Before birthing puppies, female dogs exhibit specific symptoms.
If owners have a female dog that is not spayed, unplanned pregnancy is always a possibility. If a female dog has been around male dogs, and the owners suspect that she may be pregnant, they should look for some specific symptoms. These include a change in the dog's behavior, nipple size and the onset of milk production.
Early Signs
Most dogs have a relatively short gestation of 50 to 65 days. That means that the early signs of pregnancy become obvious fairly quickly. At the start of a pregnancy, the signs are more behavioral than physical. She may experience canine morning sickness, leading to a lack of appetite and listlessness. She also may become grouchy and begin to shun other animals.
Enlarged Abdomen
A dog's abdomen starts to grow halfway through the pregnancy. Although this appears to be simple weight gain at first, it soon becomes localized to the dog's uterus. As the pregnancy progresses, the puppies will begin to "show" in the dog's uterus as free-moving forms. At this point, the dog is very close to whelping.
Nipple Size and Milk
A dog's nipples begin to grow early in a pregnancy but become engorged toward the end of gestation, when milk starts to fill in. The areas underneath the nipples fill with breast tissue and the dog's body prepares to start feeding her babies. When only a few days are left before delivery, milk production actually begins. At this point, the first drops of milk--colostrum-- begin to leak from the nipples. This is a sign that the dog is days away from delivery. Because milk does not appear until extremely late in the pregnancy, this is not the ideal way to deduce whether a dog is pregnant.
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