dogs 1st pregnancy?

[JudyBono]

Hi,
I am new here. i have bred my shih tzu on August 19th, it has been @ 24 days since her breeding. We only bred her one time, it was near the ned of her heat cycle. Not sure exact day she started. The male was very interested and they were tied for about an hour(which seemed long).
I took her to vet on Friday, seemed to not be eating a lot. vet tried to palpate her , was not sure if she was pregnant yet. She said she was having a mucous discharge after the paplpitation, so put her on a safe antibiotic . She said it was precautionary in case of any venereal disease. Breeder had testing done on her stud and was clear and this was my dogs first breeding. She will be 3 in October.
I thought a mucous discharge was a symptom of pregnancy.
Any way, her teets have definitely developed a little, but she has always had false pregnancies, so could be that again. Also personality is definitely changing, follows me around constsntly, sleeps right neext to me and even digging, nesting a lot and always licking herself. I guess signs.

My concern, this is the 1st time I have ever bred a dog, once when I was younger our dog had puppies, no complications. However, has anyone heard of problems with Shih tzus. Of course I will monitor her tempereature and will be home for the birth if signs are evident. Do you think, I need to have a professional with me. I have really researched information and feel somewhat comfortable.
She had her clearances at the vet before breeding. I know many won't agree, bred her once . My daughter has been wanting too. I will have her fixed after this. Any advise appreciated.
Thanks
Judy

[sheplovr]

Dogs in the wild had no help and somehow surrived it all. It is best to watch carefully it takes 63 to 65 days to whelp puppies. She will have a drop in temp. to about 99 or 98. That means within 24 hours she will start heavy labor. Now she is in very early stages of labor. She should not be discharging now, but that might be the nature of the breed. They do lick and keep clean and also the small pains make them do this early. She will stick to you as they are confused now where they are to be feeling differently. It does sound like she is bred keeping close to you as mine do this, drives me crazy sometimes. They just feel kinda lost and are mixed up this is why she needs a whelp box to have the pups in for security also.
Have a food scale to weigh each one, rubber gloves, sizzors for cord, iodine, towels galore to rub the pups each one to scream, the more u rub and they use the lungs the stronger it makes them to start out in a new world. Have colors of rick rack, bands u can get for pups or pony tail wraps of color, pencil, book mark down everthing, weight, sex, time of birth, color of. I have a large rubber maid box I put a towel in to place the puppies in front of the female to see, if it upsets her they are in there too much u might need to place one on her, but if she gets up and circles in pain, watch she does not lay down on it. Keep it in your eyes all the time. If hot run a fan to circulate air, if cold have plenty of heat a heat lamp over box. Keep her quiet, no screaming, be careful and causious, but helpful. Good luck and let us know how things went for you all.

[rottiegirl]

Although Shepherd is semi-right dogs have been having pups by themselve forever, with human intervention some breeds just arn't been to be born. Shih-Tzus are one of them, being as tiny as they are many require c-sections. I would ask your dog's breeder to come stay with you, or call her when your dog's water breaks!

[GretaJack]

I agree with Rottiegirl. The best thing that you can do is have her x-rayed at day 55 or later to see how many she is preggo with and then consult with your vet after that. Being a first time mom, and you being a first time "whelping assistant", there is a lot of stuff that needs to be discussed and thought about ahead of time. The vet I work for is reproductive specialist, and if you have any questions or doubts, please ask, and I will see if I can get an answer for you. But a shih tzu is a breed that has a higher risk of whelping complications...

[JudyBono]

Hi again,

I believe our shih tzu is definitely pregnant, her vulva is definitely remaining swollen.And her teets are swelling, definitely the 2 lowest ones.Has an appointment next Monday again at the vet. She was only bred once on Agust 19th, breeder said to look for delivery on Oct 19th. Anyway, now Im in a panic, my daughter has to have sinus surgery on Oct 19th, tried to change it , but specialist only available on that day from Childrens hospital. Outpatient surgery , will leave house at 8;00 be back hopefully by 1;00. If she is not showing signs at that time , can I leave her for 5 hours. Or if in middle of delivery , can I take to vet early morning or can't you move them. What a mess! Any ideas, ant to plan ahead what to do with her.

Thanks,
Judy

[GretaJack]

Judy! Good Luck! there are a few things that you can do to help prepare for the big event, especially since you are going to be busy. The vet I work for can do an ultrasound at 28 days or later to confirm pregnancy and to give an approximate count of puppies. Also, you can do an x-ray later to confirm how many puppies there are. We like to do them after day 55 because then more skeletal development can be seen. And then you also have a good idea as to how many pups to expect and then consult with a vet what your best option might be when whelping time nears. Shih Tzus are a breed that can have a hard time whelping and if you have a larger litter, there might be reasons to have an assisted birth by an experienced breeder or a possible c-section.

[barnjess]

A mucus discharge is normal if its clear or white