Uh Oh! I think our dog is pregnant!!! HELP!

[miss kris]

So basically, we have a female bullmastiff x great dane and we go to great lengths to keep her locked up when she comes on heat.
It was just over a month ago that she last had a period, we did the right thing and had her locked up.

Sunday night i noticed her nipples are really swollen, and now that i think of it a couple of weeks ago she was really lethargic and off her food for a few days.

I have since been informed our neighbours mastiff x dane x wolfhound has been getting out this past month and has been picked up from the pound twice!! We think he may have jumped two of our fences to get into our yard!

So!! Does anyone know what other symptoms i should be looking for? We are to book her into the vet soon but its $250.00 to get her preg tested!!
Could this be a passing thing? She is 3 years old so def not her first period or anything...

If she is... any tips on what to expect with puppies?? She is a big breed so we have been told to expect at least 7-10 puppies!!

Any help / advice is greatly appreciated!!!

[Jennie13]

after my dog had puppies the first time, each time she went on heat after that, afew weeks later her nipples would swell up again and i would think she was pregnant agian. Hopefully this is the same for your dog! sort of like a phantom pregnancy my vet said

[Ginger]

Why didn't you get her desexed?

[miss kris]

We have never had this sort of problem to feel we needed to get her desexed... if that makes sense??
The dogs she socialises with are desexed males, we don't take her out when she is on heat and have 1.5m fences. So never really had to think we would need to anyway...this is pure accident.

[helle]

My mums dog has phantom pregnancies occasionally and she's 4. Pretty common, I think.
Otherwise, those are gonna be some massive puppies!!
If it was only a month ago shes almost half way ... XD

[Ginger]

So, has this incident shown you that you need to get her desexed? Accidents happen all the time. Pet owners who don't desex their animals make me extremely angry and are responsible for most of the poor animals that end up in shelters being put to sleep.

[helle]

So, has this incident shown you that you need to get her desexed? Accidents happen all the time. Pet owners who don't desex their animals make me extremely angry and are responsible for most of the poor animals that end up in shelters being put to sleep.

Is miss Kris defense, she isn't in the wrong. Her dog didn't get out and she has taken the necessary precautions to keep her dog in her yard and away from males while in heat. Id be more ****ed with the owner of the male dog if I were you. It's people like that, who don't train or keep their dogs where they know where they are that are the reason why shelters are full.
My dogs not desexed either, and I don't plan on desexing him unless it's for medical reasons.
So not the point of the OP.

[miss kris]

Don't need a lecture ginger, we try to do the right thing and are still trying to do the right thing ok.
Unless you have something constructive to say please don't post again.

[zap]

Yeah I'd be more angry with the owner of the male dog not the responsible owner that has made an effort to not let her dog loose while on heat!

[Ginger]

I'm angry with both owners. Where are all the puppies going to end up?

[miss kris]

the worse thing is the neighbour is a dead beat...he high fived his dog when he found out that he may have gotten ours pregnant...yep he is that much of a loser. *sigh*

[helle]

I'm angry with both owners. Where are all the puppies going to end up?

People who wanna buy a giant puppy, obviously.

[zap]

Hopefully with loving owners?

Bullmastiffds are great dogs!

[Phteven]

You can the pregnancy terminated and your dog desexed at the same time.

[miss kris]

Yes, i worry about it and hope that they go to loving homes like the one we try to provide our dog (she is currently snoring on the couch next to me while we watch glee lol) very spoilt!

[Nurse27]

we have a ridgeback mastiff cross called Hollie - she had 13 puppies in her first (and only) litter (planned). 1 was stillborn, and one died soon after birth after she accidently suffocated it. She delivered 5 puppies herself, (including the 2 who died) and then had an obstructed labour which meant a midnight trip to the vet and an absolute fortune in vet fees for a midnight cesar. The puppies were just absolutely gorgeous. We were warned that she probably wouldn't have enough milk to feed them all and the vet recommended puppy formula to supp feed them. That was a nightmare - so after a couple of days of trying to bottle feed 11 puppies we ended up feeding the formula to Hollie - who then had no probs with her milk supply Our Kelpie Angel loved having little puppies to round up in the yard !

Forgot to say we had absolutely no trouble selling our puppies and made enough money to cover the vets and formula expenses. Lots of people like bigger dogs! Look in trading post and local papers and advertise there.

[helle]

Hopefully with loving owners?

Bullmastiffds are great dogs!

My parents neighbours have two bullmastiff girls. Such gorgeous dogs! Gentle Giants really. They live with two kids.

[Smoke Jaguar]

You'll find out soon enough, I suppose.
Not going to beat you over the head with a stick about it if she IS pregnant, just want to advise you to get her fixed as soon as you know she isn't pg, or after she's had the litter, if you proceed.
If you don't intend to breed from a dog (and unless you're a breed expert, you just ought not!) then it's really best for her health to spey. They are so much more prone to cancers and other complications if kept intact and either bred from or not.
There is also really good evidence in Victoria (DPI data and info) about early desexing being much more beneficial than waiting till 6 months. Our dog (dane x alsatian) was desexed at adoption as a pup and he was 7 weeks old - simple and uncomplicated as all get out.
If you do end up with a litter, please be very careful about who you pass the pups onto. It would be wise to either desex them and recoup costs, or surrender them to a pound, where they will be desexed at adoption and this never has to happen again.
The thing with the large breeds, as you might already be aware, is that they pass on enough problems as pure breds, and hybrid-vigour doesn't really apply to the large breed, in my experience
Also, if you end up with a litter, I'd put my hand up for one when it's weaned if I lived closer! If left intact, you'd want a prospective owner like me (hypothetically speaking), where I'd be definitely organising a desexing upon arrival. I'm also not in the habit of paying for dogs, unless I'm paying a pound an adoption fee (just a personal rule of mine that has brought me the greatest companions). Great home guaranteed, and money can't buy that - so don't talk cost with a prospective owner until you are comfortable with their credentials, just tell them you'll discuss it later after talking about the plans they have for the dog.
I went to a local market last month and was disgusted to see a family flogging off a box of unwanted kittens at the gate. Their sign said "free to good home" and then "donation to get mum desexed". They didn't look like they were going to leave until those kittens were gone, and I didn't hear a single question about what kind of home they were going to. And 'donation'? The cheek! the mum of the family was dragging on her fags and I have a feeling I know where that 'donation' was going to end up.
I'm not saying this is what you'd do. I'm illustrating that merely saying "free to good home" doesn't mean the people who come knocking are actually going to provide a good home. If you care about their fate, ask some tough questions - a genuine good home is not afraid of the questions.
Good luck, and I hope she's not pg, I hope you can desex her asap and just enjoy your dog
ETA:
took me so long to compose that and I missed some posts. I recommend the termination of the pg if she is pg - really, everyone will be better off if you do this AND desex at the same time. If it's a large litter, and you have every reason to expect this, it's going to be very hard work making sure they get good homes. And even then, they are likely to have conformation issues that the owners either won't know how to deal with, or will have to fork out money for (or not, even worse for the dog). If you breed from this dog and you are not a breeder, then you are actually breeding more problems here. Please think about this.
As I said, I'm not getting the stick out, just looking out for your *****'s and the pups' welfare. I'm really a bit passionate about this after my time volunteering at Vic Animal Aid and RSPCA. The repercussions are seriously a lot more heartbreaking than any sad emotion you have about the decision to abort. I nearly lost my dog at 9 weeks from a weak heart and pneumonia, from his inherent weaknesses, after falling for him HARD - I was an absolute mess till he made it to morning at one vet clinic he ended up at in an emergency state. I was inconsolable. I would never wish that on anyone.
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease think about this responsibly, beyond your own backyard, ok? No judgment for the past