Phantom Pregnancy - 4yo unspayed ...?

Hi - very new to this forum stuff however I have a peculiar behaviour happening with my female 4 yo Kelpiexmaremma unsterilized dog.

Today, she found a soft toy on the floor and took it with her to the lounge and lay there with it between her back legs, tucked into her belly. If she moved, she moved it with her and tucked it up under her chest.

My daughter lay on the lounge with her and threw the toy on the ground. Dog then jumped off the lounge and picked up the toy, and wanted to go outside.

This she did and we silently followed her. As she carried it in her mouth she 'spooked' thru the garden and scratched the ground like digging a hole.

I may add she has, since a puppy, buried food, crusts etc. She spyed us watching her and continued like in a trance to a place next to our shed and dug a hole and buried the toy. I had to come and answer the phone so daughter stayed and again the dog saw her. My daughter went to dig up the toy, to find it was not there, the dog had obviously been aware we were there and has now buried it in an unknown to us place.



The dog kept walking around the house, panting etc.

She found a very old squeaky toy in the garden that we still occasionally play with with her. She has done the same with the squeaky toy, on the lounge etc.

She has since buried that too.



A little while ago she gave up walking around very alert and in search of 'something' and settled back onto the lounge.......and I said to her " where is your squeaky toy"....she immediately got up and again started prancing round the house ( inside )looking for something. She came out of 15 yr daughters room with a small stuffed monkey !! and is again on the lounge asleep with it........



is this the classic phantom pregnancy? I have no idea but is very weird behaviour for her.....yes, she is spoilt, yes she is our 'baby' and yes she used to 'hump' larger soft toys, but never been so desperate to have one with her........let alone bury them.



What can/should I do....

thanks

Phantom Pregnancy - 4yo unspayed ...?
You should get her fixed. She could have a true false pregnancy and produce milk.
Reply:Why not have her spayed....she will live longer, and not be prone to pyometra which is common in unspayed dogs. This is when the uterus becomes infected and pus filled and if untreated can kill your dog. Spaying will also cut down on her chances of getting uterine cancer.
Reply:Sounds to me as if she really wants to be a mom, she can start producing milk even though it is a false pregnancy. Getting the dog spayed may discourage this behavior, but it may not.

she does sound spoiled and sounds like she is a sweet dog, but i would consider getting her spayed. is it time for her to come into heat? Some dogs do some strange things when it is time for their heat cycle.
Reply:Years ago we had a Black lab who did the same thing, I took her to the vet becuase she was hiding in the linen closet and took the "baby" with her everywhere. When she went outside or to sleep seh would bring the "baby" to me to keep I guess. lol



Anyway the vet confirmed that it was a pseudo pregnancy and that if we didn't want to have her fixed she would stop this behavior. After a few weeks she did stop but would never play with that specific toy again. So my suggestion would be to just wait it out (and of course have her examined just to be sure). I would be concerned about it just happening with her being four.
Reply:HI

I have 2 Boston terriers like this. This is a behavioral issue. When my lab was having a false labor she was panting and trying to get under the bed and in the closet and her milk came in and we rushed her to the vet and he told us that was a false pregnancy it took forever for her hormones to clear up but looking for a place to have puppies was our sign. I think what my Bostons are doing is hording if dogs can do that.

Lammy