What the heck is my dog doing?

[Storybot]

I have a 10 month old cockapoo who in the last two days has started carrying around a toy and whining and howling at it. This is a toy she's had since we got her so not new. Yesterday she kept taking it behind the sofa and then just whimpering and whining for ages. She brought it in to her bed at midnight last night and just whined at it, I moved it up on to a shelf which caused more whimpering and barking so I gave it back. She just whined and howled for ages while I was in a work meeting.

I've googled it and it suggest she's so happy she's crying, which I might believe it was a new toy. Also read she might be looking for somewhere to bury it 🤷

Anyone experienced anything similar? My next step will be to hide the bloody thing when she's distracted

My dog was like this after her first season and only season. Has your dog been in season recently?

Could she be heading for her first season?

She had her first season in August so not due another just yet I hope! Was hoping to get her spayed soon

Sounds like it could be a phantom pregnancy. That often occurs up to 12 weeks after a season, so would fit for August, and often involves “mothering” a toy like that.

Sounds like a phantom pregnancy. My dog done this a few times with her rugby ball. Would carry it everywhere and whine and then lick it. Wouldn’t go anywhere without it and would bury it in her bed. Went on for about a week at a time. Tried to hide it and she would just cry all the time. Should stop after you get her spayed

The timing does sound right for a phantom pregnancy. Hopefully you can get her done before she has her next season.

Oh wow I hadn't heard of that. This prompted me to call the vet so she's booked in for mid November. I'll just let her carry on then and won't hide it.

Now I feel guilty for lobbing her baby across the garden for her to chase!

This sounds like my pup who had a phantom pregnancy. It took ages for us to be able to get her dressed because of it. Lots of back and forward to the vets to see if she was ready! The receptionist said they have seen a real increase in this lately (no idea how true that is!).

Phantom pregnancy does not need treatment, though there is one available should the symptoms become severe. Check again with your vet if she starts producing milk (as mastitis is a risk)

Phantom Pregnancy in Dogs - PDSA

I agree with the others, sounds like a phantom pregnancy.

My dog went through phantom pregnancies quite a few times and we had to keep delaying her spay as the vet wouldn’t spay her while she was still showing symptoms

Definitely a hormonal issue - great to see you’ve booked her in to be spayed! Poor girl must be really struggling. Give her lots of fusses and try not to toss her surrogate baby again! 😂

I'll keep an eye on it and ring the vet if she still has the symptoms nearer the date she gets spayed. She's being quite clingy with me today as well.

When it happened with our dog we were told to remove all soft toys so she didn't have any 'babies' to nurse. It then resolved on its own.

Yep - I bet it's a phantom pregnancy and she's stressing about looking after a 'baby'. Our cocker was resced from a puppy farm where she'd been used for breeding - she was spayed before we adopted her, but she still occasionally gets like this if she gets hold of one of our teen DS's smelly socks.

As others have suggested she's having a phantom pregnancy - this is the time when her pups would be born if she'd been mated.

Some of them sail through it with few complications other than being a bit needy/whiney/off their food. If she starts producing milk speak to the vet, they can give medication to stop it.

You will need to make sure she has completely finished before she is spayed. The vet should check for lactation. My dog was spayed a bit later than planned as she was having a phantom when she was due to be done. She had no symptoms other than milk when the vet squeezed! They wanted to make really sure she was in the dormant stage before spaying.

Thanks I'll ring the vet

Take her baby away, if necessary take all potential babies away.
Up her mental and physical exercise.
Trim her food back a bit.

Give her love, attention and lots of exercise.

I've hidden the baby while DH has taken her for another walk but I'm dreading her getting back and looking for it

How's she doing, @Storybot ?