Hi just wondering if anyone can give me some advice on my 6 year old bitch is having a phantom pregnancy she is a rescue dog and her since August 2020 and has a fantastic temprement, she was sick yesterday and was off her food so took her too the vets this morning when I was informed about this phantom pregnancy!! I have read some post to say take her toys away??  And advice on getting her spaid?? Cheers

Phantom pregnancy to some extent is normal in the bitch.

Nature has designed it so that the non breeding pack bitches can help nurture and feed the pups.

If symptoms are excessive reducing food intake, and protein, increasing excersise and taking away comfort objects/soft bedding helps convince her body and mind that rearing puppies at this time is a bad idea.

Avidog actually recommend allowing a bitch to have 'babies' (toys) and just go through the phantom and come out the other side and believe that it's quite tough psychologically to remove all their toys (babies) and causes extreme distress.

So I'd just let her have some 'babies' (toys) and wait it out.

If you want to spay be very very sure she is totally over this or you can end up fixing them into a state of false pregnancy, psychologically speaking. You have to wait till the hormones have returned to normal.

Hi thanks for your reply with regards to the phantom pregnancy and I think I will leave her toys and see how she goes my vet said she wants to see her again in a weeks time!! Just to see how she is with regards to her teets? How long does the phantom pregnancy last? Cheers Greg

If they're allowed to keep their 'babies' then the symptoms can last for many weeks, and if they have lots of milk it can cause them great physical and mental distress. Better to remove any substitute babies, reduce their food and increase their exercise, keeping the bitch too busy to have time to fret. This way the body soon gives up on the idea that there are puppies to care for and the phantom passes sooner.

She can be spayed when there are absolutely no symptoms of phantom pregnancy - when she is completely back to normal, both mentally and physically.

The phantom will take as long as it takes, whether you leave the bitch with toys/babies or not - because it is a hormonal process and they are slow processes (compared to other physiological processes) and take time to move through.

Avidog advice (which is always based on loads of experience and research) is to allow the bitch to have some babies and go through the process, because it will take the same amount of time either way - it will just cause less distress.