 99 degrees Fahrenheit just before labor begins. If she hasn't delivered the first pup within 24 hours of the temperature drop, a cesarean section may be needed to remove the puppies.

    Prevention/Solution

    • The only absolute way to stop a dog from becoming pregnant is to spay her. Just as with permanent sterilization for women, there are various ways to spay a dog. In a complete ovariohysterectomy, the vet removes the ovaries, uterus and the tubes connecting them. In some cases, the vet may simply remove the ovaries or the uterus but, these situations are uncommon.