Pregnant dog

redwon21

Hi 
We left our dog for 4 nights at a kennel. Before leaving her and when we booked her in we told the owner she was in season and to be kept apart from un- neutered dogs.
We found out from our vet yesterday  that she is 6 weeks on and due in the next 2 or 3 weeks.
The dates match to her kennel stay and we have alway been ultra careful  with her when in season . We live in the country and have an enclosed garden so know it did not happen on our watch so to speak.
We now have to cancel our holiday and probably loose the deposit plus all the extra expense (vet fees equipment and so on) We were not going to breed from her at all and was going to be spayed in August .The worst part is we have no idea just what the dogs will be like. Our dog is a pedigree lab and could of easily found homes for the pups.
What are my rights with regards to the kennel as I am sure they must have a duty of care ,?

.

HampshireH

Contact the kennel and request details on what dogs yours was left to run with. Did they guarentee they had a safe space with seperation to ensure she was exercised away from male dogs. 

Explain the situation and raise a complaint if you are sure.

It's quite a big issue.  Im not sure they can do much now aside of compensate you but I expect they will deny any wrong doing

thorsoak

It may sound harsh and dreadful - but in the circumstances, I would be asking your vet about the mismate injection.

You do not say how old your girl is, how big she is and - most importantly - you do not know what dog has mated with her - you could lose her during labour, she may need a caesarian (at a cost of £2,000+ - which of course you should be able to claim fromthe kennels.   However, pregnancy is not a simple straightforward action for any dog - and you could well have problems with finding homes for puppies - which you have to bring up for at least 8 weeks.

You must complain to the kennels, to the licencing authority which licences the kennels - they have been grossly negligent.

sheramber

Unless the kennel admit to anything it will be very difficult to prove it happened at the the kennels. There is no guaranteed date that a !!!!!! will conceive.

One of my bitches tested as ready on day 7, which explained why she missed when we mated her on day 11.

The urge to mate can be very strong in some bitches. My friend's  collie !!!!!! managed to get from her kennel  with a 6 foot fence  and into the male dog's kennel where she was found the next morning.

Were the dogs mixed with other dogs  when exercising.  The kennels I used never mixed dogs outwith the family.

redwon21

Thanks for the replies.
I am going to contact the kennel today

I have had 4 bitches before and am always carefully when the come into season so know it wasn't on my watch so to speak!
She is 2 1/2  and the vet told us its too late for a termination as she is due to give birth in the next 2 weeks !
 The kennels all have a door to a field which they play in supervised apparently part of the terms of boarding say   that the dogs get at least ,2 walks a day . As I am not there to see the excersise I am not sure what walks actually mean whether it is an actual walk or letting them out into the field. My dog is a pedigree black lab and the pups would be very easy to home if she was mated with another lab but we have no idea what breed has actually got to her.
This has caused us a lot of stress and money so any advice would be gratefully accepted

sheramber

You need to wait for a reply from the kennels to see what if anything you can do.

redwon21

Well we had a reply this evening this is it below

What a dreadful shock for you both.

However I can assure you Isla has not come into contact with any unneutered males whilst in our care. It is completely not possible!  

When the dogs are exercised they are supervised, and when she is a kennel she is alone. We are ruthlessly strict about this.


Basically saying it's us . Supervision I don't really think that happened !! Record keeping ?

sheramber

I think that was to be  expected.

So now it is a she says/he says scenario.

Without being able to pinpoint when it happened it is going to difficult to prove it happened in the kennels, especially when it was only 4 days, unless the pups show any defining characteristics that can be related to a dog that was in the kennels at the same time.

Any records are unlikely to include anything to help as it would not be recorded.

However, you could establish if several dogs are run together for exercise. I  would ask what dogs was she allowed out with rather than ask if she was out with other dogs.  They do not say she wasn't. out with other dogs. Only that she was supervised.
Supervision will not necessarily stop a dog mating a !!!!!!. A quick mounting in the right circumstances before somebody can separate them  can result in a pregnancy.

A friend had a !!!!!! and a dog kept in separate kennels but walked them together. The dogs were in her sight all the time but off lead. . She never saw the dogs actually mating.but her !!!!!! became pregnant.  She  had to accept it had happened.

I visited the kennels  I used ( without an appointment so saw the normal routine) before I booked them and saw the dogs out in the exercise field. Someone was with them, interacting with them and it was   one dog at a time unless there multiple dogs from one family, who were   exercised together.
 

thorsoak

redwon21 said:

I have had 4 bitches before and am always carefully when the come into season so know it wasn't on my watch so to speak!
She is 2 1/2  and the vet told us its too late for a termination as she is due to give birth in the next 2 weeks !
 The kennels all have a door to a field which they play in supervised apparently part of the terms of boarding say   that the dogs get at least ,2 walks a day . As I am not there to see the excersise I am not sure what walks actually mean whether it is an actual walk or letting them out into the field. My dog is a pedigree black lab and the pups would be very easy to home if she was mated with another lab but we have no idea what breed has actually got to her.
This has caused us a lot of stress and money so any advice would be gratefully accepted

Please be aware of a couple of things:  your girl may be a pedigree black lab (lovely breed - I have 3 black labs myself, and have owned & bred them over a period of 50+ years) but unless she has been hip & elbow scored, and has had annual eye tests you wouldn't be able to register the puppies with the KC even if you knew that she had mated with a pedigree lab (who of course should have had the same scores & eye tests.    Without these, you are going to be in a difficult position in trying to place any puppies (and the largest lab litter I have had is 12, smallest 6).   They have to be wormed, had first vaccinations and be microchipped before leaving the breeder's home - and sadly, you will be considered the breeder, regardless of whether the breeding was intentional or not - and with that, you can be held responsible for the puppy's health problems.    

I hope your vet has advised you about changing your girl's diet and has wormed her now - and given you details of the fact that you will have to worm these puppies on a more frequent than usual basis because your girl won't have gone through the regular worming protocol used with a pregnant girl.

I suggest you find a friendly experienced breeder who can support you during the birth and hope it does go well - I've always prepared for the worst and hoped for the best - sometimes good, sometimes heartbreaking :-(     Get yourself a copy of The Book of the B-1-tch, by J M Evans and keep it as your bedside reading for the next two weeks - you are going to need it.

redwon21

In reply to Thorsoak we never had any intention of breeding her so pointless having all those tests done 

thorsoak

Exactly - I do understand that - two of my present labs (one bred by me, the other a distant relative) I never had any intention of breeding from, so they haven't been tested either - just had my boy neutered earlier than I would usually recommend because I had two girls - one who had already been neutered having had two litters, and her daughter who I wanted to keep as she would be the last of  my lines.

I do hope it goes well for you - you are in for an interesting time - dont forget to get the book I mentioned - it is available from Amazon - and try and get an experienced breeder on board.