milky nipple discharge

I have a 10 month old Female Shih Tzu that finished her first heat cycle about 2 months ago. She did not mate during her heat cycle but is just now starting to produce a small amount of milky yellowish white discharge from her nipples and I was wondering what it could be caused by.

[ginger899]

This is a classic "False Pregnancy" symptom. That condition is caused by a surge in hormones, and usually happens about 8-9 weeks after a 'heat' cycle ends.

It almost definitely will recur throughout her life. Sometimes symptoms of False Pregnancy are mild, and cause little trouble, occasionally they are severe, and affect the dog's behaviour, and well-being. Although in itself, False Pregnancy is not an 'illness' or anything to be terribly worried about, and will resolve itself naturally once the hormone surge balances back to normal -it can be a trigger for other problems later in life, in middle-age, or older, possibly even mammary cancer.

The definite way to stop it happening in the future is to have her spayed. That would also give her good protection against any possible health threats later. Unless, of course, you want to breed her. In this case, there are homeopathic remedies which can sometimes help, and might be worth a try.
One is SEPIA: The other is PULSATILLA. Use the 6c potency, 2 tabs, 3 times a day. If symptoms begin to improve, cut dosage down to 2 times a day, then one, and so on. Stop dosing as soon as she seems back to normal.
If you can obtain these homeopathic meds, they are safe for dogs, taste nice, no side effects, and can either work very well indeed, or sometimes not work at all. It is unpredictable. I have found that most dogs I have known did respond well to homeopathic medicine though.

However, for her future health, do think about having her spayed.