Depressed Dog ?! Jake & Sadie (breeding)

[erdog3]

Sorry, keeping on here with posts, you said that the female was pregnant right?

[Luvit73]

Yes , she is . Post away , I need the advice .

[erdog3]

Questions now???
1. How far along is she?
2. When was she on heat?
3. Has she been wormed at all while pregnant?
4. When did you first notice HIM off his food?
5. Does she have any discharge from the vulva?
6. Is he marking when she pees/poops?
7. Does he have any discharge from his whoopsy?
8. Are they both drinking..normal/excessive?
9. Is she eating more than normal/less than normal?
10. How big is she/when is she due?

[Luvit73]

1 I'm guessing around a month along , if it helps , two weeks ago , you could barely feel a bulge in her belly , and we weren't sure - now her belly is obviously larger , and hard .

2 I don't know , as the woman didn't know for sure , she just said she was in heat , and believed she had been bred , as the two of them were together .

3 not that I know of .

4 Noticed he's been picking at it for about a week now , didn't realize he was flat out not eating . (He still wants people food , though) .

5 No

6 He marks everyplace she goes potty .

7 What kind of discharge ? Seems slightly damp , but I don't see anything .

8 I'm not sure what is normal drinking for these guys - they go through about a 5 gallon bucket of water a day .

9 She is eating almost twice what she was a month ago , when I got them .

10 Her belly is about like if there was a soccer ball in there . I'm guessing around the beginning of March .

[Luvit73]

One more thing - I don't know if it means anything or not , but I had baby rats born about 10 days ago - and every time she's in the house , Sadie lays in front of the one cage the babies are in and stares , unless she's eating or out going potty . Thought that was kind of strange .

[erdog3]

Tell you my thoughts now I have the answers.
First off a Male around a female in heat or one that is pregnant will go off their food, but it normally starts from the beginning of the heat cycle right through to birthing, if he is kept around her. She gives off an odour, even while pregnant, which he finds attractive, hence his marking everywhere she goes. But she will normally start to grizzle at him when she is about 2-3 weeks in pregnancy, it will put him off her and make him feel a little unwanted.

If she is that far in and eating double, that is not right, as they don't need their diet increased to such an amount till after whelping, it is not good for them, they get overweight. But she should be on a good quality puppy forumula, but only increasing the amount gradually till whelping.

If she has not been wormed during pregnancy, I would worm her, make sure you get a good quality product that is safe for pregnant b......, when they are pregnant they are more susceptable to catching worms. She could pass them straight onto him.
Now if she has gained weight, don't forget she has pups in her, he doesn't, so it doesn't necessarily mean she doesn't have the same problem as him.
Ideally she should have an antenatal check, I like to take mine 2 weeks before birthing.
She will possibly get a discharge from the vulva, is the vulva swollen? check my link in Health, Heat Cycle, it should look like Ellie's in the pic. This discharge can become gluggy, bit like a whitish stringy stuff, it will drip from the vulva intermittently.

My first thoughts then are, he has been put off by her, specially if she is his mate, and you will have to separate them soon.
They possibly have worms.
Worming.......if he is really ill, vomiting also, not drinking, then worming can make him worse, I don't normally like to worm a sick dog, unless of course it is caused by worms.
Only you can judge, if he is lethargic, mopey, and really ill I would go to a vets with him ASAP.
If not, then try worming first off, but he should improve within a day or two, his eating could be because of the female.

Hope you got all that, I'm not a vet so I can only tell you what I have experienced from my dogs, being pregnant and the effect on Wally, he looks emancipated(sp) when mine are like that. Just like Jake in your picture. But then I know his history, he doesn't normally have diahhoreah(sp) either. If you have given human food, that could have done it. It is hard to say.

P.S. DONT GIVE MILK. Dogs cannot digest COWS milk. that will give the runs.

[Luvit73]

Ok , her vulva does appear mushy ? and poking out some . I can't tell if there's a discharge , she's fully furred there . Her bottom 2 ninnys look like they are full of milk . It may be that Jake has been losing weight since before I got him , I had thought he was a tad thin , for a large male . It's really hard to tell all these things though , not having seen them before she was pregnant . Not to mention , never having had a pregnant dog before .

[erdog3]

Well I will help you with the pregnancy side, I am back on here full on now.
First thing you will need to do is organize a pre whelping vet visit for her, I like to do this, it just checks everything is ok, her heart, the pups, etc. Her weight. All that stuff to make sure she is travelling well. Plus when you go ask them to shave away all the fur under her belly and round the vulva, and her backside, there will be a lot of blood, gunk, green stuff, plus black runny poo for a few days after whelping, it will stick to her tail and vulva, most uncomfortable for her.
Shaving the teats(belly) makes it a lot easier for the pups to find a nipple for drinkies.
So I leave it to you about the weight thing. But when you worm her it is very important it is safe for pregnant b.....(the product). But she MUST be wormed before whelping. I do it 2 weeks beforehand. You will need to do it now though, if she hasn't been done.

Like I said if worming doesn't pick Jake up within 24 hours, then you need the vets asap. If he does have something wrong, like a bug and she gets it, you will be in loads of trouble with those pups.
Might pay you to separate them now, just in case.

[Luvit73]

Ok , worming , vet visit , seperate . Got it . I will definately need your advice when it's time for the pups . She had to have a C section last litter , too many puppies (15) . So I'm kinda worried about that too .

[erdog3]

C section last time, probably C section again...sorry. It makes the womb weaker.