False Mother

devilfan2 · 03-10-2007, 01:35 AM

My 3 yr old female lap has adopted a small stuffed animal as her baby .... she has done nothing but carry it around and whine she tries to hide it and act like shes putting it in a nursing position and tonight we realized she has milk coming out of her nipples....do we take it away from her or let her keep it? I tried taking it away for a while and she went crazy hunting for it...she is very nervous and has not been eating all her food too....help

Curbside Prophet · 03-10-2007, 01:43 AM

Is she spayed?

Chloef_2799 · 03-10-2007, 01:45 AM

I am assuming she is an un-spayed female? If so getting her spayed may cut down on this behaviour (so many other reason to have her fixed I will not get into them though). It is actually quite common for females to do that. I saw a story abou a female dachsund who stole her owners cell phones and cordless phones and treated them as her "puppies" licking them, picking them up, putting them in nursing positions. She also even started to lactate. It is an insitinctive thing that happens sometimes. Heck just look at girls or women when they get puppies.....baby mode here we go happened to me whe I got Chloe. I went all mommy like and my nurturing insitincts kicked into overdrive.....for my dog! lol, they are still there I am sure of it (just look at my grocery bill....broccolli for me, carrots for Chloe/Sadie, food and treats for Chloe/Sadie and maybe a loaf of bread for me, oh and leash/collar/coat/booties/new rawhide.toy or whatever I may find for Chloe/Sadie and then maybe....some juice for me, lol).
Have her spayed, I don't know what else to suggest, maybe someone else will be able to shed more light on this phenomenon.

devilfan2 · 03-10-2007, 01:49 AM

She has been fixed and so has my little Male rat terrier....they still always both ride each other?

Chloef_2799 · 03-10-2007, 01:53 AM

Hmm.....well that is wierd. I have never heard of an un-spayed female doing that kind of behaviour. Maybe find a behaviouist and talk to them about it, see if they can offer any advice?
The humping thing (I assume thats what you meant by riding, hehe Chloe likes to hump pillows and large stuffed animals) is more than likely a dominance thing.
Maybe just leave the toy with her, if she isn't hurting anyone or doing anything bad then it might be a phase or something along those lines????

devilfan2 · 03-10-2007, 01:58 AM

Thanks....I will try and wait it out for now although she is driving me nuts ...she did snap at my terrier when he went near her baby tonight so I just dont want her to become mean about this false baby

Chloef_2799 · 03-10-2007, 02:06 AM

Mmm yes that may be something you will have to deal with sooner rather than later. Hopefully it was just the once but if she snaps at you or any other people I would say talk to a behaviousist or a trainer with experience dealing with these behavious as soon as you can.
I was looking for the video of that dachsund but I can't seem to find it, it was a cute little story and it did mention that the dog ended up growing out of the behaviour after she was spayed. Oh well......good luck to you though!

squirt1968 · 03-10-2007, 02:22 AM

My mom's bostom terrier was spayed and she mothered any baby animal she could get close to including baby chicks. I think it is sad

Cassie Nova · 03-10-2007, 02:37 AM

There is a such thing as an "incomplete spay", but she should go into heat, if that's the case.

RobDar · 03-10-2007, 10:22 AM

our female beagle has what our vet calls "false pregnancy". She does this exact same thing.
she is spayed...so I am not sure it matters whether they are spayed or not. Our vet says it is nothing to worry about unless the dog gets sad/cranky during it...
which apparently some do