Phantom pregnancy = out of control dog!

[Glu_56]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

Hi all
New here and finding my way around. Hoping someone can help! Our 18 month lab x pointer is experiencing a phantom pregnancy after what we believe was her first season back in October 22 (she is a rescue so we can’t be 100% sure but given her age and size that seems likely). She has been displaying symptoms now for over 3 weeks. It started just with nesting and mothering some of her toys, but has now evolved to persistently chewing, destroying and humping her bed and any blankets she can get her hands on. As well as digging holes in the garden and scratching the carpet and her bed in the house. We have been to the vet for a checkup and all is well so nothing serious going on, and we are booked in to have her spayed in a months time. We are also giving her calming tablets in the meantime. But has anyone else experienced this extreme behaviour during a phantom pregnancy? Does it ever end? And can we do anything at all to help for now? It is so exhausting and I’m starting to fear she’s just displaying this behaviour now out of habit? It’s so constant and doesn’t seem to be letting up despite it having been 3 weeks already. Any advice welcome. TIA!

 

[Hemlock]

Could it be that she actually is pregnant?

Those are very severe behaviours for a phantom, so something else may be going on. Good that you have had her vet checked - what did your vet actually check? Sometimes dogs have "split seasons" for the first one or two, which is a real hormonal upheaval, but usually it sorts itself out.

Let us know what her normal routine is like, especially with regard to training and exercise. Calming tablets are a good idea - which ones are they?

This is a nuisance for you all, but you are doing well. How long have you had her?

 

[Glu_56]

Could it be that she actually is pregnant?

Those are very severe behaviours for a phantom, so something else may be going on. Good that you have had her vet checked - what did your vet actually check? Sometimes dogs have "split seasons" for the first one or two, which is a real hormonal upheaval, but usually it sorts itself out.

Let us know what her normal routine is like, especially with regard to training and exercise. Calming tablets are a good idea - which ones are they?

This is a nuisance for you all, but you are doing well. How long have you had her?

Thanks so much for your reply. She’s definitely not pregnant as we were super careful throughout the duration of her season so we’ve been able to rule that out! We initially took her to the vet to simply check nothing was wrong as it was so out of character, but couldn’t say exactly all the things she checked for, other than simply reassuring us that nothing was badly wrong. She did though highlight to us that her mammary glands were slightly swollen and she is producing a small amount of milk which we hadn’t realised ourselves! In terms of routine she is getting at least 1 & 1/2hrs of walking each day split between morning and evening, sometimes more (on lead because we are still training recall with her) but we take it nice and slow so she’s getting them sniffs in! And we are sure to play with her in the house. Things like tug, fetch, or a bit of training (we’re working on rollover at the moment) plus we always give her an engaging snack during the day in addition to her morning and evening meals, such as stuffed kong or a lickimat normally whilst we sit and eat lunch.
We’ve had her since July so for 6 months! The calming tablets we are giving are YuMOVE Calming Care for Adult Dogs.

 

[Hemlock]

All seems very good, so well done! Sometimes dogs just grow out of these odd behaviours - and hormones can drive some very challenging behaviours, as we know from ourselves! Others may well have something helpful to add, but I'd say hang on to your hollyhocks and trust that she will grow out of this.

YuMove is a good product.

 

[Glu_56]

All seems very good, so well done! Sometimes dogs just grow out of these odd behaviours - and hormones can drive some very challenging behaviours, as we know from ourselves! Others may well have something helpful to add, but I'd say hang on to your hollyhocks and trust that she will grow out of this.

YuMove is a good product.

Thanks so much for your advice! Perhaps we just need to ride the wave. But good to know we are doing things right in the meantime!