Is Your Dog Expecting? Signs and Symptoms

Many people are unsure if their dog is expecting; this is especially true if you have not been trying to breed your dog. If you have been trying to breed your dog, you need to know some of the signs and symptoms to look for in an expecting dog. Here are some common indicators that your dog is expecting.

If your dog is expecting, she will display typical pregnancy signs and symptoms that can resemble a human pregnancy, including an increase in how much she sleeps. Your dog will begin to sleep more than usual if she is, in fact, expecting. She will also begin to eat, drink and urinate more as the pregnancy progresses because she will need the extra food and water to grow the puppies and the pressure on her bladder will cause her to urinate more. While these symptoms are not a surefire ways to determine that your dog is expecting, they are pretty reliable indications of a canine pregnancy.

A growing belly is another common indication, and probably the most reliable one, other than a diagnosis by your vet, that your dog is pregnant. A growing belly usually means your dog is expecting. As a bigger belly may not show until later in the pregnancy, if you have been breeding your dog and you want to know if your dog is expecting, you should look for other signs and symptoms to help diagnose the pregnancy early on.

A typical dog pregnancy usually lasts anywhere from 58-63 days. If you are still unsure if your dog is expecting, look for pink, swollen nipples as her nipples will become more prominent the closer she gets to giving birth. If the nipples are pink and swollen, the delivery of the new puppies is going to happen relatively soon.

The most reliable way to confirm that your dog is expecting is to take her to the vet as your vet is trained to diagnose a dog's pregnancy. The vet will give your dog a short physical while looking for various signs that she is indeed expecting. The vet may listen to her belly for other heartbeats indicating the presence of puppies; this examination of the belly can be done at 3 or 4 weeks of gestation.

Your vet may do an ultrasound on your dog to further diagnose the pregnancy. While ultrasounds can give you an idea of how many puppies to expect and the general health of each puppy, because they are expensive, ultrasounds are usually done only when your dog is thought to be in danger or the vet thinks there might be complications. You may also have an ultrasound done when you have bred your dog and the owners of the other dog want to know how many puppies she's carrying.

These are all good ways to diagnose your dog's pregnancy. The signs and symptoms are generally the same for any expectant dog. The most reliable way to tell if your dog really is expecting is to take your dog to the vet. Once the pregnancy is diagnosed you can start spreading the good news and preparing your dog and your home for the puppies' birth.

More Dog Health

« How to Know If Your Dog is Pregnant | Only Dog Beds | Indications That Your Dog Is Pregnant »