7 Signs Your Whippet Is Pregnant

Puppies’ beauty and charming personality are among the most exciting and rewarding things ever. They provide joy to both the owner and their mother.

Most dog owners usually can’t wait for their dogs to become pregnant and produce these cuddly and incredibly irresistible companions.

However, many don’t consider what it takes to comfortably nurture and care for a pregnant dog and her puppies. If you’ve never encountered a pregnant dog before, you might think it’s just a walk in the park.

As much as your dog getting pregnant is an incredible experience, it can be exhausting, costly, and challenging too, and pregnant whippets aren’t an exception.

Whether your whippet is pregnant or you’re considering breeding your pet one day, it’s essential that you understand dogs’ pregnancy and care.

This article discusses the whippet’s pregnancy signs, caring, and breeding tips to enable your dog’s pregnancy to be easy and stress-free for your dog, her puppies, and you.

Signs Your Whippet Is Pregnant

Knowing if your whippet is pregnant can be tricky, particularly for individuals experiencing dog pregnancy for their first time.

It’s not like human pregnancies, which you can test using various prompt methods. In most cases, you have to go to a vet to know if your whippet is pregnant.

If you want healthy puppies, it’s critical for you to know whippet pregnancy signs and proper whelping timing.

Besides vet check, you can also know if your whippet is expecting by the way she behaves. Most dogs have pregnancy signs just like humans. Here are 7 reliable signs that your whippet is pregnant:

1. Increased Apetite

Most pregnant whippets tend to have more appetite than usual. However, it can also be the complete opposite, especially during the early or mid-pregnancy days. Pregnant pooches experience their ‘morning sickness during this time; therefore, she might lose her appetite and vomit a lot.

Typically, the dog’s appetite when expecting varies with her hormonal changes.

2. Sluggishness

Pregnant whippets tend to become lazy and exhausted when expectant. If you see your whippet napping more often, get tired quickly, and more sluggish than her other normal days, she might be pregnant.

Concluding your dog is pregnant while basing on this factor can be tricky, especially if your dog is naturally sluggish and loves sleeping. For such dogs, you can watch how fast they get tired during walks.

It’s not good to assume your dog’s decreased activity is due to pregnancy; sometimes, your dog might be having a complication. It’s best to see a dog doctor or vet if you have any concerns.

3. Overly Cranky or Affectionate

A pregnant dog can become crankier or highly sensitive. You may see her seeking affection and attention more than she usually does or be extremely grumpy when you try to show some love.

4. Dark Red and Enlarged Nipples

Dog’s teats are usually small, but when they become pregnant, they get bigger and darker red. The darker red nipples indicate the blood flow is high, and they enlarge due to the milk development for her puppies. On her late pregnancy days, your whippet’s teats can start leaking milk.

5. Weight Gain and Swollen Belly

Pregnant dogs gain more weight, and their tummies get bigger as their puppies grow inside them. An enlarged abdomen is one of the easiest ways to note your dog is pregnant, particularly if she doesn’t have any reason to gain weight suddenly.

By the time you notice your whippet’s swollen belly, your dog must be several weeks into her pregnancy, usually about 40 days old. Taking her to a vet is the best step to take.

6. Nesting Instincts

A nesting behaviour describes the urge pregnant mammals have to make a safe and comfortable home for their upcoming new-borns. Dogs have this instinct too. During your whippet’s final pregnancy weeks, she may start shedding clothes and her beddings to make a nest for her puppies.

A pregnant whippet can over irritated and reclusive during this time. Therefore, it’s best if you avoid getting her in contact with kids.

7. Isolation

your dog can withdraw and become quieter when she’s pregnant. If your whippet is the jumpy and active type of dog, instantaneous quietness and isolation can indicate she’s pregnant.

How Veterinarians Know If Your Whippet Is Pregnant

Taking your whippet to a vet is the most accurate way to tell whether your dog is pregnant. Most vets use four significant methods to check dog pregnancy, and they include;

X-Ray

Most dog owners and breeders use X-rays to know the exact number of puppies their furry buddy carries. However, this method isn’t suitable for checking pregnancies less than 40 days old. Usually, x-rays can only detect the fetal spine and skull when a dog is about 42-45 days pregnant.

It’s usually advisable to wait until day 55 of your dog’s pregnancy to be able to get an accurate puppies’ number and forecast of the best cesarean date for your dog.

Hormone Tests

Vets can check if your dog is pregnant by checking if your whippet has relaxing hormones. Your dog can only release these hormones when pregnant, and they come from her placental tissue. Therefore, it’s a reasonably reliable method.

However, this method is best only when your canine friend about 30+ days into her gestation—doing this test before they can produce unreliable results.

Ultrasound

Ultrasound is a reliable and effective way to know if your dog is ac during her early gestation period. With ultrasound, you can know your dog is pregnant as early as 25 days old after conceiving.

Besides confirming a pregnancy, ultrasound also tells if the fetuses are alive and total puppies number through the heartbeats they register and help calculate fetus gestational age.

Palpation

The palpation technique is the most affordable and convenient approach to checking if your whippet is pregnant. Usually, dogs’ fetuses develop into fluid-filled sacs, which can be felt when the dog is between 25-35 days into her gestation.

After some time, these sacs develop into table tennis ball form and lose their shape after four weeks of pregnancy. This process usually causes the dog’s tummy to have a flaccid feel which you can easily confuse to pyometra or fat. Its best for a professional to handle this process to avoid damaging the pups.

How Long Are Whippets Pregnant?

The dogs’ gestation period is usually shorter than that of humans; it only lasts for approximately 62-64 days. However, this period might vary depending on when your whippet conceives. Sometimes, dogs don’t conceive immediately after breeding.

Dr. Klein, the AKC chief vet officer, elaborates how dog pregnancy occurs, saying, during the first four weeks of a dog’s gestation, fertilized eggs usually travel to the dog’s uterine horn and get embedded there for about 15-18 days.

During the early pregnancy days, fetal growth usually is high. By the end of the fourth week, a vet can record a fetal heartbeat from your pregnant whippet.

By the end of 8 weeks, the embryo usually has already become recognisable puppies. Your dog will be ready to give birth by the start of the third month.

How To Care For A Pregnant Whippet

Pregnant dogs require proper care to stay healthy during their pregnancy period. Below are essential care tips you can utilize to ensure your pregnant whippet’s health and comfort during her gestation period.

Proper Nutrition

A proper and balanced diet is extremely crucial for a pregnant whippet. If you’re confident your dog usually gets the right quality and quantity of food and her health is okay, then you shouldn’t change her diet the first 2/3 days of her gestation unless your vet recommends it.

During your whippet’s last few weeks of pregnancy, she’ll continue gaining weight and require more food intake. It’s recommendable to increase her food amount progressively until she starts taking 35%-50% more than the usual quantity.

You should divide her feeding periods to be more frequent in small quantities. Large meals usually cause pregnant pooches to have discomforts.

Exercise

It’s not good to indulge your pregnant whippet in strenuous activities during her first 14 days of pregnancy. Doing this enhances your dog’s embryo’s implantation. After this period, your dog is suitable for exercising until her belly swells.

Excess exercising and tiring activities aren’t also suitable for a pregnant pooch during her final pregnancy trimester. The best exercises during this stage are shorter and regular walks.

Veterinarian Visits

It’s best to take your whippet to a vet for a prenatal examination before decide to breed her. Usually, vets will take your whippet’s faeces to check if she has intestinal parasites or deworms her with a suitable medication before mating.

Your dog’s vaccinations should also be up-to-date. It’s believed that deworming expectant dogs from about 40 days into pregnancy to about two weeks before her delivery can significantly reduce hookworms and roundworms amount in her puppies, enabling them to grow to their full potential.

Your vet can also guide you on what to do during labor and arrange a plan for you or your pet sitter. They also examine any anatomical or mechanical issues your whippet might have that can affect her delivery or puppies and advise on the best steps to take. For example, if your whippet will require a cesarean or can deliver normally.

Conclusion

Finding out your dog is pregnant isn’t an easy task for most dog owners. It requires a complete understanding of the signs associated with the dogs’ pregnancy and how to properly care for them for an easy and stress-free time for both you and your furry companion.

With the above tips and signs, you can easily find out if your whippet is pregnant and adequately care for your pregnant whippet.