I don't know if this is where I can get help or not. We live on a dirt road and it seems we get quite a few abandoned pets. 3 weeks ago a female lab mix was dumped. I thought that she must have recently had puppies because her milk glands were big. We of course put up FOUND posters..had the nurses at the vet check for microchip.....but to no avail.

She is a sweet girl and is adapting well here with our other 2 dogs.

My problem is that I don't think she's already had puppies now...I think she is pregnant!

Her milk glands are getting really big now and when she lays on her side and I put my hand on her I can feel puppies moving!..well I think I do..unless it some HUGE worms.

Not sure what to do. We have (now have 3 dogs...I think soon to be more with puppies coming?!) and 6 children...which I homeschool. Needless to say, I don't think we can afford this.

So my questions are:

Her diet? She was very very hungry when we first found her. Since I've suspected pregnancy we've been buying her puppy chow. She also gets a scrambled egg daily like my other dogs. Canned salmon 3 times a week..my other dogs only get it once a week. What else should she be getting?

How do I tell how far along pregnant she is?

I live in Washington State..does any one know of a vet that could help us out? We are barely making it on one income at the time. The vet we use for our dogs does do sliding scale for us, but for something this extreme..we can even pay the sliding scale. This is the same vet office that scanned her for a microchip.

How in the world can we afford to have the puppies get shots/worming if we can't find a vet that will help?

She is such a sweet girl, there is no way I want to drop her off at the pound. There has to be a better way! (we rescued our first two dogs from the pound..I just can't see bringing one to them..especially one this sweet)

ANY ADVICE WOULD BE WONDERFUL!!!!

Oh, and I almost forgot! When we were cleaning her up, we noticed fleas. I had an extra dose of Frontline which I gave her. I gave it to her when I thought she had already had puppies. Since she is most likely pregnant...could I have damaged the puppies?!

Yikes..so many questions.

For delivery..what do we need? I watched a YouTube Video on a dog delivering pups and they used bulb syringe to help the puppies breathe afterwards.

I've also read different things on cord care. We are to tie them with dental floss and dip the ends in iodine?

And, an hour between puppies? How do we know they all came out?

I'm sorry I'm sitting here replying to my own thread and asking so much...I just have no idea how to do this!

Here are pictures I took of her just a few minutes ago. My daughter is scratching her belly to keep her from getting up. Also, we named her, and her name is Molly.

If you can look at the pics...what is your opinion?


http://photos1.walmart.com/walmart/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3294991005/a=1413425005_1413425005/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=walmart/

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I printed your reply and put it on our fridge. I'm sure I'll think of more questions.

I've put in calls to 4 different vets..one is having us fill out an application and the other 3 are going to have their book-keepers call us back. I would like to have her x-rayed.

Again, thank you so much!

Oh and I found this:

"FRONTLINE® is so gentle it is approved for use on puppies 8 weeks or older. It is also approved for breeding, pregnant and lactating dogs."

Sounds like I didn't do any damage.

Well, we could not afford the x-ray, but we were seen by a student vet who came to our home! Molly is for sure pregnant. She thinks Molly will deliver within the next two weeks. She "thinks" Molly has at least 7 pups. But Molly is a good sized dog and was very happy and wiggly during her check. The kids got to hear a few of the heartbeats.

Well...I'll keep you posted! Thank you so much for replying to my thread.

8 healthy puppies! Molly is doing great!!!

Congratulations! Any pictures?