My Female Dog is Pregnant

Much before the pregnancy diagnose is possible, many dogs show certain signs of character and behavior change. Thus for example, the first sign that you can notice when they are pregnant is the rejection they have towards the male if he tries to mate her again. Besides, most bitches -- as with human women -- suffer nausea, especially during the wee hours of the morning and if until that moment they have been used to eating early, they will reject that meal and prefer to eat later. It's also very common for them to become more affectionate and dependent on their owners, always trying to get their attention, following them around the house. Normally also, after a couple of days, they start stealing food and show a loss of appetite.

It's also very frequent at approximately around the 15th or 18th day of pregnancy, the inguinal nipples appear to be more pink and swollen. Depending on the breed, especially the thinner ones, like for example wippets and greyhounds, is easy to recognize when the womb starts to get bigger after the 20th or 22nd day of pregnancy.

But there is still another unmistakable symptom of pregnancy: the detachment of the "mucus stopper", in other words, a transparent and relatively dense vaginal mucous discharge, between the 21st and 31st day of pregnancy. The reason that this happens is not totally clear although it seems to be induced by the glands of the uterine neck, although this function is not clear yet. Some females continue producing a slightly red tinted vaginal discharge that can be due to residues of blood in the vagina or uterus, as a consequence of late heat; if these discharges did not smell bad (or look pus-infected), they shouldn't worry you. It might, even, be due to the death of one of her fetuses, which hasn't been completely reabsorbed and at the moment of birth can appear to be mummified.

Finally, around the 40th or 45th day of pregnancy when the growth of the fetus is already very fast, you will observe that the abdomen increases in size and even, when the dog is lying on her side, you'll notice the movement of the fetuses, which change places and roll around; however, in bigger dogs, due to their size, you might not be able to observe these movements until the 50th or 55th day of pregnancy, especially if it's a small litter.