New dog - large teets - lots of questions

[Lokei-N-Keyta]

Greetings!
I am glad I found this message board and this is my first question:

I just got a dog today from a shelter to accompany my black lab mix. My parents have always had shelter/previous-owner dogs and all have been spayed before ever having a litter. My black lab mix is also in this category (she has never been a mom). Thus, I have never had a dog with enlarged teets. My new dog has not yet been spayed and has enlarged teets, which I deduce must be from having a litter....???

Once a dog has a litter, do her teets remain enlarged for the rest of her life? Does the process of spaying have any impact on teet size? I am not yet comfortable with being able to feel the teets while petting the dog's belly. If they are there to stay, I am sure I can adjust because she is just so cute and loving, but I was curious if there are ways to reduce the size. By the way, if it is of substance, the shelter owner said she is a (blonde) lab / akita mix. I cannot confirm this with my small amount of dog knowledge, but she looks the part.

Thanks to any and all who take the time to reply.

[chichimom]

how old is she?..usually a dog's teets will be saggy due to being bred to much and not having time to recover ..lttler after litter..but i have ssen dogs with really big ones just after one litter. and it was a lab im not to sure on this breed but thats what i do know..most likely you will meet some more people with advice that more know about the breed

[Lokei-N-Keyta]

Thank you for taking the time to reply! I do not know an actual age for the dog, nor how many litters she may have had. She is quite playful, and acts like a fairly young dog (1 or 2 yrs??) She was a stray, so prior history is unknown.
I have seen some very saggy teets on stray dogs before and my dog's teets are not saggy, but are definately not hidden (like the dogs I am more accustomed to being around). Does this go away after not being bred for some time?

THANKS!

[chichimom]

i know that the teets get inlarged after heats ..and i know after a litter or so they will not go away..they arnt as big as when they were pregant but the n.ipples will always be more pronouced.hope that helps..once i found a pit bul mix ..her teets were so hung to the ground it was gross and she had sores in between them.. it was very sad..but she didnt like other dogs so i have to take her the pound she was a really nice dog..just not good with other dogs..but she looked to be about 3 years old and looked like she had been pregnant every heat..but i think it may vary for some dog breed or just the dog in genral..do you have any pics of her?

[Dax]

I know of a female bull mastiff that has never had a litter but has enlarged teats all the time. From what the owner tells me, it appears a breed trait.

Do you have any pictures to show us. Perhaps we would be better able to tell if we could see them.

[doglady]

My GSP has been well endowed ever since she was 4 months old. She has never had a litter of puppies, but they still are on the large side.

[Lokei-N-Keyta]

Thank you all for the replies. I think I have just about drawn the conclusion that my dog is normal....and that I have lived such a sheltered life in that I never knew the teets/nipples stayed large after having a litter!

Here are some pictures of Keyta (I am including several in the hopes that you experts might be able to more positively identify her combination of breeds). I named her Keyta mainly because I was told she was part Akita, but also because she seems to respond to that name better than other names with different sounding syllables (so she will keep the name even if she is 0% Akita). Her tail does curl up when she's standing.








Doesn't she look like she's laughing in this one?



This is her belly. I now presume this is normal...



And this is Lokei. I am pretty sure she is a black lab / pit bull mix. Her head has pit bull characteristics that may not be apparent in this picture:


Thanks again for all the responses!