We have a situation here at the house with my female, Grace.  Gracie came to us with some problems - she has very mild pectus excavatum, an overactive anal-gland issue, and she has a somewhat inverted vulva.  Our vet suggested that we let her go through a heat cycle because that can sometimes help the problem with her vulva.  She's 10 months old now, and went into heat about a week ago.
































 

Congrats grandpa

I think the risk is higher for the bitch while she is in heat due to swelling and blood engorged uterine horns.
There is also a form of morning after pill for dogs but that runs a very high risk of pyometra, a serious uterine infection. Years ago my vet suggested that the safest thing to do was have the pups and find them homes. That was a long time ago and things may have changed. By the way, I dodged a bullet and there were no pups.

Thanks for the replies and PMs everyone.








 

Well, we took Gracie in for an ultrasound on Tuesday.

Gracie is preggers!  The ultrasound shows that she has two onboard.  So, puppies in about 4 to 5 weeks!



Gracie is doing well.  Ben is worried about paying Child support.

Good luck on finding them homes!

I know many people that do keep intact males and females together without any unintentional breedings. In fact, most reputable breeders do so. Time to start looking into modifying how your dogs are kept if you plan to keep them both intact.

Since it looks like we're having a small litter, we shouldn't have any problems.  I've already been getting requests.



We never had any intentions of leaving them both intact.  As I mentioned, the only reason we hadn't already gotten Gracie fixed was due to the vet's recommendation that letting her go through a heat cycle may help correct her vulva issue - which it seems to have worked.  She looks a lot more normal back there now.  Anyway, as soon as she's able after the puppies arrive, we'll be getting that taken care of.