Phantom pregnancy in dog - argh!

[Annie75]

Went to vets to finally get her spayed and was told she looked as though she was having a phantom pregnancy and they'd have to delay it. We hadn't noticed any symptoms but since then she's been a complete loon! Constant whining, howling at night, shaking, not eating and making nests out of the sofa cushions. Am being kept awake most of the night - any ideas how long it'll last? She's nearly three but only just had her first noticable season a few months ago.

One of our labs gets phantoms badly, and they seem to get worse each time.

She makes milk, makes nests, goes neurotic, digs, doesn't eat and this time she added adopting tennis balls as puppies. She managed to make 8 tennis ball puppies and kept them lined up in the spare room.

I took her to the vet in the end to have a hormone balancing injection - it had been going on for too long and I didn't think it could be doing her any good. I had to push quite hard for the jab ... they were reluctant to do it but I felt strongly that we had to try and get her back on an even keel. It worked within hours. Hormones in dogs appear to cause as much upset as they do in humans.

We are waiting to spay her too.

Were you given medication for her? e.g. Galastop?

Hi Annie. My 11 month old lab was spayed 2 weeks ago but she had a phantom pregnancy a few weeks before the operation. About 8 weeks after her first season, which apparently is normal. The vet gave her Galastop which made her vomit for 24 hours but then did the trick nicely. Brought her out of it, in about 2 weeks. She had saggy teats though up until she was spayed but they have now gone post op.

What did the vet suggest? Three seems quite old to get first season, usually between 6 - 12 months.

My youngest chihuahua gets them.