False Pregnancy

Emma began her puppy heat March 30, 2008. The first week of May, she began developing mammary tissue and looking pregnant. She stomach area had been sensitive to the touch, and she was acting sad, low energy, and excessively hungry. I took her to visit her veterinarian, who diagnosed a false pregnancy. Apparently, false pregnancies are common after a heat when there is no conception. Thank goodness Emma's condition is not severe. Even so, we will wait to spay her for a couple of months, and each symptom of the false pregnancy is gone. The main reason is the increased blood flow to the reproductive areas makes surgery more risky than usual. Your dog has a high risk of bleeding out and dieing. It is best to wait until the blood flow is back to normal, then spay.

Emma's Puppy Heat

Emma just finished her first puppy heat at 14 months old. She will be able to be spayed now that she has had her first heat, advised by her breeder, Lin Hainlen. Lin and other Rhodesian Ridgeback breeders seem to agree, that spaying should not be done until after the first heat. They say the risk of have an incontinent female is almost nothing, were as, incontinence is common when spaying is done before the first heat. So, Emma has a surgical date in May. We have all taken the week free of activities so that we can be at home with her, and let her rest and heal.

I thought the heat cycle would be messy and a problem with dogs gathering around our home. Neither was the case. The first 15 days, there was a little blood, so Emma wore a doggy diaper with disposable liners. It was very simple, though a little expensive. After the first couple of days Emma would bring her diaper to me to put it on when she entered the house. Emma is a house dog, in that she is where ever I am, either out-of-doors or inside. When I am working, she is on a bed in the same room. There are clean beds in every room in the house, and on the porches.