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False pregnancy

Jarena

Well-Known Member
I have been reading about false pregnancy in dogs a lot recently. So I’m curious, how many of you have experienced this? What symptoms did you see? Also, how do you deal with a false pregnancy? I have read conflicting information on what to do if the dog treats a toy like a baby? I’ve read advice that said you should discourage the behavior and take the “baby” away. That seems a little cruel to me :oops:.
 

BlackShadowCaneCorso

Super Moderator
Staff member
We have dealt with it once after a breeding didn't take. My female didn't seem anymore loving than usual, she has always been a lap dog and continued that way. We don't keep stuffed toys around the house with adult dogs as they don't last and the concern that they eat some portion of it when they destroy it has far outweighed the need to have them, but she didn't go searching through the kids room for any either. She did start to look a little chubbier, and her nippled did grow and a couple days before what would have been her whelping due date she produce a little bit of milk.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
Ella had two. She was extra clingy and needy. She was agitated, like she was looking for something. We don't have any actual stuffed toys either, but she did collect the destuffed toys we have. Not one, but a collection of them in her crate. Her nipples were larger. It's one of the reasons I knew we needed to alter her. I didn't take her toys away from her. It passed and happened again on her next heat. We had her spayed before the next heat.
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
Thanks for your replies!! We don’t have any stuffed toys either but I’ve read that the “baby” could be anything (bones, tires, Kong ect).
The last couple of days Lettie has went back to how she acted while in heat. She had 2 days of her normal self then back to sleepy, sweet and cuddly. Her nipples are “poofy” I guess I don’t know how to describe it lol. Like the area around the actual nipple is a bit swollen.
I know myself: I’m hyper aware of her every move and change so I’m sure it’s nothing. Probably just feeling lazy from the weather being too hot here.
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
When does the false pregnancy usually occur? Her heat was from May 9th to about May 25th. This morning Matt woke me up saying she wouldn’t eat. That is VERY unusual for her. She has never been anything but insane for food. She did end up eating but it took some coaxing and we moved her food from the kitchen to the living room.

Also, last night she was acting restless. A few hours before bed she was whining and needy. This morning she has suddenly become attached to a toy that she has never really liked before. She is very carefully picking it up and she has been licking it. She also keeps taking it to her bed to lay with it, she usually doesn’t take any toys to her bed. Is this possibly a false pregnancy? I thought we were clear, I thought it would have happened a lot sooner than this??
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
And now she is taking the toy, a hollow blue rubber “bone”, to a completely new spot. She never goes on Matts side of the bed, now she is laying over there with her blue bone and licking it.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
Ella had several false pregnancies. Usually she showed signs like mothering toys at around 7-9 weeks. Lasted about two weeks or so for her. It does sound like that might be what's going on with Lettie. I've heard both earlier and later time frames for false pregnancies. Hopefully someone else will show up. I bet Marke has experience with this.
 

Nik

Well-Known Member
I experienced a false pregnancy with a cat but she didn't have any mothering tendencies towards anything during it. If anything she was a bit crankier than usual, she also gained weight, got puffy nipples. It ended on its own after a few weeks or so.
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
Thank you both for the replies! It’s been 5 days now, I’m sure that’s what she is experiencing. It’s been a little struggle to get her to eat. I’m not really worried about that though, she has been eating at least one meal a day. I’m fairly positive that I could get her to eat if I needed to, by adding other stuff to her food, but I don’t want to create a picky eater.

She’s extra clingy and needy. She walks around with that blue-bone-baby and whines until I cuddle with her. We usually don’t let her have toys in her crate but we have been allowing the bone baby for now. Hopefully this doesn’t last too long, the whining drives me nuts lol.

So, the next question: we are planning to wait for her second heat to spay her. From what I understand, it’s pretty likely she will do this again after her second heat. We should wait until after a false pregnancy to spay her right?
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
I was told that it's more likely that they will experience repeat false pregnancies if they've had one. I found that to be true for Ella. Usually it's suggested that you wait until the hormones have leveled off before spaying. My vet recommends 8-12 weeks. That didn't work for Ella as she cycled every 5 months, so I kind of just went smack in the middle.