Are you curious whether or not your pooch is pregnant? Good thing there are a few signs and symptoms that are available for you to find out. Have you been noticing that your dog has been on heat? Normally, dogs obtain sexual maturity as early as 6 months or as late as 16 months, depending on the dog and its breed. This often means that they will be able to get pregnant. However, professionals advise that before a dog should get pregnant and give birth, she should be no less than 18 to 24 months old. That’s the best time to see the pregnant dog symptoms on your pet.

Photo: puptastic.com

Outward signs can monitor two stages of heat, although the degrees of success may vary with different situations. When the dog’s ovaries are preparing to release eggs, it is called pro-estrus and that is the first stage. If you notice that her vulva, which is her external sex organ becomes swollen. Normally, this is coupled by a bloody discharge. If you see these pregnant dog symptoms, then that means your dog is in the first stage. At this time, the males will want to mate, but she won’t allow it. Licking herself will also be more prominent, and this will go on for around 9 days, give or take 3 days.

The stage that follows is when she becomes fertile. This will be prominent for around 2 to 20 days. Eventually, her discharge will come in a lighter shade and her vulva will be less swollen. The most prominent difference is that she will now allow the male to mate with her. This phase will be over when she no longer allows the male to mate with her. This may also means that she is already pregnant or probably, the heat phase of her cycle has passed. Female dogs cycle twice every year on an average.

It is difficult to tell if your dog is pregnant. So the best way to find out is to visit your vet and make sure. For about twenty days before conception, an experienced vet will be able to tell if your dog is pregnant by feeling the dog’s abdomen. Around 25 days after breeding, fetuses will be detectable by a vet via an ultrasound. Forty-five days after breeding, the number of puppies can be determined with the help of an x-ray machine. Normally, a dog’s pregnancy will last 63 days on the average. Although there could be a variation at times, some dogs may give birth as early as 54 days. Some may do it as late as 74 days.

If you’re asking what the pregnant dog symptoms are, one prominent change you’ll notice is their affection towards the family and other people. A number of pregnant dogs will become very affectionate and clingy. Some may even become very possessive. There are dogs that do the opposite too. They become anti-social, a big difference when they were normal. Still others become cautious with regards to strangers and even to some familiar non-family members, despite the fact that they were once very friendly.

Another change in your dog will be its appetite. For newly pregnant dogs, it is normal for them to lose their appetite for some time. Then later on, after around 3 weeks, they might vomit and go off their feed for around a week or less. After around 5 weeks into the pregnancy, the dog’s appetite will rapidly increase. By the time she is ready to deliver, she will be requiring twice as much food. Then, even as she is newly pregnant, she may want to adopt certain things around the house. This is normal, as she tends to become possessive, not only with humans but with inanimate objects as well.

Lastly, a number of dogs, just like most people, find pregnancy to be very tiring and exhausting. This is the reason why most of them will go to sleep or rest more often than usual.

A few dogs may undergo false pregnancy stages too. This happens even if they have not mated. Up until birth, the symptoms will be the same, with the possible exception that their abdomen won’t become round, unlike when they are pregnant. Around 10% of dogs will need hormone treatment in order to resolve their false pregnancies. Therefore, the best way to find out whether or not your dog is pregnant is by going to a vet.

More exciting information about dog, please head on to http://www.guarddogtrainingonline.com where you can also find the shocking truth about dog food allergies