Hi my ridgeback had her 2nd season around 2 months ago. A few weeks ago she started tro fill with milk and now she looks as though she is feeding pups. She was like this after  her 1st season.
All today (about time she would have been due to have pups) she is is showing signs of labour. She cant settle shes crying and shivering. She asnt put on weight but Im starting to worry if she is actually in labour even though I know myself she was kept away from our male dogs.
Is there anything I can do and how long will thisd last does anyone know Thanks

One of my girls had a false pregnancy with her first season, producing milk too. She started a course of Galastop which stopped the milk production and settled her back to her normal self within a couple of days :-)

Galastop is a bit drastic IMO except as a last resort - esp. if you intend breeding one day.  I would reduce food, increase exercise, take away cuddly toys and generally jolly her along.  Raspberry leaf can be useful - but it might be a bit late.

They can get very depressed with phantoms so try not to let them wallow . . .

she cant have alot of exercise as she as bad legs the reason we dont want her to have pups. She is very greedy but shes quiet slim. At the mo shes asleep on the sofa with my daughter under a quilt. So she is now settled. Thanks for replies x

well day 2 of labour. Shes really stressed and losing water. Rang the vet and was told its normal and leave her untill tomorow.

I don't find it normal at all.  If you don't intend to breed from her I wouldn't want her to continue these phantoms.  It always worries me that a bitch like this is a candidate for a pyo.

It would seem best to spay her in 3 months IMHO
 

yeah I agree we already decided to have her spayed after xmas. We dont want to  breed from her at all shes just a pet x

Has she settled now? Poor thing

shes more settled but losing alot of water

Have you popped her along to the vet so they can have a look at her? I've never had anything like this with my Ridgie girls.

Losing water would worry me. It could be a wee infection, or pyo? I would want her temperature etc taken by the vet.

well I did ring my vet and she said its normal to go through the whole process of labour  Im gona ring her again soon x

Have you asked your vet about using Galastop (I know one poster said they thought it was a bit extreme - goodness knows why they would say that :-O) ... it may be too late to use it now. But the recent experience I had with it on my girl, and also a friend had to use it with her bitch who was having a false pregnancy on her 2nd season, was very good. It sorted the problem quickly, she was back to her usual self within a few days and neither my own, or friend's dog, suffered any side effects. It is just so distressing for the bitch and, I should imagine, you!

I dont understand about the losing a lot of water?  Is she weeing a lot or is she actually losing fluid from her womb?  I think I would be taking her to the vets for a check up, I agree that she might be a prime candidate for a pyo.  My very first dog had progressively severe phantoms until she eventually had a closed pyo.  Was a long time ago now and I just wasnt as informed as I am now.  Never want to go through that again tbh.

Im awaiting a lift to the vets now. And I have already lost a dog to that many yrs ago an old greyhound bitch. Id never heared of it untill it happened and its the worst thing ever. She isnt losing much now but is very down and obviously ill. I will let you all know how it goes at the vets. Many thanks

Good luck fingers crossed.

Thank you all so much. Im so glad I got to the vets. It seems Belle has dead pups in her. Its such a mystery to me I still cant believe it. All I can think of is 1 of the kids friends or baby sitter let her out and it happened in seconds and was too scared to admit to it as I stressed so much to everyone the importance of not letting her with the other dogs. Poor girl my daughter is so upset but hopefully she will be back home and on the mend tomorow after her op x

Oh dear. Hope Belle recovers quickly after her op.

Your poor girl!  So glad you got her to the vet - I did wonder what they found "normal" about any of it.

Do let us know how your bitch is when you get her home.  Hope all goes well.

I have to say that I would be very annoyed with the vet..you knew something wasnt right 4 days ago & thats when the vet was at fault, should never have stopped you from going in. I do hope your bitch recovers soon

This happened to a friend of mine, she was wondering why her bitch was getting fat, had put her on a diet. 

Turns out daughters who were dog sitting forgot about not letting the bitch out of crate and the dog got into the room. 

They didn't think anything had happened so didn't fess up, result a litter of 10!

Phew, thank goodness you knew something was wrong and insisted the vet see her!! I hope they apologised, you could easily have lost your girl. Are they going to spay her now? Otherwise I'd say gently stress to your kids and babysitter, as well as the importance of not letting her out, the importance of telling you if a mistake does happen another time. :-)

Yes they are spaying her which we were getting done anyway next month. and it was a different vet I took her to than the 1st 1 I spoke to. Brainless problem was she hadnt put any weight on at all and shes only a slim dog anyway. My 17yr old daughter still doesnt believe its pups, Im finding it hard to believe. But Ive had dogs all my life and it seems you never stop learning. Spoke to the vet this morning and shes brighter and sitting up after a night of fluids.

What a relief that she's doing ok. I think a different vet is a very good idea!!