WILSON THE SPRINGER | English Springer Spaniel

PHANTOM PREGNENCY

Hi can you advise please? Becky is having a phantom pregnancy and is acting oddly. She has gone from being happy and playful with other dogs to being nervous and aggressive with dogs. Will she get back to normal afterwords. Please help

Hello

Selective breeding has led to our domestic dogs becoming sexually mature at an earlier age.The hormonal cycle of the bitch assumes that pregnancy has occurred after every cycle, whether or not a mating has taken place. She will therefore experience the physiological changes of pregnancy over the next 2 months. She will have an increase in progesterone production, milk production and an increase in appetite. She may even go into mild labour.
you may notice physical and emotional changes, particularly 8-9 weeks after her last season. She may exhibit a change in preferred diet , and a wish not to take her usual amount of exercise, and she may hoard toys and treat them as puppies. There may be restlessness, lack of appetite, panting, trembling, whining and nest-building at the time she would have given birth. There may be a degree of aggression to perceived threats. She will usually return to normal after 2-3 weeks, 48hrs after the birth would have occurred. but watch out for signs in the future

I would have a chat to the vet on your next visit and see what he / she recomends

hope this helps .........