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I'm house-sitting a dog & started March 21st. She was skinny then, but I was told she was not being fed. I've noticed she's gained a bit of weight, I feed her California Natural puppy food & only what the chart on the back says for her age/weight.
She's been eating A LOT of grass recently. She's kinda always done this since I got her, a little here & there, but now its like she's making a meal of it. She never throws it up thou.
EDIT: I do NOT think she is fat as in overweight, I just mean she has gained weight.
Here are some photos of her now:
This one you can kinda see her teats are bigger than I think they should be?:
Here are photos from when I 1st got her (mid March):
I haven't had a lot of experience with pregnant dogs but she does look pregnant to me, mainly because her teats are getting bigger.
She looks pregnant...the teats give her away Try to softly feel her belly for a few minutes. You should be able to feel the pups moving around in there. They swim all over the place! Dogs usually are pregnant for 9 weeks and start to show about 5-6 weeks. She might be about 7 weeks along!
I would get her to a vet if you aren't sure, but I think you should google and start preparing for pups.
She looks prego.... you can tell more if you look at her head-on. Puppies are arranged kind of like a little pearl necklace so she will look bigger horizontally. If she's just tubby usually the fat hangs down more vertically.
Plus, that would be a lot of weight to put on in a month and a half!! Looks like you're gonna have some pups pretty soon!
She's not fat. You can still see her ribs through the skin in those photos. That being said, she's definitely gained weight. The teats make me think preggers, but to my completely untrained eye, it doesn't look like pregnancy weight. One way or or another, you need to get her to a vet stat.
Whose dog is this?
You are totally about to have puppies....yes, you can tell by the nipples. You are smart to have asked us.
Well I don't really think she is fat as in overweight, I probably should have just said gained weight.
This is the dog I am pet-sitting. The owner is away at school & I kinda "rescued" the dog to watch until the end of her term, which is another 2 months.
This is horrible if she's pregnant... because she got her shots when I got her (the vet told me she should NOT have shots if she was pregnant, so I asked the owner & she said that she couldn't be pregnant). The vet is closed
I know nobody can tell just by looking at photos.
@mandb122: that's what I'm thinking, I can't tell, but teats are bigger so I'm assuming... puppies
@BackyardLoveBird: I tried to feel her belly but can't feel anything moving in there. I think I have a stethoscope (sp?) somewhere... so 7 weeks means she's due in like a week or so?
@kperry3: I should've said gained weight
@socalmeli: Thanks, I'll take more pics & see where the weight is "hanging out" at. Yea I noticed she was getting bigger about 2 or 3 weeks ago, was proud she wasn't as skinny but today I was like, she's really big after about a month.
@GreenEyedMoon: Piddles is a friend of a friend's dog who I will have for about another 2 months.
Your dog looks pregnant. Have you taken her to the vet? from the looks of it she could have pups within the next couple of weeks!
@nursein10: I will check that out soon. I felt wierd taking pics of her teats, I felt like a creep-o so your question wasn't too wierd :)
@cvbee: Thanks... I asked but was really hoping everyone would say "no" lol... so it looks like puppies are in my future :(. I looked it up & it says 60 is most common, could be between 55 to 70. She musta gotten prego right before I got her... if only I had gotten her sooner.
@muckmoo1: She went to the vet the day after I got her. I just realized today she may be preggo & so I'm going to call the vet tomorrow to see what they suggest. I hope she doesn't have 10 pups, hopefully just 1 or 2.
I think you need to take her to the vet tomorrow. Is the vet open then? Tell the vet about the shots, too. Let us know what happens!
@serabell: lol I hear you! oh man that's difficult. Did you ask your friend if she had her fixed? That could be a give away there. If she is fixed then there is something seriously wrong. Good luck. I have a feeling you are going to be a pup mom soon!
I would check her belly to see if she has a scar, if so she's fixed so puppies aren't a problem. Were her teats always that big or had she had puppies before? Sometimes, if a dog had puppies they stay kind of saggy. If they haven't always been that big, I'd say she's pregnant.
Yeah, unless she's been spayed, there really isn't a way that the owner can guarantee she's not pregnant.
We had a foster dog who was underweight when we first got her. Her weight gain pattern and swollen teats looked EXACTLY like the pics you posted, (back nipples started swelling first and moving upwards). We never did feel the puppies moving or anything before she went to her whelping foster home, so that in itself is not an indication.
I would start looking up how to prepare for whelping (I've heard kiddie pools make cheap whelping boxes - start saving up newspapers to use for whleping box lining, cause you'll need a LOT of it!) and contact the owner to decide what they want to do about rehoming the puppies. A trip to the vet for an x-ray can help determine approximately how many puppies she'll be having, (I say approximately, because they told us our foster would probably have five and she had eight).
Generally, larger breed dogs have larger litters than say, a Yorkie, so I definitely wouldn't hold your breath for one or two. I think you're probably looking at 3-5, but possibly more.
I know 100% shes not fixed because I told the owner I could get her fixed if she paid me back but she didnt have the $ for it.
How important is a vet visit? I know people with dogs before that had pups & never took em to the vet for that & there were no problems. The owner cant afford a vet exam & the tests they'd do & neither can I at this point :(.
My parents' dog goes through phases of false pregnancies about twice a year. She gains weight, her teats and hoo-ha swell. The hormones make her pissy, eventually it kind of goes away and she learns to forget her imaginary pups. It's kind of sad and totally weird.
Yeah, take her to a vet.
Generally you at least want an x-ray to confirm pregnancy and to have a rough idea of how many puppies to expect, (so if they say, it looks like five puppies, but only two come out, you know there's a problem). It would probably also be a good idea to talk to the vet about any complications/side effects that could result from her recent vaccinations.
Also, do be aware that IF there are complications, emergency c-sections or an emergency trip to the vet due to pregnancy complications can be EXTREMELY expensive.
I know this isn't your fault, but if you can't afford the price of pregnancy, delivery, (whelping box, newpapers, ribbon, towels, whelping kit), and raising a litter to at least eight weeks of age, (vaccinations, puppy food, dewormer...it all adds up), then you can't afford NOT to spay/neuter your pet. *Sigh* I guess when you call the vet you can ASK about termination, but like I said, I think that has to be done early in the pregnacy.
Is this is the dog you were trying to transport a couple months ago??
Yeah, I would take her to the vet. I don't know how much a vet will charge but my vet charges about $80 for an exam. Can you or the owner afford that? If not, look around for low income vet clinics, it should cost less.
Oh, being in Seattle, if this dog does have pups, I might be interested in adopting one of them. (I do have to talk to the DH first.) Anyway, keep us updated.
@serabell: I think the vet visit is important, so they can determine pregnancy vs something else wrong. Could you maybe check with your local animal shelter? A lot of times they can either offer lower cost vet visits with a certain vet or know of resources to help. If she's not pregnant, I'd also ask about a spay/nueter program. I know in my area, you can get a dog or cat altered (and sometimes shots, too) for anywhere between $35-60 with some of the programs offered through the shelters and rescues.
ETA: I was just thinking about something you said in your original post and our girl. She was adopted from the shelter where she was turned in as a stray and very underweight. She gained about 20lbs in 3-4 months because she was eating right. You said she wasn't eating well before, so it may be something as simple as that causing her body changes.
Definitely looks pregnant... Have her checked immediately!!! Our dog got pregnant by the neighbor's dog (the "hooked" up and they NEVER told us until after the fact!!!).
Check her ASAP because this was our experience:
Our pooch is little (15 lbs) and got preggo by a big collie. We took her to the vet because she wasn't acting right. She was preggo with two puppies and due within two weeks. The puppies were too big for her to give birth and had she gone into labor, my dog would have died. We were mortified. We immediately had her spayed and one of the puppies was already dead because it didn't have room to grow. The dr's can tell whether or not she can carry them full term and live. Of course this is under the assumption you don't know who go her pregnant.
Luckily my doggie is healthy now, but had we not checked in with the vet... she wouldn't be here now.
ETA: She's a very cute pooch!!
Our foster dog. Notice the swelling of the back nipples...
Excuse the hair loss...she was so infested with fleas and ticks when she was rescues that her hair was falling out. Poor, sweet girl. 
So yeah, looks like lots of similiarites. As far as for eating right, I've never heard of that causing swelling in the teats. We have fed a lot of underweight dogs and not one had nipple swelling. A false pregnacy could cause hormonal changes that could cause the swelling, but I've never heard of normal, healthy weight gain causing this, (of course, I'm no vet, just speaking from my experience as a foster).
Also, and I am really not trying to be catty, but why did the owner of this dog adopt her if she couldn't care for her and couldn't afford her? Guess I don't understand the logic of that one.
@serabell: No probs. I didn't notice the before and after pictures... so that's why I said that. But she does look like she has gained weight.
She does look pregnant. But it's hard to tell. Animals can have complications due to their hormones just like women. They can develope cysts around the teats, or in the duct (?) ... I'm going purely on what I recalled from the most recent vet trip in regards to my own little dog.
@muckmoo1: Yea I'll be a pup mom! Too bad the mom never had "the talk". Its going to be a long 2 more months (how long I'm pet-sitting the mom dog for).
@EleanorRigby: I'm going to go to the vets later today & just talk to them in person.
@nqz100: She's never had pups before. This dog is about 10 months old, so she's still a puppy IMO. Poor pup is having puppies. I don't think her teats were like that before, but never really looked there. Thinking about it now, she rolled around on the grass & I rubbed her belly & it wasn't like that so its a semi-recent development. However, I don't think anyone will help. Back when I got my kittens & took em to the vet & saw how sick they were, I asked many vets/shelters if they could help out at all (with the remaining 15 other kittens) & no one would do anything & some of the kittens died, it was horribly sad :(. Anyways I will still try, you never know & its a great idea, I didn't think of asking shelters for help with these pups.
@Miss Apricot: I wrote the owner I thought her dog was either prego or just gaining weight but I'm going to tell her today its more of a sure thing that she's prego. I asked if she wanted me to take her to the vet but she didn't reply to that part (I wrote her about a few different things) so I'll re-ask her in case she missed that part. What would I need ribbon for? Yea I know its gonna be kinda spendy for the pups, I'm going to get them their shots & ask for a re-homing fee to cover the shots/food & then require they get them fixed by a certain time.
@yrret107: Yea, same dog! She was so skinny when I got her & just assumed she was eating enough to gain weight over the past few weeks. Figures she'd have pups while I'm watching her. I will send you a PM about location.
@Paper Rose: I really really hope its a false pregnancy, but I think its a real thing. I mean, the timing is kinda right on. The "caretakers" weren't paying attention to her at all.
@MsYellowJacket: I don't think we'd have the problems of the pups being too big, this dog is 60#, but I'm going to see what dogs are in the neighborhood where she came from to see what the dad may be. Aww your poor pup, I have a friend who has a doxi/lab mix & idk how that happened... some combos are scary!
I was going to say the same as @Paper Rose in that it could be a phantom pregnancy. When I was a teen our dog had about 3 of these and it was a bit sad adctually as she was loving the thought of being pregnant.
Let us know how it goes.
@Miss Apricot: Aww the pics of your rescue, she's so sweet & I hope her previous owners are never allowed to own another dog! Is she yours or did you find a home for her? I'm pretty sure the owner got this dog from one of her relatives who could no longer keep the dog & she had a job at the time & was around. Then she moved for school after finding a temporary caretaker to watch her & she paid for the dog's food.
@Silentlove: Thanks, at this point its looking like she's pregnant & she doesn't look or feel like she has any cysts.
The pictures I posted were of a foster dog...I really, really wanted to keep her, but we already had one foster failure (a foster failure is when you adopt your own foster dog), and if we adopted a second dog, we wouldn't be able to do foster care any more. She did find a good home.
The ribbon is for the puppies...now you may not need it because it looks like your dog is a mix, and more than likely the puppies will be somewhat different in appearance since they will be mutts, (a single litter can have up to THREE fathers!). But when the puppies in the litter look similiar, breeders tie ric-rac ribbon of different colors around each puppy's neck to tell them apart.
(NOT my picture, did a Google search for an example, Photo credit to Treasure Lake Chesapeakes)
Our foster dog went to a whelping foster home to have her puppies, but not one puppy looked like another, (and I felt bad for her, because not one of them looked anything like their gorgeous mama!).
Whatever you guys decide to do, I would definitely look into Low Cost Spay & Neuter programs in your area, 'cause I'm sure you don't want to go through this again! I took care of a litter of puppies for my neighbor who shows and breeds dogs so she could go out of town with her family, and it was a lot of work for just those three days! I would love to be a whelping home sometime, but I think that's influenced by the fact that I am extremely baby crazy right now.
Be sure to keep us updated!!!
Oh! Forgot to share this link! Here is a list of stuff you'll need for a whelping kit. http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/whelpingkit.htm
Kiddie pools (the round, hard plastic ones with NO slide) make cheap whelping boxes, (you can also make/buy them, but I was told the plastic kiddie pools are cheaper).
That link also has links to a ton of other articles on whelping and puppy rearing.
@Miss Apricot:PUPPIES!!!! thanks for the gratuitous puppy pic.
@socalmeli: lol...Happy to oblige. I want a puppy desperately right now, so I spend a lot of time on petfinder.com, researching breeders, and such. 
Totally preggo! You will probably be able to feel them moving around in there if you rest your hand on her belly! :)
I'm waiting to hear back from the owner. I emailed her yesterday about what she wants me to do. Since she's not my dog, I don't want to do anything she doesn't ok. I mean unless its an emergency I'm letting her decide things. I can't call her because she doesn't have a phone anymore.
The mom dog is doing fine thou :). Will update more later!
My dog went through phantom pregnancies all the time. Nipples got big, she got fat and she would go into hiding. Then she would be back to normal. I guess it's common for dogs to do. When we did actually breed her, we pushed on her belly and we could actually feel the puppies kicking inside. That was a dead giveaway!
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