Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 10/25/2010

Question
I have a 1 yr old breed unknown, midsize female dog. She spends her days in the fenced yard when i am at work. I beleive that she was in heat from about hte last week in august until the second week in sepember, a male dog was found in the yard with her, i am unsure of the breed date. However keeping the approximate heat time in mind she should be due soon. She shows signs of pregnancy, brest growth, weight gain, and behavior changes. She seems to be off her food for the last 2 days, and eats grass whenever we take her out. Should i be concerned?

Answer
Well I would be concerned that she is going to have these puppies soon. When the bitch goes off feed and seems to be nesting or looking for a place to have her pups then yes, she will be having them soon.
Take her temperature rectally and if it is 99 degrees she will be having them in the next 24-48 hours.

Make sure she is eating a high quality puppy food until they are weaned and do not use Puppy Chow from Purina as it is coated with milk and will give her and the puppies diarrhea.

I am guessing that she is vaccinated because if not the chances of these puppies getting parvo is extremely high and if they do their survival rate will be very low. Also if she hasn't been wormed recently the puppies will be born full of round worms and this is very
detrimental to their growth and health. You cannot worm them until they are six weeks old.

I hope that she will be spayed once these pups are weaned so that another un-neutered male running loose doesn't get her pregnant again.
When female dogs are not spayed by the age of four their chances of getting breast cancer later in life increases by 90%. Once they get that it will spread fast, so please get her spayed as soon as these puppies are between 5- 6 weeks old.

Get a box ready for her inside and line it with a lot of newspapers. Be very careful about using towels as the little strings can cut off tender newborn's feet and paws, tails and more! Old, clean and un-ripped tee shirts work really well.

Keep an eye on her from now on until she has them as she may surprise you where she decides to have them!!
Good luck!