So my Labrador is in season and I let her out to pee in the garden this evening and then promptly fell asleep on the sofa. This was at about 10.30pm. She was unsupervised for 3 hours. I have remembered now that she has just learnt how to vault our 5 bar gate since one of the kids threw her ball over it at the weekend and she leapt over it to get it back. We live in the middle of nowhere but there are dog owners around with entire males. They might have let them out to pee as well! Our closest neighbour has texted that he had seen her out and the text woke me up and I let her back in, she was back in our garden by this point and was scrabbling at the door. So now I wonder if there was any sign that she might have been mated with? Her vulva does not look any more swollen or red than normal, she is still cleaning it as she is dripping a bit of blood still. I had a close look with a torch and it seems normal. She let me look and touch and it does not look like anything has irritated her down there. She is not wet around the head as some of the websites I have just trawled suggest but then in three hours could that evaporate even at night?
What do you think- take her to the vet to get the injection just in case? I was hoping eventually to have a litter from her not least because she is a pure breed but most importantly has the nicest temperament of any dog I have ever known and we would like to keep one or two of her daughters. I already have tons of people who have said they would want to have one of her puppies. But I also believe that if one has the injection one should also have the bitch spayed- I realise I have been a very irresponsible dog owner in this case by falling asleep and would be sad that it was necessary to do so as the result of an accident but I would also do so if it put her health at risk otherwise. I would appreciate any advice on this.