No longer interested in Breakfast 8-1/2 Mo. F Pup

[Kaiser2016]

She looks good in all her pics. She has really grown up/filled out in the recent shot. Does not look like she is going hungry. Since it sounds like everything else is normal, I'm inclined to think Rubie is right and you should stop worrying about it. If getting another panel done would put your mind at ease, then you can also do that.

 

[Ravenbird]

She had her heat about a month ago - light bleeding, seemed like a normal heat that lasted about 20 days +/-

In the picture you posted, it looks like her teats are a bit swollen, indicating the false pregnancy hormones... could have something to do with not wanting food again, but I'd think it would be the opposite. Could you post a side view photo of her? Hard to tell what her weight looks like with a sitting photo. Like others, I'm thinking she is just doesn't have a lot of food motivation, but if her weight and blood work is normal there's nothing to worry about. I know some people feed once a day - it's certainly not unheard of - so just for grins you could completely skip offering her breakfast for a week and see what that looks like.

Hopefully she'll skip the hard-core false pregnancy and just has a little swelling, but that's a whole new topic...

 

[swm_good]

Sorry! Have been crazy busy and replying to this thread went right over my head.

She's been doing good - been feeding about 2 cups in the evening with some kind of protein (bare baked or boiled chicken, beef liver, etc.)

Still not a fan of breakfast but whatever, I can live with it as long as she's keeping weight on, I'm happy!

Energy levels are fantastic, everything is normal.

@Ravenbird yes! Her teats are very swollen - see attached picture. Do you think it's false pregnancy? It's been 3 months (she's one year old as of two days ago) technically since she went into heat. I asked the breeder and he said it's most likely that and a couple of his females have had a false pregnancy. It's only the last two that are swollen, it looks like she has a beer belly . I don't have much side shots, recently at least, I posted some of the few I have. Planning to go one more heat, then spay a few months after that.

 

[Ravenbird]

Do you think it's false pregnancy?

Sure looks like it to me! This too shall pass - it will go away, and all will return to normal. Thanks for the update!

 

[swm_good]

Sure looks like it to me! This too shall pass - it will go away, and all will return to normal. Thanks for the update!

It's gotten pretty hardcore the last couple of days.

No guarding or nesting or any of that kind of behavior but she is having clear discharge from her private area (no swelling or anything like that) and there is definitely milk production. Some of her frontal teets are swollen as well.

Should I just keep an eye on her and just wait this out or does something need to be done?

 

[Ravenbird]

She had her heat about a month ago - light bleeding, seemed like a normal heat that lasted about 20 days +/-

You wrote this about the 1st of May, so if you wrote down her last day of bleeding - lets just say it was April 20. False pregnancy usually follows the whelping chart, so 63 days would be June 22. I would make sure she has no toys, and not allow her to lick her teets (that will increase milk production). If you have a training, walking or playing routine, stick with that and do a bit more to keep her distracted on real life, not the one her body is wanting to do. It IS real, the hormones are going through the exact process as if she were pregnant, so it's easy to empathize, but the more she acts it out, the more she will go into that mode. They are all going to be different, but mine came back to earth about a week after her "whelping date". Like puppies happened, but didn't survive: nothing to lick, nurse or watch over. Again, real hormones - no pups to nurse, the teets returned to normal. Mine quit nesting her bed (that was actually funny - she would circle dozens of time, pulling blankets every which way and she'd become a bit obsessed with it, so I'd tell her to stop & lay down. She also snapped once at the other resident dog which she'd never done before.

There IS a drug - I can't recall the name - that your vet can give you to make everything stop in a hurry, but it WILL go away with time and other than being a pain in the butt, it doesn't hurt anything.

I also read an interesting study I should find and post on the forum about spaying. Basically it said to be sure to spay when they are in complete anestrus. Not coming in, not going out, not during false pregnancy. The study said you could "lock in" that hormone level. It doesn't make sense really when I say it that way, I'll have to try to find it. But I do remember making a note to myself that if I were ever to spay my dog I would make sure it was during her anestrus months.

 

[swm_good]

You wrote this about the 1st of May, so if you wrote down her last day of bleeding - lets just say it was April 20. False pregnancy usually follows the whelping chart, so 63 days would be June 22. I would make sure she has no toys, and not allow her to lick her teets (that will increase milk production). If you have a training, walking or playing routine, stick with that and do a bit more to keep her distracted on real life, not the one her body is wanting to do. It IS real, the hormones are going through the exact process as if she were pregnant, so it's easy to empathize, but the more she acts it out, the more she will go into that mode. They are all going to be different, but mine came back to earth about a week after her "whelping date". Like puppies happened, but didn't survive: nothing to lick, nurse or watch over. Again, real hormones - no pups to nurse, the teets returned to normal. Mine quit nesting her bed (that was actually funny - she would circle dozens of time, pulling blankets every which way and she'd become a bit obsessed with it, so I'd tell her to stop & lay down. She also snapped once at the other resident dog which she'd never done before.

There IS a drug - I can't recall the name - that your vet can give you to make everything stop in a hurry, but it WILL go away with time and other than being a pain in the butt, it doesn't hurt anything.

I also read an interesting study I should find and post on the forum about spaying. Basically it said to be sure to spay when they are in complete anestrus. Not coming in, not going out, not during false pregnancy. The study said you could "lock in" that hormone level. It doesn't make sense really when I say it that way, I'll have to try to find it. But I do remember making a note to myself that if I were ever to spay my dog I would make sure it was during her anestrus months.

Thank you for all of the information Raven!

She has not been licking her teets or trying to nest and has not become protective of her toys. I took away most of them just to be safe aside from a couple balls and a tugging rope, etc.

I'm keeping her busy with the flirt stick I built to tire her out when she wants to play.

Not interested in the drug, I'll just wait it out.

Yeah I wouldn't want to spay in the middle of this, I'll just have to wait it out after her next heat and spay right after, it's probably going to be a couple months after the new year if she has the same timeline as she did with her first heat. Is the next false pregnancy after her heat going to be similar to this or is there a chance that it's not this hardcore?

The swelling due to milk production goes away on it's own right? I don't have to take her to the vet to have them drain them or anything, right?

 

[Ravenbird]

Yes, it all just goes away. The first heat was the only one that I had with symptoms like you describe, all the other heats have come and gone without all the drama. (fingers crossed it stays this way) I was totally fascinated to learn all this - dove down the rabbit holes of research when it happened to me. I thought it was rather uncommon, but turns out it's not. But the most interesting thing is how you can follow along the dates of a real pregnancy and it plays out just like the book... but, I'm kinda a science geek, so there's that.

 

[swm_good]

Yes, it all just goes away. The first heat was the only one that I had with symptoms like you describe, all the other heats have come and gone without all the drama. (fingers crossed it stays this way) I was totally fascinated to learn all this - dove down the rabbit holes of research when it happened to me. I thought it was rather uncommon, but turns out it's not. But the most interesting thing is how you can follow along the dates of a real pregnancy and it plays out just like the book... but, I'm kinda a science geek, so there's that.

Sounds good, that is a relief, haha. Hopefully next heat is a breeze and no false preg after.

She will most likely go into heat again sometime in September. I'm going to probably wait January-February of '23 and then spay her. That would put her at about 18 months in age.

I've read all the growth plates are pretty much closed at 15-18 month mark with males being on the latter end of that timeline. (I could be wrong or read false info).

I understand the interest behind it all, it's a pretty fascinating process all together