Signs of pregnancy in dogs
If a dog is pregnant, her behavior often changes. The extent to which these changes appear is individual and depends, among other things, on whether the dog is still young or already experienced.
Many dogs appear easily exhausted, are calmer, and sleep more. They look for undisturbed places and occasionally avoid contact with other animals. However, the opposite can also happen with young, inexperienced dogs. They become restless, react more uncertainly in everyday life than before and often seek contact with you as the owner. This restlessness can initially cause them to be a bit picky about food.
From the 3rd week, a clear, mucous vaginal discharge can be observed, which is related to the implantation of the egg cells in the uterus. Shortly thereafter, the milk bars can change slightly. Due to the increased blood flow, they become darker, firmer and swell slightly. However, you may not notice this unless you take a close look at your dog’s teats first.
At this point, most pregnant dogs also have an increased appetite. From the 6th week, the growth of the puppies accelerates, your dog becomes plumper and her energy requirements increase significantly. Depending on the size of the litter, it may be that the stomach can no longer expand as much and your dog no longer wants to eat her portions of food and she may even get sick. Several small meals a day now make more sense than two large ones.
The dog’s pregnancy lasts about 63 days. At the end of the gestation period, her teats swell significantly and a few drops of milk come just before birth.
Pregnancy or false pregnancy?
It is hardly possible to tell from your dog’s behavior whether she is pregnant, at least in the first half of the pregnancy. It could also be a false pregnancy.
After heat comes the menstrual cycle phase. When this phase, which lasts three to four months, begins, hormones such as the pregnancy hormone progesterone protect the implanted egg cells. After some time, this hormone decreases again and is replaced by prolactin. Prolactin activates mammary glands and is responsible for your dog developing feelings of motherhood. This completely normal, hormonal process still comes from their ancestors. In the case of wolves and wild dogs, these dogs not mated with males can also produce milk thanks to this hormonal interaction. They step in as foster mothers when the mother dogs drop out or support them in rearing.
The hormones released after heat only make it possible for you with a lot of experience to reliably distinguish between an existing pregnancy and a false pregnancy.
Pregnancy check-up at the vet
If you suspect that your dog has been mated and that she may be pregnant, the only and truly reliable way of confirming this is a veterinary examination.
Scan
Palpation used to be the quickest and easiest way to confirm pregnancy. However, this method has its dangers, because incorrect or excessive pressure could harm the puppies. If at all, it should therefore only be carried out by experienced veterinarians.
blood test
A pregnancy can be determined with a blood test. Tests are carried out for the hormone relaxin, which is only produced by the placenta during pregnancy and can therefore only be detected in the blood if this is present.
If the Relaxin test is positive, your dog is definitely pregnant. However, if the test is negative, pregnancy is unlikely, but cannot be ruled out 100%. In very small litters, relaxin is sometimes barely detectable or undetectable.
ultrasound examination
After the 3rd week of pregnancy in the dog, around the 21st – 25th day, the unborn puppies can be easily identified with an ultrasound scan and the veterinarian can determine pregnancy with certainty. A few days later, the heartbeats of the puppies are also visible.
In addition, the veterinarian can check the quality and quantity of the amniotic fluid, the activity of the puppies and their organs by means of ultrasound examinations during the course of the pregnancy.
X-ray examination
After the 7th week of pregnancy, around day 42-45, the skeletons of the puppies are clearly visible on the x-ray. X-rays are no longer used to determine pregnancy. However, the number of puppies can often be determined better with the X-ray than with the ultrasound. While puppies can sometimes be overlooked in an ultrasound scan if they are lying on top of each other, the number of spines can be counted on the x-ray. With the latter, a puppy will only be overlooked when two spines are fairly straight on top of each other, which is rare.
Conclusion:
Only your veterinarian can determine for sure whether your dog is actually pregnant or only pseudopregnant. In order for a dog to become pregnant, it must have been mated to a male dog while she was in heat. But if you’ve been careful and can rule it out, it’s more likely to be a false pregnancy.