Please help!

angel1984 · 11-05-2006, 03:31 PM

Hello i am new here. and I have a question? my 1 yr old golden retriever went in heat around october 5th so when i noticed i seperated her from our male dog but while i was at work she jumped the fence and got in with the male, now her nipples are bigger, she seems to be sleeping more and waddling when she walks, she is even more lovable. Are they signs of a pregnant dog? im really worried because she is young but i dont want to abort her puppies now if she is pregnant? Can anyone help?

Dulce · 11-05-2006, 03:35 PM

Where was this fence that she jumped? And how tall was it?

You need to take her to the Vet and get her ultrasound ASAP so see if she's pregnant.

Aborting the puppies (as cruel as it souds) may be the better option at this point. What are you goig to do with all tehse puppies? Are you prepared to take care of them? She is still very young, and still growing, and I'm not sure how great this will be for her health.

Why haven't you had her spayed?

angel1984 · 11-05-2006, 03:55 PM

Our fence was 6 ft. i wanted her to go into heat atleast once before i was getting her fixed because my vet thinks some dogs seem to adjust better in life when they atleast go through one heat cycle and i would already have homes for the pups.

Dulce · 11-05-2006, 03:59 PM

THAT IS SOOO WRONG!!! Dogs do NOT have a better "quality" of life because they go into heat. That is a bunch of BS and makes me very angry to hear you say that.

That is why there are so many homeless, dying animals in shelters because of people like you. Irresponsable, uneducated people

Why the F would you say "I don't want to abort the puppies, what do I do?" when you said you WANTED her to go into heat!?!?!

blackgavotte · 11-05-2006, 04:58 PM

Angel, this is one of the reasons I don't advocate what " certain " people want to convey nowadays about spaying. It has been accepted for many years that if a female dog is spayed around 6-7 months, she is old enough to handle the surgery, and the likelihood of having unwanted litters of puppies goes down dramatically. If vets are not prepared to REALLY educate people in how to house dogs who are in heat, they should not be encouraging people to hold off spaying until after the first heat, because this is the outcome in many cases. People just don't realize how hard it is to keep dogs apart, during that time, the average dog owner here has no idea of the difficulty. I believe its much better to have a bit of "immaturity" or whatever else some " experts " have to say as a result of spaying as a puppy, than the heartbreaking conditions we have in North America because of millions of unwanted and unplanned litters of puppies.
We have such a horrific problem here with overcrowded shelters, in my opinion its " almost " criminal to breed dogs unless you are a registered, bonafide breeder with knowledge, proper housing facilities, contracts etc. There may come a time when this has to be the way. I can't speak for the U. K. nor for Europe, nor Asia, but that's the way it is here.
You say you have homes for puppies? You would be amazed at how quickly those homes don't actually appear when the puppies are ready to go, and even then, if you manage to place that litter, who says that the new owners of these puppies are also not going to have unwanted litters by them? Better to spay her and not add to the gross problem we have.
If she went into heat on about Oct. 5, if you are right that that was when she began, she would have accepted the male approximately 10 days later, say Oct. 15th. Which means if she is pregnant she is only about 3 weeks along. Spaying can be done safely up to 5 weeks' gestation, and even after that with more supportive care. She should not be bred if she is an unregistered, unshown dog, which it sounds like she is. Go and stroll through some shelters and and pounds, talk to the private adoption agencies, and see what they will tell you about adding more unplanned puppies into this world. I would be phoning the vet in the morning and talking to him about a spay appointment this week.

Dulce · 11-05-2006, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by angel1984

Our fence was 6 ft. i wanted her to go into heat atleast once before i was getting her fixed because my vet thinks some dogs seem to adjust better in life when they atleast go through one heat cycle and i would already have homes for the pups.

How can you have homes for the puppies already? You didn't even know if your dog was pregnant!!!! You need to have her spayed ASAP!! You are not a legit, registered breeder

mistee06 · 11-05-2006, 06:17 PM

I'd take her to the vet and get her spayed/aborted as soon as possible, unless you are prepared to have an adoption contract ready, do home checks, and only adopt to homes that spec out right, and be prepared to take any pup back in a few months because its not "cute" anymore...I know that you were told by your vet that its better to wait, but waiting equals more animals that get brought in the shelter...and thats where i work...we currently have 25 lab cross pups from 3 different litters and two more on the way....

babydo8312 · 01-11-2007, 05:49 PM

All of you are very helpful in your suggestions that dogs shoudl be spayed as soon as possible. But, what do those of you suggest dog owners dog when they, trying to being responsible pet owner, take their dog to the Vet to be Spayed or neutered, only to be told by their vet that it is in the dogs best interested to wait, or they feel the dog is too young.

As a non Veterinary proffessional, I seek the advice of a professional so that I can be a responsible pet owner. I have read several of your posts on the subject of how irresponsible it it to breed a dog. I am not going to choose to get into the arguement of whether it is right or wrong. I would merely like to know what those of you that are not Vets, but feel very passionately about the subject suggest.

It just seems more useful to give advice instead of becoming rude and resorting to name calling and four letter words.

Dogged · 01-11-2007, 10:32 PM

Well.......Spay IS a four letter word.

It is recommended to have a female dog spayed before her first heat to avoid the chance of breast cancer later on. Most come in to heat around 6 months, so I usually recommend spaying by 5 months so you don't risk it.

There are rare cases of females that do not have issues with their vulva and it causing them to have ongoing problems with urine scald in that area. In these cases it is recommended to wait until after the first heat before spaying them. This is not a common problem, and in these cases, I concur that waiting until after the first heat so that she will not have life long painful and irritating vulvar fold issues would be worth chancing the risk of breast cancer later. But again, this is not a common issue, and I can think of no other reason to wait, unless the dog is ill.

You don't say how old your dog is. Some vets have an aversion to early (8-16 weeks) spay/neuter usually because they are not used to it and they are just stuck in the rut of waiting until 6 months. If your vet is telling all his clients to wait until after the first heat, he is WRONG. Find another vet.