I've read through just about every question posted trying to find information on Daschund pregnancies. What I've found is not any help at all! The reason being is that we have only had our dog for just about a month now. We got her through some people who had picked up the abandoned dogs... the only thing they really knew about them was that they had been previously owned by a woman that was breeding them. When the woman had to move, she left the dogs behind. Chloe is 2 yrs old at best guess, and she has had one litter of puppies already. We do not know when her last round of puppies was, and we don't know when her last cycle was... Does anyone have any information other than to do with cycles?

What is the difference between a real pregnancy and a false one; other than that they are pregnant? How can you tell, we are not rich people and can not afford to take her to the vet unless we have a better idea if she is pregnant or not... She has been gaining weight very rapidly and her belly is now just about dragging on the ground. She has also changed the way she sits and lays on her back, her breathing is also more shallow than it was even last week. If she is pregnant she came to us that way, and we don't know when to expect the puppies. Can anyone help?

We just got her vaccinated last week, IF she is pregnant would her getting the shots affect her pregnancy, or harm the puppies. As a side note, while at the vet, she was double dosed, the vet gave her two of the same shots by accident, instead of one of each, she got two of the distemper, and one of the rabies. Will this affect our girl and her puppies?

Please help us... we are worried about our Chloe... Thank you for your time

I already answered most of this under ''New dachshund''. '' A little care can make a big difference when a dog whelps. The puppies are delivered an average of 63 days after being bred. I would have her examined by a vet to make sure she is OK and really is pregnant. A month after being bred, the vet will be able to feel the puppies. I am not sure where to send you online for whelping info. Check with your local library for a book.''

I find it hard to believe that the vet that gave her the shots didn't notice the apparent pregnancy and check her. This sounds like the real thing. I can't say what the double shot will do to her and the puppies. If you know anybody that breeds dogs, they may have enough experience to feel the puppies if there are any. They lay up each side sort of between the belly and the legs. I have tried, and not really been able to tell. Maybe hold your hand there and see if they move.

Can't say anything on the cycles. Most females have them every 6 months. They
May go an extra month if they had a litter.

Since I try to discourage breeding, I haven't retained some of the information you may need. You are to be commended for taking this abused dog and caring enough to help her. I wish I could help you more.

Thank you for replying to my questions... I have been checking everyday to see if anyone replied. Thank you for the compliment. But honestly it was a pleasure to bring Chloe into our family, and it has been a real joy and blessing having her around. We had not planned on having puppies, but if we do we will find them very good homes that will take care of them as we plan to do with Chloe. We are having her spayed first chance we get, so that we will not have to go through this again!
I phoned the vet we took Chloe to and she says that it SOUNDS like our dog is pregnant, although she told me she could not be certain unless she saw her... She gave us a bit of information; her nipples will get hard usually about 24 hrs before labor starts, and when her breathing gets really heavy and she is in hard labor we should see the first pup within 3 hrs. If we don't then she has problems and we need to contact help. We know that she is done having pups when she stops breathing heavily and settles in with her pups. She also said the vaccination wouldn't hurt the puppies and in fact double-dosing Chloe while she was pregnant, even though unintentional would give the babies an even better start in life. They would be extra protected against deadly diseases until they could be vaccinated again. My mom, who has gone through the procedure a few times with female dogs we had growing up, also looked at her. She thinks that we should be expecting the pups within a week or less, but isn't positive because she does not have as much experience with smaller dogs as she does with larger ones. She is not sure how big Chloe will get and is thinking that before she is done, her belly will be big enough to rest on the ground! Does anyone know? I realize it is different per dog but an approxiamation would be great?
We thought that she was going into labor the day before yesterday but it was a false alarm. Her belly was about as wide as she is long! Then yesterday when we woke up, her belly seemed to be a lot smaller, making us rethink this whole pregnancy thing, that maybe she only had gas. But my dad said that it looked like she dropped and her belly is lower than it was before. Meaning that she is closer to labor... I don't know what to expect now... but we will be prepared either way. If she is not pregnant we will know soon enough and we will be getting her in to get spayed ASAP as she won't be far off her next heat. If she is then we will raise the puppies until they are big enough and find them good homes. We already have a few positions in some families we know they could fill, so now we just wait and see... I will keep you posted...

Well it is a lot longer than we thought she would be but we are the proud "grandparents" of 6 babies, just came today. Finally a reason to be happy about remembrance day!! She is an excellent momma, but kind of grouchy if you get too close. For anyone who might find this... things we learned with our daschund having puppies...
1. Momma gets extremely big to the point where she drags on the floor.
2. Momma gets really grouchy when kids get in her face, and only prefer one or two "close" people near while in the last stages of pregnancy.
3. Momma was very restless the week before her babies came. Which was followed by two days of NOT moving very much or very far.
4. As pregnancy advances Momma will tend to pee and poop in the house rather than opting to go outside. ANY excitement or movement will cause her to lose control of her bladder. (She seemed unable to help it). She tended to get really cold, real easy.
5. Noticed that she was bedding down in quiet, safe, small or hard to get to places. She will move if you set it up and encourage by staying with her in that place. Make sure she has water close by in case she needs it. Suggest not a very public or big, open space if possible.
6. DO NOT use blankets important to you! They WILL get messy and dirty (and GROSS).
7. She started to breathe a little heavier yet shallower, almost considered a wheezing breath, and she was shaking resembling chills.
8. Momma wanted one or both of us (two women owners) to sit with her and reassure her. She also wanted our other dog close by in start of labour. When she was ready she let the other dog know it was time to leave. While pushing the first pup out she wanted us close by, but when she was cleaning it, we noticed she was shielding the puppy from view, at which point we stepped back, and she got busy cleaning rather than shielding. During the arrival of the rest of the pups she wanted completely left alone.
9. As dirty as the blankets may look leave them alone for awhile. Set up either a box or something smaller that will offer protection and shielding from onlookers on three sides, with the open side faced away from traffic. When she is ready she will either move the pups or ask for help to move them. At this point she will be ready for you to introduce food into the scene. Preferably something high in protein (ie. Meat or scrambled eggs). If Momma needs help to move the babies this is the time while she is distracted. Immediately remove and clean 'labour' blankets. If pups are left on the 'labour' blankets they could get cold and sick. If she is moved into a box, she will rest easier as her pups will be protected.
10. Once Momma realized the pups were safe and protected and she had rested a bit she asked to be let out. Please note that if there are stairs she may need help to maneuver them as she will be VERY weak from labour. (for us this was an opportunity to let my son hold one of the pups and satisfy his curiosity and for us to get a good look at the pups and check them to see if all was well).

Things we were able to find out before labour started...
The vet told us that Momma would fill with milk, up to as little as 24 hours before labour starts. When heavy labour sets in the first pup should come within 3 hours, if not, Momma is having problems and you need to get help. After the first pup, Momma may rest for a bit, then the pups should follow one every half hour or less. When Momma is done, she will settle in and rest with her babies.
At this point I must relay our bad news... after the excitement settled down I was putting my son to bed when I heard Chloe (Momma) let out an AWEFUL screech. I ran to see if she was okay but she wouldn't let me near her, nor would she come out of the box. She let out a few more shreeks but still would not let me near her. Only 10 minutes ago while in the middle of writing #10, did she come out of the box. Unfortunately there was a number seven. It was stuck half in and half out! I do not have experience in this so I phoned my mom... She said to help Chloe out and put some dish soap around the opening to add lubrication to the situation, then wait! Hopefully with great difficulty and grave pain she will finish pushing the pup out. Pulling it is VERY dangerous and could kill Momma too! If she looks like she is straining and can't get it out then we will have to help out a little more by putting soap inside around the pup. If you ever encounter this situation, if at all possible, it would be best to consult a vet, even over the phone.

Glad to hear all went well. As I said, I try to discourage breeding, but you post may help somebody. Whelping is not something best watched without helping. Now, I hope you can find good homes.

Friday was a great day for us, 9 hours on the road, but a new 7 week old black female Lab. We named her Nita, Choctaw for bear cub. She was a big hit at a meeting I took her to today, stealing the scene from the other 8 dogs. The group is mostly about fundraising for dog guides and other support. We had working dog guides, puppies, and retired breeding stock.

Who knew having a dog would get to be this expensive... Well it has been a few days since the pups were born and are we ever a lot smarter, and way broke! After finishing the posting I tried to help Momma out with that pup, no such luck! We ended up having to call a vet in after hours to pull the pup, which he even had problems doing. We had to muzzle her, and it took everything I had to hold her! There was no way I was going to get that pup out at home! That was a pretty expensive bill, but one that we paid willingly so that our baby would be okay. Yesterday morning however, I woke up to find Momma shaking and listless (not moving very much at all). My friend thought she was cold so we wrapped her in a blanket, I knew something was wrong with her when she started panting from being too hot, but was still shaking. I phoned the vet and as soon as they heard what was going on they told me to get her in there. They thought that she was low on calcium and ran some tests. They ended up keeping her for the day, and I had to bring the puppies home and feed them with a bottle. Luckily Momma responded really well to the calcium shots and was able to come home yesterday afternoon. All is well once again, other than the 200 dollar vet bill we still have to pay after the last one that was close to 300 bucks! Lesson learned though, if you have a dog that has a litter of pups, give her calcium supplements and save yourself a vet bill! By the by, milk doesn't cut it. We thought it would but it doesn't she needs a darn good dose of calcium and mild doesn't have enough and you need to give it the mom throughout lactation. Also switch her food to preferably a more expensive puppy food, this will also supplement her diet to help with feeding a litter of pups! Our daschund had 7 pups which is a HUGE litter for these dogs. We are lucky that one of them did not make it the vet said, or Momma may not have had enough milk for all of them. As it is the remaining 6 are doing very well and are becoming fat little horkers! We have already found homes for 3 of them... Which takes care of half of them, now we have one girl and two boys left to place, which should not be hard at all! A few ads in the right places and all our pups will be promised to good homes! I am happy, the runt of litter is going to a very good and kind person from the vets' office. She helped out tremendously yesterday when I was so worried about Momma.
Well I better sign off now... I don't know if I will be adding anymore to this post. But hopefully it will help those who are as lost as we were and make their experience much more enjoyable and less expensive. However, if you have the choice and find this before your dog gets pregnant, it is well worth it to forget about having puppies and get your female fixed. It is not cheap, but in comparison with the vet bills we have incurred so far, and the cost of feeding the puppies until they go to good homes, believe me it is well worth it to put the money out for the spay! Not to mention the stress value of having puppies... on both dog and owner! Good luck...

I hope some of the people with dollar signs dancing in in their eyes read your post. So many people see buying a female as the route to quick, easy money. Responsible breeding is tough, hard work. Those that do it right for the love of the breed are lucky to break even. Not sure here, but I have seen questions like ''What is the justation period of dogs?'' (exact quote from sometime). Too many people that know or care nothing about dogs think they can make big money.

I am very pleased she had a caring person like you when she needed it. I am sorry I couldn't be much help. Best time for puppies to go to their new home is at 7-8 weeks old. They need to stay with their mother and litter mates learning to be good dogs before that. Then they need to get out in the world and start learning the strange ways of people.