[ASH]

My 6 yr old BLF is usually really clean in her heats. Sometimes hard to tell she is in heat. This time, she went through a really strong heat, bled much more than normal. Since then she has started to show signs of udder enlargement and lately she thinks she is starving and doing a lot of nesting actions in the whelping room even though the whelping box is not there. Is there anything I can do to help her through this. From what I have read, there is little you can do other than wait it out. I just feel really guilty when she acts like she's starving(more than her usual act) and scratching at the floor. Anybody have any suggestions? She has had 3 litters and has never had this problem before.

Anne

 

[AlexM]

My dog goes through a false pregancy about every other heat. All you can do is wait it out...maybe feed her a little extra..thats what I did, just because it seemed like she was miserably hungry..

 

[Julie R.]

I have a 6 y.o. CBR that has had two litters and several false pregnancies. She nests, gets real anti social and bags up like a brood sow. The last one she had, she also shredded an Orvis guaranteed chew proof dog bed. We let her have her stuffed animal "puppies' to mother and just indulge her although I have to keep the other dogs away because they don't understand that she will kill them over the toys she normally shares. I don't think there's anything you can do; we've tried taking the toys away (she just collects shoes and anything else she can carry into her nest) but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I also cut her food back but it hasn't made her dry up any faster.

 

[ASH]

Thankfully, I don't think mine is going to milk :roll: I gave her a little stuffed bear and she is quite content today laying in her kennel with the bear between her front paws. I'm hoping that the bear won't cause problems with the other girls. Other than acting like she's starved all the time and being kind of anti-social, she seems to be ok. Guess I will just have to wait it out. Can you still work them? Mine seems to work ok, but gets tired fairly quick. Might be just the lay-off from winter.

Anne

 

[Stephen Whitley]

Go get her a kitten!! My dog stole a kitten from my neighbors cat. She nursed it like it was her very own. It was funny watching the mama cat try to get her baby back...it wasn't happenin'! What's funnier than that...after a few weeks I had my dog spayed, BUT the kitten continued to try and nurse...and did so anytime she he was around my dog for the next year. The dog just layed there and let it happen.

 

[Julie R.]

I have tried to train Puffin when she's in false preggo mode but she's pretty worthless, very moody and sulky and not good for anything but the simplest of marks. You are lucky if your dog doesn't bag up--she even got mastitis once from a false pregnancy.

Here is a pathetic picture of her with this winter's "litter" and her nest she made in the corner of my office. You can see how bagged up she is and how she has her head lowered threateningly over her pitiful collection of stuffed toys.

 

[jeff t.]

I haven't had the "pleasure" of experiencing a false pregnancy with any of our bitches.

For what it's worth, I'm told that a bitch who has had false pregnancy has a higher risk for developing pyometra.

Jeff

 

[Julie R.]

I hadn't heard that the ones that have false pregnancies were at more risk for developing pyometra. The only dog I ever had that got pyo never had a false pregnancy.

What the repro vet I used told me was that ALL bitches go through false pregnancies. After estruous, their bodies prepare for pregnancy/birth whether they are bred or not. They all go through hormonal changes (one reason they suggest you not xray for OFA during this time) some just have more obvious outward signs than others. She did say the ones that have false pregnancies generally make excellent mothers and this is very true of Puffin, she's an easy whelper, always has plenty of milk, and takes very good care of her babies (real or stuffed!) right up til they leave for their new homes.
I guess things could be worse for poor Puffin. Apparently some even have false labor!

 

[JoAnn Stancer]

Poor Puffin, I never seen one that bagged up before. What a great picture.

 

[Guest]

...she acts like she's starving...

One of our middle-aged bitches usually goes into one, and some are worse then others. One time she went into one when I was raising a litter for someone else. She thinks she's starving to death, that she has to feed all those puppies! When she's this hormonal it is pointless to do any sort of mentally demanding training. Normally she's respectful of our food pantry and counter-tops but all bets are off where a litter is concerned. One time she ate seven boxes of cake mix! (yuk)

To make matters worse, the other dogs see her do this and figure, why not! The truth is, she really is hungry. Us girls, human and canine, have starving phases with certain hormonal shifts. There is nothing we can do about it but EAT!!! What I do that works really well is to give her carrots and apples along with her normal amount of food. She is so satisfied after filling up on this and she doesn't gain extra weight.