Don't Know If My Bitch Got Pregnant Accidentally by: Emily
Hi there,
Thanks for your question about your dog's first heat cycle! I would ask your dog-sitters if they noticed her bleeding and approximately how long it has been going on.
Hopefully your holiday was not too long, as you "should" likely still have time to prevent a pregnancy.
Note, that whether or not you think she was bred by the male, you will want to keep them separated for the duration of her heat. You will also want to keep other male dogs away from her. Dogs can breed more than once and concieve puppies during more than one round of intercourse, so she is not out of the woods yet, even if she is pregnant!
It is not a good idea to breed such young dogs, so do try to avoid her getting pregnant and him mating with her. If you do not plan to use the female for breeding, you can have her spayed, even while she is in heat, and even if she is pregnant... Talk to your vet about your options.
Here's some great information I gave another reader about the duration of a female dog's heat cycle:
1) During the first phase of heat, Proestrus, you will notice the signs of swollen and bloody vulva and male dogs hanging around the house. The bitches will not allow males to mate with them during this time. Duration: 5-13 days.
Hopefully your dog is in this phase and no mating has yet occurred. I am surprised, though, that your male is not showing an interest in her, as this is usually a prevelant male behavior, even during this time...
2) The second part of the cycle is called Estrus and this is where the female will mate with males... potentially multiple males. Duration: 4-21 days.
3) Toward the end of her cycle, she will enter Diestrus and will be reluctant to breed. Duration: 4-14 days, Average: 7 days.
Since, on the short end, the heat cycle can get to this third reluctant-to-breed stage in just 9 days, if your holiday was around that long, it could already be "too late." However, I would think your dogs' care taker would have noticed if your bitch were in heat for that long and if he was actively pursuing her to mate... and would tell you about it if you asked.
Okay - well, I hope that is helpful! Keep her contained as if she has not been bred (might want to crate her so the male can't mate with her) and if you suspect the worst, you can visit your vet and discuss her options.
