Question for experience dog ownere/trainers

[Rocky]

Lol sorry for the misspellings in titles. its 2:30 and i realized it a bit too late.



I have a female doberman that is a little over a year old and she has gone through her heat cycle twice so far.

After her first cycle she started to produce milk and was VERY VERY nesty and I was very afraid that she had gotten pregnant because we just got a puppy that we planned on getting fixed but thought he was to young at the time.

So we took her to the vet and found out that she was going through a false pregnancy. They told us that she will probably go through this every heat cycle and it's just something we are going to have to deal with unless we have her fixed. We have thought about it, but would like to breed her because we got her from a close friend who is a breeder and we absolutely love the doberman pups.

Well she just finished her second heat cycle and we didn't really notice her "false pregnancy" so we figured she wasn't going to have it. But then she started getting nesty and producing milk and around the same time we brought her a new toy(a rubber duck thing) and now she thinks those two ducks (we got one for each dog, we get one of each toy so they dont try to steal toys from eachother and they have their own) are her babies.... she does not chew and destroy them like all her other toys shes had and she barely holds them in her mouth and carries them with her EVERYWHERE she goes. She has one of those ducks laying next to her anywhere she sleeps.

So my question is, should I take it away? I am kinda worried that her thinking that she has a baby will prolong the false pregnancy. I am also worried that she may show agression to the other dog for wanting to chew on the toy. She hasn't yet but I could see it happening because she acts like they are her babies and gives you the puppy eyes like "why'd you take my baby" if you pick up the toy.

any ideas would be greatly appreciated if you have gone through something like this.

Thanks,
Dustin

 

[Julirs]

Dog brains-are they not interesting??? I would talk to your Vet on this one, I would also advise getting her fixed. (Soap-box warning-get ready!)
IMHO-backyard breeders are detestable. There are soooo many dogs in shelters that need good homes. The only people that should be breeding dogs are ones that are actively involved in showing and are breeding champion Dogs that are held to high breed standards to maintain or improve the breed standard. Due to backyard breeders there are so many sub-par purebred dogs out there.
Please-let the shelter dogs have a chance.

 

[Roni013]

I think u should let her have the duck, poor thing. I also reccomend spaying, the more heat cycles she goes thorough and the more false pregnancies, the higher her chances of a pyometra (trust me, you dont want to have to pay for the surgery to fix that). She should snap out of the whole 'duck is my baby' thing once the false pregnancy is over, it shouldnt prolong it because its not a baby and not stimulating her milk glands or hormones but im just a doggy nurse, a vet would know best.
btw- thier are lots or doberman puppies and dogs, even purebred in shelters and rescues, I agree w/ Juli. All my furry pets are adopted and spayed/neutered and I couldnt be happier with them

 

[Nicodemayo]

Rocky, i would get her fixed if i were you. We have a toy poodle thats about 6 years old but when she was younger, before we got her fixed, she went through a false pregnancy a few times. On her 3rd heat, she got pyometra and we were at our beach house in panama city beach and it was Thanksgiving day. She was so sick she could barely walk and we were certain she was going to die. Frantically we called around to vets in the area and thank god, we found a vet that was willing to do surgery at like 2 in the morning (the day after thankgiving!) at his office. $1700 later, we had our poodle muffin back and now she is a spoiled brat that keeps guard on the chameleon room.

 

[Rocky]

what is a pyometra? I have never heard of it. When we went through the first false pregnancy they said nothing bad could really happen out of it. We have discussed getting her fixed for a long while. Its just weird spaying her when she was a $1000 dog and the breeder said if we were to ever breed her they had a friend who trains them that had a few studs available that weren't related, but if this pyometra thing is as serious as it sounds i will probably be getting her spayed because we all love her and her health is above everything

 

[Julirs]

It sounds like you have her best interest at heart. Just because you paid $1000 for her does not mean she is up to breed standard. (NOT trying to pick a fight) I paid $1000 for my English Bulldog 11 years ago and he was certainly nothing that anyone should have been breeding. Anytime you breed dogs you should know at least 5 generations of both dogs backgrounds. I have a Great Dane now that is actually very nice conformation wise but he is getting snipped big time this month! Dog breeding is a potentially expensive and time consuming venture! Heck Chameleons are the same!

 

[Roni013]

Pyometra is literally puss in the uterus (i know, ew) Its important to be aware of for any dog owner because it can come on suddenly and result in death if left untreated. Im surprised your vet didnt tell you about this, it is a risk with any unspayed female but more so the more heat cycles they go through and any problems associated w/ those heat cycles (i.e.- false pregnancies). I have seen many dogs abanodned or put to sleep because thier owners could not afford to pay for the surgery to fix it (it can run pretty steep depending on how bad it is), its really sad because it is preventable, spay the dog, problem fixed.
Also just because you can breed the dog, doesnt mean you should, no matter how much you paid for her. I'm sure shes been woth every penny and them some. I know puppies can be a hard thing to turn down, what with those cute lil faces but try and think of the bigger picture, for her sake at least. Best of luck!