How do I know if my Yorkie is pregnant? She has shown some of the signs. She's been sleeping more, possessive with her toys, wants more attention, swollen nipples, and swollen abdominal for the first 34 days. At her 35th day, her abdominal area has shrunk considerably, but everything else has stayed consistent.

Is this normal or is it possible that she was never pregnant and was just showing the signs?

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Any suggestions will be appreciated:

Yes... VET... that is not normal and she could be in danger! Take her to the vet right away!

If you were a responsible breeder, you would have taken her to the vet shortly after being bred to insure that everything is going good. They would do an x-ray to determine if she is pregnant or not. Responsible breeders dont just post questions on the internet :-x

First off, I'm not a breeder nor do I put my dogs through any stress for profit.

Now that we got that straight, she is under a vets care and when I took her in earlier in the supposed pregnancy, she was too early in her term for X-rays to determine pregnancy. She has an appointment with her vet on Monday for X-rays.

I thought I'd be able to ask a question in this forum without being accused of something. I apologize if I upset anyone for asking a what I thought was a simple question.

By the way, I'm the owner of 6 other rescue dogs. I love all my dogs and do not appreciate being accused of not properly caring for my pets.

Simply I was just curious if someone has experienced anything similar.

If you are not a breeder, than how is your yorkie prego's? If you adopted her that way, than thats a different story. If she was in your care and got pregnant, than why was she not spayed? If she had a medical reason for not being spayed at the time (Kennel cough for example) why did she not have on a diaper?

I had a Yorkie female that I tried to breed when I lived in Detroit in the 1980s. By all accounts, it seemed that the mating 'took'...she did exactly what your dog is doing..she exhibited the symptoms of being pregnant. I took her to the vet for the second time after the breeding sessions and he said 'nope..she is exhibiting false pregnancy' or something along those lines. Seems a female dog can feel that she is preggers and somehow convince her body to show the signs...pretty weird. She had a swollen belly and slightly enlarged nipples too. I never tried to breed her again. I took it as a sign.

[mightymite]

Regarding false pregnancies - I had a friend whose bitch actually died because her false pregnancy became pyrometria and they couldn't save her. The best, and only advice to give her is GET YOUR DOG TO THE VET.

Im not sure how to use this site just yet, and i have questions about my dog can someone out there help me

A.M. How can we help you?

Just a bit of general info for any and all owners of intact female dogs.

Virtually all female dogs who do not become pregnant will experience false pregnancy in one degree or another after a heat cycle. It doesn't matter if they were mated or not. They all go through it. For most, it's mild, but a few will go through a full blown false pregnancy.

It has nothing to do with feeling that she's pregnant and convincing her body to show signs, and it's not weird. It's simply a matter of a dog's physiology. Without going into great detail of why, hormonally they go through a pregnancy even if they aren't pregnant. The only thing missing are the puppies.

That's also part of the reason intact females are so prone to developing pyometra. Of course, spayed females cannot develop pyo, because they don't have a uterus to become infected. Just one more reason to spay.