My first female dog

[NancyD]

I've been a dog person for close to 60 years and we brought home our first female dog tonight. She is a retired breeder and gave birth about 6 weeks ago. I notice that one of her teats is quite swollen. It doesn't seem hot to the touch, red or particularly tender. Should I be worried? We don't have an emergency vet in our area and our regular vet won't be available until Tuesday. Is there anything I can do to fix it? Is it just because she just recently weaned her 3 pups? We have an appointment for spaying and teeth cleaning on Jan 20th but I think I'll call on Tuesday and see if I can move it up as her breath is deadly!

 

[Steph]

Yes, it is because she just weaned her pups. Female dogs "dry" up the same way humans do after weaning. If it seems to bother her, you could try sugar packs - take a washcloth, wet it down with warm water and then take regular white sugar and put it on top of the washcloth. Then it's just a matter of getting her to stay still for approx 15 mins while you hold it on the swollen teat.

We use this quite often in the shelter I work for when we have a mom that has weaned her kids. They're usually pretty good about letting us put these sugar packs on them. Good luck, Nancy!

 

[NancyD]

Moved her spay appt up to today

Poor little Lady had 11 teeth removed, got spayed and had a foxtail removed from each ear. They also clipped her nails as they were starting to grow into her pads. I've never seen a dog in such bad shape.
I still haven't got any paperwork or shot records from the breeder and her microchip is still registered to the breeder. The vets office said they can help me change it into my name & address as the breeder has stopped answering my emails now.
She's pretty miserable tonight but I hope she'll be better tomorrow. I bought some Wellactin and some Missing Link to try to nurse her into a healthy happy 3 1/2 year old. The good news is that she tested negative for heartworm!

 

[DeafDogs]

WOW 11 teeth in a 3.5 year old dog??? CRAZY!!!

My dog Zoe, who was a puppy mill breeder dog, we suspect, had a very bad mouth when I adopted her. But after a few months of good food, her teeth were better... however, at 6 years old, she had to have 13 teeth removed, and she'll have to get another bunch removed this year.

Bad teeth are very common in females bred to young, as calcium needed to get strong teeth is put into puppy production. Zoe had had 2 litters of pups before we got her at a year and a half.

 

[NancyD]

Since I've known about her she's had 3 litters

I don't know how many she had before she come onto my radar. I just think it's so sad that these breeders put up these websites that tell a story of loving their dogs and treating them like pets when really all they are is a smaller puppy mill. I know that not all breeders are like that but the one I got her from seems to be. They get these young females and breed them from the first heat and every time after. Then they discard them when they start to break down from the cheap food and stress of constant pregnancy and nursing pups.
She's doing so much better today that I have real hope she'll be healthy in no time. I bought both Welactin and Missing Link but as I read the labels they seem to be the same thing (Omega 3). Is it bad if I'm giving her the recommended dose of both?