What To Expect From A Female Dog After Mating?

A pregnancy bulge is usually expected, probably 1 to 2 months after mating. Pregnancy also called the Fertilization or gestation period, typically takes 58 to 63 days, but not more than approximately 65 days.

Therefore, an unplanned mating will be challenging to record and be accurate about recording. But With a planned breeding, the exact date mating occurred will be accurately and efficiently recorded.

In cases of two matings, you can record the exact date and assume their birth date to lie between 63 to 65 days after mating.

Things to do after your female dog has been mated

Please do not attempt to feed her immediately after mating either food, snacks, or water, so she does not urge to urinate, thereby passing out a good portion of the male’s semen.

Ensure she does not mate with any other dog because the oestrus will go on for more days, and that means she can scientifically still get impregnated if she mates again during this period. So after every planned mating, she should be made to get lots of rest quietly for a few hours or maybe even a day.

What To Expect From A Female Dog After Mating

Before mating, both the male and female dog must be bathed and examined by a veterinarian. It is applied in planned mating.

Before mating, it is vital to make sure the female dog is in good condition for mating. For example, you should not mate the dog if she seems to be hungry, sick, or is on any medications.

After mating your dog, the way she is fed should not change; for instance, starting to overfeed your dog may cause her to be obsessed, and obesity will pave the way for complications and problems, maybe even the death of the puppies or the mother during labor.

So feeding method should remain the same, especially approximately six or seven weeks after mating. Then, when the female is being fed balanced/nutritious foods well enough, it will not be necessary for you to purchase extra vitamins and mineral supplements because you’re sure she is getting all she needs.

But suppose you want to administer additional minerals and vitamins supplements. In that case, you can discuss with your veterinarian what type to give and what not to give before giving them to your dog.

Giving just any kind of supplements to some wild breed dogs has harmful effects. But making sure your dog is not underweight, underweight, and pregnant is already the wrong way to start a pregnancy.

When she has to start sharing her food and nutrients with several puppies yet to be known, it could be fatal during labor. So if your dog is underweight, you need to administer supplements.

Do you need to adjust or change your routine as pregnancy advances? 

Intraabdominal pressure will increase as pregnancy advances, so the mothers’ food requirements will also increase. However, the number of times she is being fed normally will need to be increased, not the meal quantity, not to make her overweight or obsessed.

The number of puppies inside her will determine her movement, so you should let her decide for herself how much physical activity she wants to be involved in. To avoid complications, do not overwork/ stress or over-exercise your dog while pregnant.

If you notice a new type of virginal discharge in this gestation period, consult your veterinarian for any concerns to be safe.

How to know your dog is pregnant after mating

To detect pregnancy early in a dog can be extremely tricky. And the fact that reliable laboratory tests are not yet available is rather unfortunate.

However, trying to know if your dog is pregnant by pressing/ feeling the abdomen for enlargement of the stomach/uterus by your veterinarian at about four to five weeks after mating can be done to know if your dog is pregnant.

But the outcome/ result differs in every female dog, so your dog may be pregnant, and you won’t feel the uterus. Also, sometimes when the female is not relaxing, pregnancy might not show for a while.

Womb ultrasound is currently the most frequently used method of determining if a dog is pregnant. A positive result on pregnancy tests depends totally on the quality of the equipment or machine used and can be carried out as early as four weeks after mating.

Womb scans taken from one month, and above are accurate and reliable. However, some veterinarians tend to assume the number of puppies in the mother’s womb. Therefore, it should be estimated with care because counting the number of fetuses in the womb can be difficult and tricky during an ultrasound scan.

Conclusion – What To Expect From A Female Dog After Mating

A womb x-ray which is also called (abdominal radiography) is considered the most specific and accurate way of counting fetuses in the womb and can be done on all pregnant dogs when their pregnancy is about seven weeks pregnant.

And it is essential to perform a womb x-ray on all pregnant dogs so you will be sure when your dog has finished having her puppies to avoid any puppy or puppies getting trapped inside the mother’s stomach.