Suspected Phantom Pregnancy?

[Bella's Mum]

My Bella has not been well for the last couple of days and went off her food and was shivering. She is much better now and is eating and playing again. However, she has been acting really strange. She keeps going to her basket and taking a small brown toy with her everywhere she goes. I moved this toy out of her basket, she picked it up and put it underneath her.

She also snapped at me when I tried to take a bone off her, which she never has done before. She also now growels when I approach her when she has food. We were going to get her speyed in the next couple of months, do you think this will help solve this behaviour?

 

[Tam319]

How old is Bella? Has she gone through estrus recently?

It sounds to me that Bella is resource guarding more than experiencing a false pregnancy. I would highly recommend enrolling in obedience classes with a trainer to help you work through this issue before it gets any worse.

If you are not planning to breed her I would do the responsible thing and have her spayed as soon as possible. Spaying will prevent accidental pregnancy and reduce her risk of certain types of cancer. Breeding is a serious undertaking that requires lots of time and research, not to mention money. Please check out this Ethical Breeding Thread for more articles on ethical breeding.

I know that my bitch Layla is restless, whimpers a lot and her mammary glands become full during false pregnancies following estrus.

Tamara