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Is my dog pregnant after mating with a recently neutered male?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | unspayed | 8 months and 27 days old | 10 lbs

My suekie dog tied with a dog that was fixed the day before and tied several times in a week. She is not fixed but she went into heat and I didn't know. I returned the male because of aggressiveness. And now it seems that she is pregnant. How can this happen? They tied between Jan 5th and Jan 12th. Real or phantom?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on February 15th, 2019

Hello. It is tough to tell without an x-ray or ultrasound exam. It is very possible that the male still had viable sperm in his reproductive tract ( sperm can remain viable for 3-4 weeks in the accessory sex glands of a recently neutered male ). It could be a false pregnancy, but more likely she did become pregnant from the recently neutered male dog. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 30th, 2017

    Typically dogs are completely sterile six to eight weeks after being neutered, so it is possible that Riley could get pregnant from being mated with your male dog. I would keep him away from Riley until she is out of heat, and then have her seen by your vet in three to four weeks. The vet can do a blood test looking for the hormone relaxin which she will produce if she's pregnant.

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