My bitch is going through a phantom pregnancy, she would have been due in less than a week her behaviour is becoming more and more extreme.  We have gone through nesting both in the house and the garden, she has started leaking small amounts of milk.
Now she is constantly whining.  We have 2 female dogs, both the similar in age (Just over 4 years), they have always got on very well and very good playmates.  My dog going through the phantom will not leave her alone, constantly licking, washing her and following her around it is very obsessive.  My other dog is tolerating it for so long and then growling at her to stop. 
They have always been together for sleeping, playing, feeding etc.  I am feeling very sorry for my dog going through the phantom, would it help her if I seperate them until the symptoms of pregnancy has passed or will this make her feel worse.
This was her first mating, and first experience of a phantom pregnancy.

Tough love for her I'm affraid to bring her out of it. dont let her nest or get her toys as pretend puppies.
Keep a very close eye on the milk situation..dont squeeze the teats to get milk, as this can lead to problems. I recommend Dorwest Garlick & Fenugrek to help clear up the milk, as it removes toxins from the body.
I wouldnt separate them but just stop her from annoying(mothering) your other dog.

> This was her first mating, and first experience of a phantom pregnancy.

I assume you mean first season??

>I assume you mean first season??

Probably not Lexy, given the age.

>> I assume you mean first season??
> Probably not Lexy, given the age.

opps missed that bit..not really sure what the op means by that then??

my friends bitch was mated with 2 good ties and is now at week 5 showing all the sign of being in whelp at this point ie swollen teats , quiet , had morning sickness , clingy... she was scanned at 4wks told no puppies ...

She has had a phantom before .... showing similar signs so I presume another..

> >..not really sure what the op means by that then??

She was mated and didn't take :)

Go to a  website  called  canine natural cures in the  homeopathy section  buy  endophan     also  useful  for  next  season  buy  prevphan, it  works  with the body in a natural  way, ive  never had a phantom  with  any  bitches  whilst  using  it :)

canine scanning, is this as effective as galastop? My bitch is having a phantom at the moment and its quite a bad one, last time i got away with using garlic and fenugreek and raspberry leaf but this time its not touching it (not helped by the fact she's being picky with food.

hmmm after a little digging, Endophan seems to be the same as Pulsatilla ..... have some at home :) and some agnus castus (totally forgot about that).

Up the exercise and training(taking her mind off puppies!) and cut the food(to stop the milk production).  My bitch was out in the field for about 5 hours a day and getting about half her rations of food.  I also took away all access to nesting 'areas' and any 'babies'.  Tough love worked and I didn't need the galstop.

I've done all of those Cracar but its not worked this time its going on forever bless her, the only symptom really is the milk, no nesting / "babies" (but then i dont leave toys etc around).

Thanks for all of your reply's - I have taken the vets advice, giving her lots of excercise, which seems to be helping both of us!  He did not give me anything to take away the milk, and advised to leave that for the moment, Although he has scanned her and is 99% certain there are no puppies, he is acting on caution incase there is anything hiding around her ribs - although this is highly un-likely.
She isn't looking for toys to mother, she is mothering my other female dog who is becoming really sick of her :-(

Hi claire  i normally  use  prevphan  to prevent  and it  works  brilliantly  friends  have  used  endophan  even those  who  have  had  to  use  galastop in the past  have  reported  excellent  results, urtica 1x  would  also  be a  good  one  to use  to get rid  of  a  milk bar  but  finding  someone  prepared  to make  it  seems a little  impossible.

Many thanks Canine Scanning :) i'll look it up for next time (i know there will be one lol).

Not a good day today for my girl :-(
She is just laying around, I have tried to take her out, she won't walk, just keeps sitting down till I pick her up and bring her home, she normally loves her outings.  She is really off her food too, have tried her with tuna and chicken but she's not having any of it.
Has anyone experienced this with a phantom pregnancy?
Any advice is very much appreciated from you very knowledgable people.
Thank you

Yes we are having this too. Its horrible isnt it :(

It most certainly is Claire, I feel so sorry for her, she is just moping around, tried everything to coax her into eating.  She is going out to the garden to pee but coming straight back and laying back down, she has more milk today too, which is probably making her feel worse :-(

I'd go with th jolly hockysticks approach, no moping etc and if she doesnt each her meal then thats tough try again next meal time. Sounds harsh but its tough love i'm afraid .

She won't let me out of her sight today, continously crying and her vulva very swollen.  This is the first time I have experienced a dog with a false pregnancy so really not sure if this is normal. 

Apparently some go to the extremes when having a phantom,one of my girl has had 3, she gains weight and boob tissue far too early, behaves a bit more clingy but nothing else,plays with the others and she goes back to normal very quickly, on each occassion she had been mated so I was never too sure and didn't want the expense of vet visit and scan to tell me what I already suspected,so carried on as if she was pregnant till it was obvious she wasn't.

If you are sure there is no way she could be pregnant then ignore her, sympathising with her may prolong things and make things worse, raise her exercise and reduce her food to help her get back to normal.

She was scanned at 45 days, no puppies found, vet believes it to be a false pregnancy, she would have been on day 58 today, am hoping this will all pass in the next few days.......she normally has lots of exercise, she won't go far at the moment, just to end of lane and then sits on her bum and won't move, so I am having to pick her up and walk back to the house with her.
Hopefully milk will start to disappear, if not will go back to vet next week to get something to help get rid of it.  She is really licking herself more than ever today around the vulva which is much bigger than it has been, keep trying to distract her and get her to play but she is not having any of it. 
I am hoping today is the worst day for her and she will get back to her very lively self again soon :-)

I had a bitch with horrendous phantoms and yes, absolutely, tough love, walks walks walks, no kibble..meat/fish only...remove all bedding and toys and shoes and anything and everything that could be used as puppies and if  using the homeopathic route also look at whatever homoeopathic remedies may suit your bitch for nervous energy as mine lost a massive amount of weight simply through that and looked like a stray and no amount of calculated high calorie feeding afterwards helped as she kept burning it all off. Its so long ago now I forget what was what but theres several...maybe even rescue remedy could be a simple one to help.

I have exprience of phantoms with my girls and I now do the following: Evening Primrose Oil every day as this helps to balance the hormones, Pulsitilla twice a day  for weeks (until symptons have totally gone) lots of excercise as this makes a huge difference, not too much food (helps to make milk) no toys or anything that could be 'babies' (including my hairbrush - LOL ) and NO sympathey :-)
Valerie

I used Pulsatilla on my bitch's last season as she has always had really bad phantoms. I was amazed as she started going into one, but within a couple of weeks of using Pulsatilla, she just came back out again. We've previously had to go the Galastop route which quite frankly scared me witless once I'd read the side effects. It did work however, but made me determined to find a more "natural" remedy in the future, hence trying the Pulsatilla.

My bitch is about 4 weeks post season at the moment, and I'm watching her like a hawk for signs.

Hope your girl is back to normal soon...

We were woken at 5am this morning, my girl crying by 6.10am we had 3 beautiful healthy puppies :-) :-) :-)
Vet has apologised, said she must have been carrying them around her ribs which is why they weren't picked up on scan.
Delighted seems too small a word for how we are all feeling!
Thank you all for your comments and advice over the last few days x

Wow! what a lovely awakening!

dont know why but as i was reading your post i had a feeling i was going to read she had pups :-) so happy for you well done things could of gone so wrong but didnt "love reading this kind of thing" xx

Phew, what a surprise!! Thank goodness she had them all easily! :-) Egg on face for vet, that's for sure!

Wow what incredible news, i think on this occasion the vet did act with caution in holding off treatment i.e. galastop. The moral of the story is if your bitch has been mated, treat her as pregnant until you are 100% certain she is not which, as has been proved, doen't mean an empty scan.

Congrats on your brood xx

Now I had a sneaking suspicion your vet was wrong, just Reading down to Post at the end in case someone already had said.

well done!

>>dont know why but as i was reading your post i had a feeling i was going to read she had pups :-)

Same here   Bitch sounded too pregnant not going for a walk.

Glad they arrived ok and mum is ok.x

Wow!

Am so glad all is well. I guess as she had been mated, you should always have assumed she could be pregnant, untill at least she had gone past the day she would have been due.

Alls well that ends well :).

Congrats on the new arrivals.

The intensity of this "phantom" was why I asked if you were sure there was no way she could be pregnant.

I hope she has been given lots of cuddles for doubting her.

Thank you all, and yes Rhodach she has been very spoilt today, feel really bad at one point yesterday I was so desperate to get her out of this phantom pregnancy mood I was more or less dragging her on her lead for a walk, thinking "tough love" come on deal with it!
Even this morning when she was having contractions at first I doubted it, then for the very first time throughout this I felt a puppy move :-) She did amazingly well, delivery was quick , she did everything for herself - 2 girls and a boy :-), she delivered under the kitchen table on the cushion from her basket which she had dragged there , bless her! 
My hubby had to stay off work, running round getting everything we needed but Mum and puppies happy and content in their new whelping box :-)
Vet was very embarrassed, he has telephoned twice this afternoon to make sure all is well.
I have to agree 100% with earlier post, always assume they are pregnant if they have mated until you know for sure they are not - will never trust another scan again, x

Ahh congratulations!!

I too have been reading the posts and I personally thought she could prove the vet wrong, but seeing as I don't have much experience as everyone else wouldn't comment.

What a lovely surprise, bless her. So glad all went well :)

How lovely, big congrats!  All the best with them.