Recent Feedback
Hello..New Developments. She seems to be scared. Almost panicked. All day shes been taking her toys from the basket (little stuffed animals) and carrying them around, hiding them under the bed, and whining...almost as if they are her puppies?
Optional Information: Type of Animal: Chihuahua Pet's Gender: Female Pet's Age: <1
Hi again,
Many females who are not bred during a heat cycle will experience a false pregnancy. They will sometimes have weight gain, breast development and even milk production. Some even go through false labor and "adopt" a stuffed animal or other toy baby for several weeks after they would have had puppies. What you are seeing is perfectly normal. If there is even the slight possibility she is pregnant, you will want to have her on puppy food. You can read up on false pregnancy here:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_canine_false_pregnancy.html
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There are some medications available to help control milk production and other symptoms, but it usually resolves by itself in a few weeks. You can read about these medications on the following page.
http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2006&PID=16052&O=Generic
False pregnancy is usually a little earlier than this, but dogs aren't always predictable either. If there is a chance she could be pregnant, let me know. Hope this helps.
There is absolutely no chance she may be pregnant. However, she just had her first heat 2 months ago. Is it too soon for her to be having a false pregnancy? Reading about it, that really seems to be what it is.
JaCustomer,If her heat was 2 months ago and not 3 months, then it is perfect timing since a dog is pregnant about 63 days. That would explain her whining last night of false labor and now she has her pups and is trying to hide them. It doesn't hurt to let her just keep her babies. She'll abandon them around 3 weeks from now or that is the normal time they start letting them go.
Experience: Former vol Vet Assistant.Breeder 16+ years Dog trainer / behaviorist
Shes still whining! Thats part of the problem. She calms down while laying with her babies, but seems to be searching around the house almost frantically trying to hide them and find more. I had to put them in a box with her in the kitchen in order for me to make dinner tonight. I don't know what to do to calm her down.
JaCustomer,Since she isn't really nursing, you could try some benadryl. In most dogs it does calm them down. The dose is up to 2mg per pound every 8 hours. Other than that, give her the toys she has and put all other toys up and out of sight. I'd put the "pups" in a dark area of the house an not in the main room. They like a quiet dark place for their puppies. That might help. Don't comfort her though or she may start whining just for your attention.