What do you mean you know it's not PC and don't care? I am not even following you with that one. So, I guess you decided to breed your dog with the 'stinky dog' of your other post and that's why you were keeping him. Whatever.....it's your dog.

Even vets have a hard time dx pregnancy until the pregnancy is about half over and the pups can be palpated. So, you may as well treat her as if she is with good nutrition until you find out, and hope the other dog isn't carrying some sort of organism to infect her or make her sterile.

You can Google prenatal care of dogs as easily as I can....so I don't even understand why you posted.

if you have to ask, you have no business breeding dogs.

It's unrealistic to post a thread about anything, let alone a controversial practice, & think you can direct people not to post their opinion if it isn't what you want to hear.

I wouldn't let my beloved dog "share a mole" with anybody unless I knew the mole didn't have parasites, & I think nina made a good point.

all the best to your poor dog.

I dont think you will see any helpful replies, we all take our animals very seriously and back yard breeding is the worse thing you can do to any dog. I pray the female didnt get pregnant, I feel bad for both dogs.. SPAY & NEUTER is my advice !!!!!

Can't tell anything until 35 days into pregnancy. At that point can usually get ultrasound confirmation of pregnancy. At 45 days, radiographs can tell how many puppies are present, so you know how many to watch out for.

Do you know how to GOOGLE, or are you trying to stir up the sensible people here?

Thanks Meghane. I read that information when I Googled it but thought maybe somebody might have personal experience and give me another tip.

Here's a tip: Stop selfishly adding to the dog and cat population.

Well said, Weed. My thoughts exactly.

Carmen I'm getting really tired of trying to be politically correct with you.

If its not a pregnant cat, its trying to breed a dog.

Good lord, just get them fixed and stop trying to have litters.

I have an appt. to take the mommy cat in to be spayed on Tuesday and will take the litter of four kittens in when they are 4 mos. old. I was going to try to find homes for the kitties but we have become attached and will keep them all.

As for the lab, if she is pregnant we will sell all but one of the pups at $150 ea. I feel that is affordable for people who want a pure bred registered dog but can't afford the crazy prices most charge. That will cover our costs for vet visits, shots, worming and of course, the spay for the mother and the one we keep once the pups are weaned. That is, IF she is pregnant.

You are a back yard breeder. Back yard breeders are responsible for the suffering and inhumane euthanasia of the animals they produce. I will never participate in any conversation you start except to tell you that. I don't care if you want to hear it or not.

I adopted a purebred stand dachshund from a rescue group six weeks ago. I have all rescued animals that come from people who did not spay and neuter their pets. All five cats are rescues as well as my other dog, a Boston Terrier mix. The doxie I do believe was used by a back yard breeder as a stud. I know nothing about the breed but people have remarked his conformation is so good . He was three and unneutered when his owner turned him into a kill shelter in WVA saying he had too many dogs. Who knows what this dog endured for his first three years, but I will make it up to him for the rest of his life. There should be a law, and maybe some day there will be.

A pup can be neutered at 8 weeks old for a female and 8 wks if both testicles are descended if male (usually 8 weeks old). Make sure any pup you sell is spay/neutered. They can easily pick that pup up at the vet AFTER it has been fixed. Pups that young are usually up and playing the next day. My mocha was neutered at 8 weeks and he's almost 10 yrs old now and just fine. Vets do it every day. That is the ONLY way you can be sure you're doing the responsible thing. Otherwise, it's kinder in the long run to simply terminate the litter now.

"we will sell all but one of the pups at $150 ea. I feel that is affordable for people who want a pure bred registered dog but can't afford the crazy prices most charge. That will cover our costs for vet visits, shots, worming"

Since Labs have big litters, say 8 on average, you're planning to sell 7 dogs at $150 each for a total "recovery" of $1,050.

for vaccinatinos & worming???

That's not recovery of expenses;
that's rationalization of irresponsible & greedy behavior.

& since the buyers of those puppies are likely to do exactly the same thing to "recover" their costs, even if each buyer breeds the dog only once to "recover" costs, that's another 56 puppies within about 18 months.

& the buyers who don't have their dog spayed or neutered after that first litter, 56 puppies is just the start.

I'd guess that most of them will have puppies again & again;
they'll either be bred on purpose for their owners to sell the pups or, with no contract with a dedicated seller to force them to spay/neuter, they'll have mixed breed pups & the owners won't think a thing about giving the pups away 2 times a year since "we always find good homes for them.

just what the world needs, more Labs & Lab mixes to replace the ones being euthanized every day.

& once you get your hands on that money, I'd guess that your own dog will be having puppies again real soon, & the pup you keep will likely get to experience the joys of parenthood as well.

Be a responsible grown-up or at least stop trying to convince yourself that you are one.

First, you forgot the stud fee so there is really no profit. No, the only reason we would charge anything at all is because if somebody pays for a dog, there is a better chance that they will try to make it work. Our dog will be spayed after giving birth (if in fact she is even pregnant) and any pup we keep will also be 'fixed'.

I am right now faced with giving away kittens. Free 'anything' is expendable and because you really can't charge for kittens, I think we might keep them. I don't want them to become snake food.

"I was going to try to find homes for the kitties but we have become attached and will keep them all."

"I think we might keep them. I don't want them to become snake food."

make up your mind. which is it?

are you keeping all of these kittens to be inside pets? because if you aren't, they will likely end up dead, like the feral cat my dogs pulled out of a tree yesterday and made quick work of killing.

we are overrun with feral cats around here because people think, since i live in the country and would love nothing better than to take care of MORE animals, they'll dump them out at the end of my lane.

this isn't the first cat killed by dogs around here and sadly, it won't be the last. it's survival of the fittest and believe me, the sick, skinny, pitiful cats i see almost daily are anything but fit.

We are keeping them all and they will be spayed and neutered just as our older cats are. (The mom will be today!) They will become indoor/outdoor cats just as the others are once they become 'street smart'. Our older cats are now 5 years old. We have no feral cats on our property and I think that is because the other cats keep them away. We still have not seen who the father of the kittens is since we have never seen a stray around here.

We take very good care of our animals and they are all well-behaved, healthy and certainly happy on our acreage.

It looks to me like all points of view on the spay/neuter & breeding issue have been made clear, and that Carmen has taken a determined stance.

These forums have a limit of 150 postings per thread. Do we want to rehash this for weeks, or can we let it slide down now?

And we can all stop reading the posts when we choose.