False pregnancy in a nervous dog- small update #22

[heartofjoy]

We are at our wits end here.

Background:

Our dog is a nervous, exciteable 18month old Lacy dog. She's been challenging since she was 4 months old. We got her as a tiny 7 week old puppy. We've tried to do everything right as far as training and socializing, but at 4 months she got severely anxious and would bark at new people in our house. Out of the home she's okay, shy, but okay. The last few months she's gotten better and better. She gets along fairly well with lots of people in the house, only barking at larger men or anyone who tries to play really rough with the kids.

This past Tuesday we got her spayed. They said she was in heat and charded us extra. As far as I know, she couldn't be in heat because she just had a heat cycle in November. I don't think it's been long enough.

On Thursday morning she started acting aggressive. By Thursday night, she was acting like she was possessed by a demon. She sleeps in our mudroom, and for the past 24 hours, we couldn't get her out and she would growl and snarl, and threaten whenever we opened the door. She attacked the door a few times when dh tried to open it to feed her. He ended up putting some food under the door and pushing the water bowl in with a broom. She attacked the bowl and spilled the water everywhere.

This morning, after tempting her with cheese, her favorite treat, we finally got her out to go to the bathroom. Dh took her for a short walk. Now she's in the house and we're afraid to let her back in the mudroom. Her behavior matches with the guarding/protecting behavior associated with false pregnancy. And she's lactating. :hunh So weird.

Does anyone know how long this is supposed to last? We're going to have to get rid of her if she continues to act this crazy. It's super scary. She's terrified the kids. Help

[Johns_Gal]

Whoa.
Call your vet is all I can think. Maybe some weird reaction to anesthesia? Brain damage?

She's definitely warning you she will bite. I'm so very sorry. I have BTDT with a suddenly-aggressive dog, though his was not born of fear.

This is not the warm fuzzy side's opinion, but I would probably put her down. Game dogs in the wrong situation, with the wrong temperament, are dangerous. If she's attacking the door at you adults, no way would I ever let her around kids ever again, just not worth the risk. I have seen Lacys and what they can do and there just, flatly put, ain't no way.

I'm really, truly sorry. I know you've been iffy about her for awhile.

[itzj]

I would call the vet and ask if there is a medication to help her through the transition and/or help dry up the milk.

I found this link that has some advice on what to do: http://dobermandata.com/false-pregancy-after-spay.html

I will keep looking to see if I can find more information that helps.

Please give her the chance to come through it and take safety precautions in the meantime. For her this is a horrible ordeal and she deserves the chance to get through it. :hug2

[heartofjoy]

our vet has given us a sedative, but we don't know how to get her to take it. She's currently in her travel kennel and she goes insane when we get near it. We've managed to get a ball of cheese with the sedative pushed in there, but I don't know if/when she'll eat it.

Please pray that she eats it soon and we'll be able to keep her sedated until this condition rights itself. :pray4

[itzj]

Poor dear. She just sounds beside herself.

I wonder if a pheromone spray would help? http://www.amazon.com/P-Appeasing-Pheromone-Spray-60ml/dp/B00076NS1U

Or rescue remedy is she's drinking?

Did they do anything other than a spay? Any vaccines?

[heartofjoy]

Poor dear. She just sounds beside herself.

I wonder if a pheromone spray would help? http://www.amazon.com/P-Appeasing-Pheromone-Spray-60ml/dp/B00076NS1U

Or rescue remedy is she's drinking?

Did they do anything other than a spay? Any vaccines?

It's so awful. I've never seen a dog act this aggressive except on tv. It's weird though because once she actually comes out of the place she's guarding, she's fine. She lets us pet her and love on her and she does her tricks and everything!

They only spayed her. No vaccines. She had some shots back in November.

Dh put some nerve tonic in her water, but I don't think she's had access to it since he put it in. She did take the sedative, but it's not knocked her out yet. I just went up to the kennel and she started a low growling, so we can't get her out yet. I'll talk to dh about the spray.

[Amber]

Did she come home on pain meds? If not I would call and ask for some. Pain probably isn't the root cause of the behavior, but pain makes any bad behavior worse :shifty

When I was in high school my dog had a false pregnancy and never showed any signs of aggression.

[Apple-Saucy]

Some old school vets don't give pain medication post surgery. It's cruel and sets animals up for some really rough days. Also, she could be infected and having more pain.

[Iveyrock]

I am worried about how you guys are holding up... :hugheart

[amstermarie]

Some pets that were spayed during the diestrus phase of the reproductive cycle when progesterone level is high can have a false pregnancy even after they are spayed.

so i am guessing that is wear she was at in her cycle.. Poor gal :'(

[heartofjoy]

so i am guessing that is wear she was at in her cycle.. Poor gal :'(

:yes2 This. She was in the diestrus phase. We've figured out that the false pregnancy thing was probably happening before we had her spayed. She was guarding clothes and such, but not reacting violently. She would growl a little and she snapped a couple of times, but when we firmly told her "no" and to get off, she would. :shrug3 It's a whole nother ball game now. :-/

I am worried about how you guys are holding up... :hugheart

We're okay. My oldest got really upset when she heard her daddy talking about putting her down if she didn't improve. My dh lives very much in the moment and has a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. So he's pretty negative and at first, he didn't think she'd get better. But I think through our reading, we're pretty sure she'll come out of this in at the most, three weeks. It'll be a long three weeks though. :-/ I'm hopeful that maybe in a few days she'll be better. :pray4

Some old school vets don't give pain medication post surgery. It's cruel and sets animals up for some really rough days. Also, she could be infected and having more pain.

We paid for pain meds, but they forgot to give them to us. :doh So we had to go back for them. We got them in her 36 hours later. :( I wish it hadn't happened like that. We got this done at the humane society and I'll never do that again. It'll be done at the vet's office in the future!

So she's had 4 sedation pills. :shifty She still won't let us near the cage. I thought they were supposed to put her out. :-/ Dh goes to work tomorrow at 11am, and he works a 24 hours shift and I don't want to deal with her by myself. :sigh

[Johns_Gal]

Sounds like resource guarding has been a problem with her?
I thought I saw you have a 4 yo? Kindle hates siggies. Don,t trust her right now, not one little bit. Vet should take a look and some seriously devoted behavioral training. She is all kinds of unpredictable right now. I personally would leave her crated until tomorrow morning when the vet opens.

Keep in mind that wire crates will not hold a dog determined to get out.

[itzj]

It's so awful. I've never seen a dog act this aggressive except on tv. It's weird though because once she actually comes out of the place she's guarding, she's fine. She lets us pet her and love on her and she does her tricks and everything!

I hope this is a good sign that she has some moments of coming out of it. Bless you for being so patient with her.

[heartofjoy]

Sounds like resource guarding has been a problem with her?
I thought I saw you have a 4 yo? Kindle hates siggies. Don,t trust her right now, not one little bit. Vet should take a look and some seriously devoted behavioral training. She is all kinds of unpredictable right now. I personally would leave her crated until tomorrow morning when the vet opens.

Keep in mind that wire crates will not hold a dog determined to get out.

My kids aren't going near her, and she is not determined to get out of anything. She refuses to come out. She just starts growling when she feels we get too close. She is staying in the kennel indefinitely at this point. There is no way to get her out.

Behavioral training is a moot point right now. She's having a psychological break down of sorts. It's not like she's in the right frame of mind for training. She's lactating for pete's sake! It's so weird! :hunh

[amstermarie]

wonder if an orphan pup would make it better or worse.. :scratch
could sooth her hormones.. but.. cold make her more aggressive for longer if she nurses the pup..

[mrsd]

How is she today?

[heartofjoy]

Dh took her to the vet and they are going to knock her out and examine her. The sedation pills did not work. They also discussed euthanasia if she doesn't improve. They are supposed to call us later.
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[itzj]

Let me know if there are any positive updates. I need to step out of this thread, I have really big feelings about euthanizing animals. It sticks with my heart in a really bad way. I will be praying that she can have a wonderful, healthy outcome. :pray4

[Iveyrock]

Dh took her to the vet and they are going to knock her out and examine her. The sedation pills did not work. They also discussed euthanasia if she doesn't improve. They are supposed to call us later.
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Praying for wisdom

[Atsirk]

I hope they can figure out how to help her!

[heartofjoy]

Let me know if there are any positive updates. I need to step out of this thread, I have really big feelings about euthanizing animals. It sticks with my heart in a really bad way. I will be praying that she can have a wonderful, healthy outcome. :pray4

:hugheart The only way we will consider euthanizing is if she remains unapprochable long term. I'm not sure what else could be done with a dog that essentially goes wild. But I don't believe she will stay like this long term. :no


Our Dog's name is Rosie btw.

Update:

Rosie stayed in her travel kennel all night. Justin took her to the vet this morning. The vet sedated her and examined her and said she was physically healthy. She is having a false pregnancy, which means her hormones are causing this. She's researching a medication that might help her, but the vet has never scripted it before, so not sure when/if we'll get it. I read somewhere on the net about a med available in Europe, but not here. :think

Dh is bringing her home now. He took off work today. We might end up boarding her on his work days because I don't want to handle her at all. We're planning to keep her away from the kids and keep her leash on at all times.

----
Dh got home as I was typing that. Rosie seems disoriented from the drug, but she's alert and friendly and eating out of dh's hand at the moment. Not sure what's going to happen when the drug wears off.

[heartofjoy]

Small update:

Rosie has been outside all afternoon. She's whining and scratching at the back door, but not showing any guarding behaviors. She was inside on leash very briefly and started to guard a blanket, but dh removed her right away and took her outside.

The vet just called and is trying to get some type of hormone drug that will put her back into estrus. This should fix the hormone drop that's making her body think she just had puppies. It's going to cost $80 or so, which is good because I was worried it would be very expensive. Luckily we just got our tax return, so we've been able to afford the vet bills. Unfortunately, it may be several days before the pharmacy can compound the drug. Prayers for speedy drug making are appreciated!

[amstermarie]

any update ?

[ValiantJoy07]

:(hope it passes sooon

[heartofjoy]

She's doing much better! :ty4

Rosie hasn't shown any aggressive behaviors in the last 4 days. She's not eating much though and has definitely lost weight. She's seems much more herself. She's back to interacting with the kids and I. She takes the hormone pills for another week or so.

Thanks for you prayers and support! :heart