my dog went into her first heat

[bekah30]

my dog went into her first heat recently and right after she stopped bleeding her breast got very inlarged like they had milk, i know for a fact she did not have contact with a uneutered male dog so she can not be pregnant. my co-workers female dog would have false pregnancys and when she did her breast would get inlarged with milk but it was 60 so days after she was in heat. i was woundering why my dogs breast got inlarged so fast after her bleeding. any help would be great, thanks!

[Megs2girls7]

This just happened to my dog. Except we had boarded her while we were on vacation and we didn't know if she had been with a male or not. I noticed the same thing with the bigger nipples and they were engorged with milk. The milk would even come out when squeezed. I took her to the vet because I was worried since I didn't know for sure if she had been with a male. They did an ultrasound and found no fetal heart beats. Which was a relief for us since we are not trying to breed our dog. The vet told us that more often than not this happens and if it happens once it will happen almost every time she goes through a heat cycle. All you can do it just keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't go through any extreme symptoms. For example becoming obsessed with a toy like it was a baby or lick/sucking on her breast to stimulate more milk production. This can cause other health issues. Don't worry though the milk will dry up within a couple weeks and she should be back to normal. I hope this helps and good luck.

[ginger899]

Usually symptoms of false pregnancy do start a while after she has been 'on heat'. Often symptoms begin about the equivalent time to the duration of a pregnancy (say 60 days or so) So it is odd that she started with this so soon.
False pregnancy is caused by a surge of hormones, and the only sure-fire cure for it recurring and recurring is to have her spayed. That will also protect her to a certain extent, from the threat of mammary cancer in later life (though not 100%, as the only 100% protection against this is to have the female spayed before her first 'heat'.

I am not an absolute expert on this, although have seen mild signs of false pregnancy in my own dog (who was a rescue dog, and I don't want to put her through the surgery now as she is nearly 12)....with her, if she got any symptoms, they started about 2 months after her 'heat'

It might be wise to consult your vet about your dog, just in case there is any breast inflammation going on.

[Holliee]

MY ST BERNARD DID THE SAME THING AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY ALSO IF YOU FIND OUT LET US KNOW WISH I COULD HELP