Is my myrtle fertile????

How old is the bitch?

Month in is really not soon enough for there to be much in the way of visible movement. That comes later, IME, dogs are pregnant 63 days. Take her temperature and see what you get. Masses in the abdomen and loss in interest in food is a sign that your dog needs to see a vet. Yes she may be pregnant, but it also could be parasites, tumors, pyometra, etc.

Does your bitch have any clear stringy discharge from her vulva? Any "channels" around her teats? IOW raised "lines" down either side where the teats are? Can you express milk? has the shaking stopped, increased, progressed to pushing?

All these could be signs of pregnancy or impending labor.

Get your girl to a vet...these sorts of things are why emergency funds for pets are a great idea. See if they will work with you on the exam fee...many will.

If all does not go well with the birth..if there is one, you will need funds anyways...c sections are not cheap..nor are post natal visits for cleanout shots etc. Hoping for the best for you both...

Everything Gina said, plus emphasis on get her to the vet NOW.

Many vets will let you post date a check.

 Her "period" (season) would only come twice a year anyway, so you wouldn't see it.  I am no expert AT ALL, but you need to get this pup to a vet straight away.  This is something that won't wait for you to get your paycheck.

Everything that the folks above said PLUS - please don't think dog birthing is something "easy" that you can "share" with her.  IT IS NOT.  Particularly not if there are problems.

Dogs are in 'season' for 3 weeks and theoretically they are fertile that entire time.  You sometimes don't even *see* it.  She could have been fertile and they MISSED it. 

The next big problem is that when they are in season 3 weeks and there are intact males around (and particularly if they weren't being careful of her outside because they didn't think she was fertile) she could have actually been impregnated by SEVERAL males.

Have you ever seen litters of pups at PetSmart or other "adoption" events?  Where several of the puppies don't look anything like each other?  That's because female dogs drop like 20 eggs at a time ... and they can be impregnated over and over and OVER during the same cycle.  so theoretically maybe one of their other dogs may have impregnated her early in her cycle.  But they were leaving her outside unattended and the neighborhood rottweiler got to her, or another larger dog.  And maybe that was the 2d week.  And then again maybe another dog (a 3rd 'father';) in the third week.

Ok -- Gina told you above dogs gestation only lasts like 63 days.  Just over 2 months.  BUT is that from the time the **first** pups were conceived or the **last**?? 

 See one sire mated with her perhaps the first week and then potentially another two weeks later?  Yes -- you can have a pregnancy where some pups are far far less mature than others in the litter.

Then comes birth.  But ... remember that rottweiler?  It's possible that the puppies that were the result of the first mating are ready to be born -- but it's always possible that the bigger, less mature puppies can be **in the way**.  so live puppies trying to be born are blocked by others not really mature enough yet.  Or pups just plain not viable (perhaps dead). 

DON'T try to do this alone.  Please please get her to a vet a.s.a.p and get her help.  Don't try to take this on alone because franly you **just don't know**.  YOU weren't there when she conceived so you really don't have any idea at all IF she's pregnant or not.

Dogs are more stoic than they look and they try hard to whelp when no one is around.  I have a friend who woke up to dead bitch and dead puppies the next morning and she never heard a sound.  It was horrible.

 Please -- get her to a vet right away.  Don't wait for next week.  Don't assume you will "hear" her.  You probably won't. 

I don't mean to be harsh here -- but even in a well planned litter with an experience breeder things can go wrong -- and  you've admitted you're not a breeder so please don't feel horrible for not being able to do this.  It is simply recognizing your limitations and the true danger involved. 

Then, please please let us know how this goes?  We all care, and as I said I'm not trying in any way to shame you because you took this on to be wonderful and kind.  But this is where it's our responsibility to try to help give you the short course in "educating" you so you can be prepared for things to be difficult and not pretty.

And btw -- it isn't always 6 months.  A bitch can actually go into estrus WAY sooner than 6 months or way later than she 'should' -- just like us, they each have their own schedule and some are very early.  I had a wonderful little female over 37 years ago that I dragged in off the street.      She was, **then** about 6 months old (aged by her teeth and she wasn't quite 6 months) but she had ***ALREADY*** had a litter.  She was heavy with milk and shownig signs of very recent birth.  The jerk (and I know who it was) killed her babies and dumped her out of a moving car. 

That means she began her first heat when she was something LESS than 4 months old.  My vet was absolutely astonished -- he was very experienced and examined her completely and both by her teeth, and her structural development she was literally around 6 months old.  He did an emergency spay on her simply because we feared internal bleeding because she was so very immature to have had a litter. 

So don't go by age, or what they think did or didn't happen.  No one knows.  So bless you for helping her.  But let us know pretty please??

Is she heavy? I'd think that, even if she were mistreated and not fed properly, she'd have some sort of a belly if she were far enough along for you to feel movement. Also, while I've felt a bit of puppy movement on pregnant dogs, I've never seen or felt anything I'd call "dashing away".  Also ditto what Gina said..does she have enlarged nipples?

She should certainly be seen by a vet sooner rather than later.

jeanna

she was shaking a lot this morning.

I sure hope this doesn't mean that she is already in labor!  Here is a thread with lots of info about dealing with unexpected pups from a newly acquired female:  http://community.dog.com/forums/p/9429/120553.aspx

To read more about this litter go to:  http://community.dog.com/search/

Use the following search options (in bold)
Find results with all the words:  Reesee AND NC_cockermama
Sorted by:                               Oldest First

This dog really needs to see a vet right now, but if you absolutely can't do that yet, call the vet ASAP and ask for the names of any breeders he knows that might be willing to mentor you.

calliecritturs

Yes -- you can have a pregnancy where some pups are far far less mature than others in the litter.

Thankfully this is not the norm.  Mother Nature tries not to do this no matter the timing of the matings.  However, as we all know, things can go wrong.  Variations in the timing of egg release, maturation, viability, and fertilization are the significant variables and can result in some fetuses being younger than others. 

Matings more than 7 days before the eggs mature just don't work - the sperm die.  However, a variation of 1-day in release, 1-day in maturation, and 3-days in viability, can give 5-days of variation.  Five days is almost 8% of the average 63-day gestation period.  Add the possibilities of premature labor and/or low blood flow to some fetuses and it is no wonder that some pups can be born too soon to survive while siblings are OK.

Matings timed so that there are viable sperm in the female's oviducts at the time of egg maturation takes the 3-days of mature egg viability out of the equation.  That gets one down to only a variation of 3% of the average gestation period.  To illustrate the significance of that reduction, 5% of a human pregnancy is almost 2-weeks.

http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/U/UNP-0052/
"Furthermore, it is during estrus that ovulation (release of eggs from ovarian follicles) takes place.  A surge in LH from the pituitary gland triggers ovulation, which occurs 1 to 3 days after LH levels peak in the bitch's bloodstream.  All mature ovarian follicles rupture and release their eggs into the oviducts within 24 to 48 hours.  Generally, larger dog breeds ovulate more eggs than smaller breeds. Released eggs undergo maturation in 2 to 3 days and remain viable for a period of 12 to 72 hours.  ...

Sperm cells will reach the eggs in the oviducts of the bitch within 30 seconds of ejaculation and have a viable life span up to seven days.  ...

The pregnancy or gestation period of the bitch lasts between 56 to 66 days, with an average length of 63 days."

jeanna

But this is a fortunate thing I get to share with her and I want nothing more than to do so

This is a thread with lots of sites and publications on breeding (you can skip that), care of the bitch, whelping, and puppies.  If Jade is pregnant, you need to do a lot of reading - quickly!

http://community.dog.com/forums/t/79298.aspx

ETA:  Whoops!  Forgot the link the first time.

Dystocia is a subject that anyone with a pregnant female needs to be familiar with.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2109&aid=899
"Dystocia means difficult delivery. It may be due to a number of causes including large fetus size, small pelvic size in the dam, malposition of the fetus, uterine inertia, or breed. Brachycephalic breeds such as Bulldogs, Pugs, and Boston Terriers have a higher incidence of dystocia due to the large head and shoulder size of the puppies."

http://www.labbies.com/reproduction3.htm
"Occasionally, the failure of labor to progress is caused by one or two puppies that cause an obstruction within the birth canal. This situation may occur when:

1) a puppy is over-sized,
2) a puppy is malpositioned, or
3) two puppies are presenting at the same time."

http://www.michvet.com/library/surgery_dystocia.asp
"Risk factors for dystocia include gestation longer than 68 days, past history of needing a C-section and breed (Bull dog or other brachycephalic breed)."

http://www.staffords.co.uk/sbtvet/dystocia.htm   (Includes suggested treatments & diagrams)
"Dystokia is the inability of the bitch to expel the foetus through the birth canal without assistance. The incidence in the bitch is 5% but in certain breeds it can be 90% e.g. in bulldogs. 75% of cases are of maternal origin and 25% are of foetal origin.

Maternal causes
1. Uterine inertia accounts for 72% of all cases of dystokia.  In primary uterine inertia the uterus fails to contract when there is only one or two pups because there is insufficient stimulation to initiate labour or because of over-stretching of the myometrium (muscle layer of the uterus) in large litters.  Feeding calcium during pregnancy can predispose to primary uterine inertia because it may depress parathyroid gland function and prevent mobilization of calcium at whelping.
Calcium is required for muscle contraction.  Secondary uterine inertia is when whelping has started but stops due to exhaustion of the myometrium caused by obstruction of the birth canal.  ...

2. Maternal causes of obstruction of the birth canal include uterine torsion, uterine rupture, congenital malformations of the uterus, neoplasm's, vaginal septa or fibrosis and those bitch's with a narrow pelvic canal.  These are all very rare accounting for 3% of all causes of dystokia.

Foetal causes
Malpresentations account for 15% of cases of dystokia. This is when the pup cannot come through the birth canal because it is in the wrong position.  This includes the head pointing downwards or to one side or the breech presentation.  This is when the bum comes first but the hindlimbs are flexed forward towards the head and under the stomach.  On vaginal examination one can feel a tail but no hindlimbs.

This is different from the posterior position where the bum is presented first with the hindlimbs pointing backwards.  The posterior presentation accounts for 40% of all births and is considered to be a normal presentation. Malformed foetuses account for 1.6%, oversized foetuses 6.6% and dead foetuses 1.5% of cases of dystocia.  ... "

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This is another great site for links:  http://www.delmarkleekai.com/page28.html
Search for "Whelping" and for "Specific Topics".

janet_rose

Thankfully this is not the norm.  Mother Nature tries not to do this no matter the timing of the matings.  However, as we all know, things can go wrong.  Variations in the timing of egg release, maturation, viability, and fertilization are the significant variables and can result in some fetuses being younger than others. 

Obviously when a breeder is TRYING to make pregnancy happen you don't organize it like this -- but in a situation where they have **assumed** that the dog hasn't been in season (which may mean a silent heat or just plain weirdness all around) then your risk of something odd and unknown happening unfortunately rises.

But even with the theory of just a 7 day variable -- when gestation is 8 weeks or so, that's like a human baby being born over a month premature and in the shorter gestation of a dog where they are **already** born so immature that they can't see nor hear (because the eyes and ears aren't mature enough yet to support sight or hearing) a week is honestly a big fat mega deal to be honest.  Just one week age between 'litters' (that are part of the SAME litter) means some are viable, some are not and if the unready ones are blocking the birth canal, I've seen bitches rip themselves apart (literally) to try to get a pup out of the birth canal to try to birth the others.  It's a sad sad thing.  One you see more often in the bad side of town sometimes but it happens and it's VERY sad.

Thanks for the information Janet - as always you are the LINK queen!!

jeanna

I think my puppy might be pregnant....

How big is Jade?  Some small dogs tend to have very small litters and you don't know the size of the sire - assuming she is pregnant.

I have been doing some reading about the idea of a large male causing a much smaller female to have oversized pups.  From what I can find this is a myth.  Small litters rather than large males seem to be the cause of most normal, but oversized pups.  (This does not include breeds that have been bred to have large heads and which often require a C-section.)

A certain amount of hormonal stimulation from the fetuses is required to start labor.  Small females tend to have small litters and very small litters may not generate enough stimulation at the proper time.  This can result in prolonged gestation and in oversized fetuses.   The same result can be generated by fetuses that do not properly produce the required hormones.

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/small_animal/reproduction/pdfs/cedystociaupdated-1.pdf
"Fetal causes of dystocia include fetal oversize, fetal anomalies, and abnormal fetal position, presentation or posture.  Fetal oversize can occur
with prolonged gestation in abnormally small litters, and is the most common fetal cause of dystocia. Fetal anomalies such as anasarca and hydrocephalus (abnormalities of body fluid distribution) can cause a mismatch between the size of the birth canal and the fetus."

http://compepid.tuskegee.edu/syllabi/clinical/small/obstet/chapter5.html
"Fetal corticosteroid production is however required for normal parturition in the bitch. Bitches carrying a single fetus may have a prolonged gestation. Similar observation was also made in fetuses with defective hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis."

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080529124833AAc4mTM
"Size of the father is a determiner in ADULT size of the puppies, NOT their size at birth, despite what many answerers here seem to think.

Size at birth is a function of how big the mother is and how many puppies there are.  A small dog having a single large puppy may have trouble, but if she has 4-5 smaller ones she should be ok.  Either way, get her checked out by your vet as you get closer to the due date.

Edit: Just so you know, the exact quote from a veterinarian who is a canine reproductive specialist:
"Breeding to a large male or a male from a different or larger breed does NOT contribute to dystocia. Paternal size does NOT determine fetal size at birth, but can determine eventual adult size"

Source(s):
Senior veterinary student, reading canine reproduction notes as I type this."

 What about her pregnancy?  How far long is she?  Do you have any idea how many pups there are in there?

She said she was going to take care of it but from what I felt I think there was only 4. I know the vet will do what is best for her.