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Normal Development Or Phantom Pregnancy?


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Young bitch in my avatar had her first season sept which came and went without much bother. Now at 20 months old, she has had a second season which seemed more pronounced with more noticeable bleeding and loss of condition. Now the season has finished, change in her behavior / character is pronounced. She has gone from daft puppy to being quiet and a little withdrawn in a short space of time. Also, at about 16 months, her obedience changed over night from difficult to very willing to work with me.

 

My old bitch did have trouble with phantom pregnancies, and I am fairly confident that isn't what's happening here. Is it normal for maturing bitches to have pronounced character changes in a short space of time? I've never seen a dog change character in this way. She's a saluki / collie / greyhound.

 

 

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This can be a difficult time (mentally) for some bitches,....they really get confused.com.. :blink:

The danger time would seem to be a few weeks on from the end of their season,..at a time when, if they were in pup,.they would be producing milk..

I've managed to get through this business with most of my bitches,...although one particular animal just couldn't let it go,..she just became worse and worse,.acting real strange and producing milk like a Friesian.

Usually a course of Galastop will call a halt to this malady,..but in her case,.. we just could not win,..so I had her spayed..

 

I think in this instance you just have to show patience with a troubled soul ....

Edited by Phil Lloyd
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What you said about her changing at about 16 months and becoming much more willing to work with you is, in my opinion, one of those strange quirks of the Saluki brain. I'm not saying other types and breeds don't have it to some extent, but I've noticed it in Saluki lurchers, both male and female, far more. It is as though their brains to take longer to develop the social side. They become less feral, more domesticated, if you like, and of course once they have actually sussed that you are somehow important to their ability to get out and hunt, then bingo: once that particular penny has dropped most come on board with the idea that you are in charge and not just a slave who feeds them. That's the main reason I like to take a pup ferreting first, before letting the pup learn to do a lot of hunting up. They can't get the rabbit out of the burrow without you being there to put the ferret down first, so they learn that the whole hunting thing is a team effort, and not just a solo adventure.

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I'm going to be patiently keeping a close eye on her to make sure no bad habits crop up during this time and hopefully things will level out in a few weeks. It really is odd to see such an abrupt change in character, various friends and well wishers have also noticed she is behaving differently.

 

@Phil Lloyd - my old bitch was like that with the phantom pregnancies. The decision to spay was a good one and she lived a long and happy life being mistress of hedgerow bunny catching into old age. I'm sure she could somehow hypnotize them!

 

@skycat - I don't keep ferrets, but I think a similar realization came about the way humans are of some help in getting daytime runs. I'll get her started lamping in the autumn and have high hopes of being able to work without a slip

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