I have a dog (female) who's vulva is swollen and has been bleeding. I am not sure if this is an indication of her beeing in heat or pregnant, yes, we have 1 male dog, not spayed yet! Your help would be greatly appriciated

Thanks,
Missi

Yes this is a sign of her heat cycle. Please make sure you keep your dogs separated. Do not breed your female until she has passed all health cearances for her breed and that she is the proper age. Keep in mind that each and everytime you breed your female you put her life at risk. Even with all the knowledge and years of breeding experiance, dogs die with giving birth. I know someone who's healthy female twisted her uterus during whelping and she lost her much loved female and all the pups.

I would suggest taking your male in to get him neutered NOW, before it is too late. I know that sometimes money can be an issue, but talk to your vet and see if they would be willing to let you make payments. Taking on breeding dogs is so much. Without the proper health clearances and so forth you don't know if your dog would produce healthy puppies. Not to mention if your animals are not spayed and neutered they take on their own health risks as well. Please talk to your vet!

Another point is that non-nuetered females who do not give birth are at risk for mammary cancer. I know this is true because I did not spay my female dog and she developed breast cancer. At first it was just a persistent mammary infection that didn't clear up, so we spayed her and the infection cleared up but within 6 months it came back and we opted to remove the gland. It came back carcinogenic. Don't take that risk. We learned the hard way. I pray my Daisy will remain cancer free. Thank you.