False Pregnancies

About False Pregnancies

• proestrus – the early part of her heat
• estrus – when she’s breedable
• diestrus – usually pregnancy but happens whether or not a girl is bred
• anestrus – when her hormones are calm and her uterus is being repaired

FPs happen at the end of diestrus and the beginning of anestrus, lasting 7-10 days.

During a false pregnancy, a bitch whelps and begins to raise an imaginary litter. Toys often become stand-ins for “pups.” She has most of the hormones and feels all the emotions she would feel if she had puppies–stage 1 labor, sometimes discomfort during Stage 2, the need to find a safe den for her “pups” and protect them from other dogs and strangers, the need to nurse her pups. Sometimes bitches even start lactating. There is often whining, shivering, pacing, nesting involved.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS THAT THIS IS NORMAL!!!! *Every* bitch is either going through a visible or an invisible false pregnancy. I’ve seen strong signs more often in unbred bitches but even those who lose a litter can also experience them.

Typically, you can predict when a FP might happen by counting forward 75 days from the first day of her last heat cycle. If all of a you’re thinking, “Girl, you’re acting really weird,” check your calendar. Count back 75 days, and if that’s when she came in season, she’s most likely having a false pregnancy. It indicates the endpoint of diestrus and the start of anestrus.

What Can You Do?

First, remember this only lasts about a week representing the end of pregnancy, whelping, and her litter’s first few days. Then, treat her like she is a new mama:

• Give her a safe place to have her pups. Pick well because she is likely to defend that space from the other dogs in your house. An open crate or ex-pen in your bedroom or in a clothes closet often works. Drape a sheet over the crate or ex-pen so she feels safe. Keep the other dogs away even though they may be very curious about their friend who is going off the deep end.
• Let her have and care for her toys. These are her “babies” so don’t use them for games of tug or retrieving during this time. Don’t hide them away from her in hopes of stopping the obsession because you’ll simply make it worse, cause her a lot of stress, and break trust with her at a critical time.
• Stay with her if she would like you to. Often bitches are needy and clingy during this period, as many new moms are.
• Treat too much milk. Some bitches will begin producing an abundance of milk during false pregnancies.
• DO NOT EXPRESS MILK! All that will do is increase her milk production.
• Use cool compresses on her mammary glands unless she is developing mastitis. Cool compresses will make her feel better and are thought to reduce milk production.
• Add sage and/or parsley to her food. We can borrow from the human lactation world to use these safe herbs to reduce milk production. Sage (Salvia Officinalis) and parsley are those most common herbs used to reduce milk supply in women. Both are safe in dogs and often used by long-time breeders. Dosing isn’t well established in dogs so speak to your vet. In the past, we’ve used a heaping teaspoon of dried, rubbed sage with breakfast and dinner, as well as a sprinkling of parsley. Don’t overdo the sage since in high quantities, it is known to have several side effects, including nausea, vomiting, and dizziness.
• Again, we can draw from the human literature and use the homeopathic remedies, Lac caninum 30C, Pulsatilla 30C, and Ricinus communis 30. I don’t use a lot of homeopathic remedies so I’m not sure of the dosing–speak to your vet or other experienced breeders.
• The prescription medication cabergoline, a drug we also use to bring bitches into season can be used to treat serious FPs. It is available by prescription through Revival so speak to your vet. The dosing calculator is here.
• Watch for mastitis. If your bitch is producing a lot of milk, check her breasts daily, watching for hardness, redness, heat, or an orange peel appearance to the skin. Though rare, bitches in FPs can get mastitis. If you see any of these signs, take her temperature and go through the Mastitis report.
• Other ways to lessen signs. The vast majority of false pregnancies require no more than the above but if they aren’t working, try:

- An Adaptil collar or diffuser to help calm her

- Calming chews like Vermont Naturals Calming chews

- if her behaviors are pretty nutty, give her some oral calcium as you would if you saw the same behaviors post whelping. Only do this for a day or two. Calcium calculator here.

- Use a Thunder Shirt or other pressure garment

- In the past, B vitamins were thought to help so give her a B complex supplement, like Revival’s B Strong, for a few days.

- Finally, if nothing works and you feel like she is suffering too much, you can spay her. This obviously isn’t ideal for a breeding bitch but I’ve known a few owners who thought their bitch was too miserable to keep them intact.

So expect those false pregnancies in your unbred girls and teach this info to your buyers if you are asking them to keep their bitch intact for a while.

False Pregnancy FAQs

• Are bitches that exhibit signs of false pregnancies more predisposed to the uterine infection, pyometra? There is no evidence that bitches with visible false pregnancies are at greater risk than other bitches. In fact, all intact bitches are at risk of pyo, especially as they get older.
• Will a bitch that shows signs of false pregnancies be a better mother when she is bred? We don’t know if bitches that exhibit strong signs of false pregnancies make better mothers but they are practicing mothering behaviors so do what you can for that to be a positive experience by following the “what to do” above.
• Are bitches with stronger false pregnancies less fertile. There is no known relationship between visible false pregnancies and fertility. Since every bitch undergoes FPs when they aren’t pregnant, these signs are unrelated to fertility.
• Is the tendency to have strong False Pregnancies inherited? SInce there is anecdotal evidence that some lines have more evident false pregnancy signs than others, it is possible that this tendency is inherited to some degree.