I just got 2 mini dachshunds from someone about 2 weeks ago. When I first brought them home, "he" was all over "her". The lady said that they have had 2 litters together already and were not fixed. They have since slowed down, but now I have noticed that the female is very touchy with my 2 year old. (The lady also said that the dogs were great with kids, that the female would just walk away if she wasn't in the mood to be played with) She snaps at my daughter every time she gets around her. Could she be pregnant or do I just need to find another owner? (I will not put my kids in danger). Please, if someone could help, I would appreciate it. Thank you

She could be pregnant yes.
It could also be a phantom/fake pregnancy, you won't know until you take her to a vet for a checkup.

How old is she?
It is recommended that a dog only have a total of 3 litters MAX in it's lifetime.

I would be booking her in for an emergency spay and aborting the litter if she is having pups, it's better for her health.

There are risks involved with a spay abort as well as getting a dog spayed while it is in heat but it is minimal with a good vet.

If you do decide to go ahead with the pregnancy then please come back and let me know, there are several people on here who can assist you with care.

Thank you for the info. This would be her 3rd if she is. She is 3 yrs old and the male is 2. Her last litter was before Thanksgiving last year.

3 litters in 3 years is a lot.

I'm in Australia so the rules here would be different but here if you are a member of the ANKC and you breed a dog for 2 consecutive litters you must let that dog rest for a period of 1 year before breeding again.

Hopefully it is just a false pregnancy and she isn't actually having pups...
Is the male still trying to mate her or is he leaving her alone now, if he is annoying her still and making her angry then she might think that your daughter is doing the same thing when she goes near her.

It would make her very protective which would explain her behaviour around your daughter, if you are willing to keep her then my only advice would be to keep a close eye on them both together. Maybe invest in a baby gate to keep the doxie in a separate area from your daughter until you find out what is going on.

He is pretty much leaving her alone. She has snapped at him for trying to mess with her, but when she is in the mood, she will start biting at him to get him to play. I am definitely going to make sure they stay away from my daughter. I'm not sure how far apart the last 2 litters were (the lady didn't mention when the first one was). Thank you for your help.

No problem, if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask, there are a few more people on here who are very dog savvy so I would be interested to hear their opinions as well.

Shaz has given you great info. I only have one thing to add. If she is pregnant and you decide not to terminate the pregnancy, there's still no reason not to have the male fixed. This will help, by keeping him away from her.

It's really in both of their interest to be fixed. If she is pregnant then Shazzy really is the best one on this site to help you through it. She's amazing when it comes to dog care, she's not the dog expert for no reason. :)

I hope that it all works out. Please get her checked out by a vet soon, if she's not expecting then it's time for the surgery. It will calm her down as well, make her a better pet.

Good luck. :)

Thank you both for your help and info. It's wonderful to have a place to go to ask people stuff like this!

Thank you both for your help and info. It's wonderful to have a place to go to ask people stuff like this!

I have to say, this is the best site I've ever had the privilege to be a part of. There are others, but none of them come close to AMHD.

Stick around after this, there are tons of questions, maybe you can pay it forward, help someone else with something you specialize in. :)

Indeed, I came on here asking a Women's Health question and never left :)
These days I spend more time in the dogs section and the members chat part ;)

Good point about getting the male fixed too Alty, that completely slipped my mind, I just had my male done nearly 2 weeks ago, poor boy, he had a bit of a reaction to the stitches so he had to wear an E-collar so he wouldn't chew them... got them out last Monday and he is much happier ;)

Shazzy, Chewy is going in for the big snip shortly after Christmas. I was going to do it early December, but figured it wouldn't be fair for him to be sore for Xmas. Besides, I have 3 males, no chance of pregnancy here. ;)

Now if I could spay my bird all would be great. She's laying 2 egss every 2 weeks. I've bought fake eggs to fool her, but she's too smart. If she keeps this up her uterus will fall out and kill her. I hate this. I don't know what to do.

Oops. I'm hijacking the thread. :(

Walking away. Time for bed anyway.

You are up rather late tonight!

Poor Chewy, save some Christmas turkey for him ;)

I have two Doxies myself,one male and one female. The female is pregnant right now and she is due 11/22/09. Females are pregnant sixty days and can go over that. And small dogs are snappy like that they really do not like kids or to be picked up by kids. They are lap dogs and they prefer old master then young children. If your female just started being snappy with your kids she may be pregnant. Watch for weight gain. You can also count back from the day you saw them mating to determine a due date.

Yep, they can over over 60 days because the average is 65 ;)

Let us know if you need any help with your pregnancy Shelly, you can start a new question by clicking on the "ask about dogs" button at the top of the page. :)

I wouldn't interrupt the females pregnancy. They're no different then people. The female's probably in the mind set of "mom". If you don't want to deal with the puppies afterwards, you can always surrender them to a rescue that will guarantee all puppies will be spayed/neutered when adopted to new homes. And then proceed to fix the female. The male should be done pronto. Not only will he settle down, but he'll probably act more like a puppy without the constant worry of impressing his mate. The female can be spayed once puppies are weaned. Whenever we get moms in, we usually wait till their milk bag is almost gone for easier heal time.

As for the kid issues. Really watch what the child is doing and the reaction of the dog. If the dog is kind of in a pissy mood just because of the male dog, then kids pulling and tugging on ears, lips and skin will make her more irrtated. I'm not saying your kids don't know how to act around a dog, but maybe this dog doesn't like to be grabbed with a lot. To test her out before getting rid of her, push her buttons yourself. If she's not going to try and snap at you, then she won't snap at your kids. She could very well be giving a signal to the kid that she doesn't want to be messed with. She is a new dog to your family, possibly expecting puppies... a lot of stress. Let her chill out and relax and let her get all four feet on the ground again before experimenting with her temperament. Usually takes 2-6 months for a dog to settle into a new home. Always monitor your kids when they are with the dogs. People will always lie to pawn off their problems onto new families. Its sad, really.

Good luck!

People will always lie to pawn off their problems onto new families. Its sad, really.

Ain't that the truth, I know someone who is moving and trying to find a home for their "perfectly trained" Husky...
That dog is totally out of control and needs to go to someone who knows about training but they don't even care if the dog spends 24 hours a day outside.
I want to smack them.

We haven't gotten tons of dogs through our rescue where the owner says their dog hunts and is great with everything. When we get the dog, its dog aggressive, scared of people and doesn't hunt in any way possible. And the thing with our Rescue, is we would rather have the truth to find the right home for these guys.

Which by the way... Our website! You can read about our dogs! Some are sad... Rocky Mountain German Shorthaired Pointer Rescue (http://www.rockymtngsp.org)

I would take Sable in a heartbeat, poor girl.
Great site and great work love a bull.

Sable is a babe! She has a sponsor and has a lot of life left in her! I hope someone can take her :)