(Yikes! Imagine my surprise this morning when the “Muffy’s Puppy” blurb was missing from my post. I had written two drafts of my post, and published the wrong one. So…here is the scoop on “Muffy’s Puppy”!)
Muffy gave birth to a “puppy” Saturday. She did not eat her breakfast, so I knew something was up. Muffy always eats her breakfast…and then tries to eat Brody’s, too! I really knew something was up when she started panting and attempting to build a nest in her crate. Poor Muffy suffered from a false pregnancy, giving birth to a Pear Pizzazz colored, squeaky football.
Muffy takes very good care of her “puppy”. She cleans it, and makes certain it is in position to nurse. She carries it with her everywhere…inside and out. The “puppy” even sleeps with her, which means it sleeps with us. Imagine rolling over onto a squeaky toy at 2:00 AM!
I called her vet, Dr. Brooke, who said that this is a very emotional time for Muffy, and we should not take her “puppy” away from her. She should be fine in a few weeks as her hormones return to normal. False pregnancies occur in 60% of all unspayed females. I have always preached spaying and neutering your pets, and I still wholeheartedly believe in this. However, to show dogs in American Kennel Cub conformation shows, they cannnot be spayed or neutered. But trust me…once she receives her AKC Champion title (she already has her United Kennel Club title), there will never be the possibility for any Muffy Puppies…real or imaginary!
And oh…the only trouble with her baby is that this was Brody’s favorite toy! Leave it to Muffy!
Until next time…
I didn’t know this about dogs, having never had a dog before. What a cute little story. Sooooo glad she is not pregnant! I really wish the spaying/neutering thing was looked upon proudly by that organization. 🙁
Just go buy Brody another football!
Poor Muffy. I never heard of this before. And poor Brody, having to give up his favorite toy.
Love this story. And I love Muffy’s “new puppy”. I never realized this about female dogs because we always had males. My heart breaks for her; hopefully her system will be back to normal soon. Give her a special hug from me.
Ann…leave it to you…thanks so much for making me smile today..Poor Muffy..but I suppose it is equally hard on Brody..
Such a sweet story! Muffy is a beauty. Good luck to both of you on getting that next title! But you’re both royalty in the love & care category!!!
poor sweet baby! that breaks my heart!
she has good pet parents though!
lol… Cute story! I had never heard of that before. I hope everything gets back to normal soon!
Hugs
Shirley
Poor Muffy girl! Her baby is so cute, you are now a grandmama to a football, lol. I hope she gets her spunk back soon.
Ann what a sweet story. I had no idea either about the kennel rules. I also had no idea about false pregnancy, but hey, Love those green eyes on the new furbaby! hugs.
Never fear Muffy – Miss Daisy to the rescuer! I’ll be on the next plane to help baby sit my little niece! I can cuddle with her and keep her warm – although she looks about half as big as I am – but no matter I will persevere! Guess who just walked into the room – MOM! She said I can’t come. Humpf!!!!! Hi Brody – sigh, tail wagging slowly – sigh! :))))) I’m in love. Bye – woof, woof!
Poor Muffy Lin! And don’t get me started on some of those show ring rules!She is so sweet and at least she didn’t adopt a random critter from the yard!
Ohhh, Muffy would make such a good mommy! Thanks for sharing your story. Hugs to all!
What a good Momma Muffy is to her baby.My daughters dog went through this several times and she also would choose a toy as the baby. Her nipples even swelled as if there was milk. Animals are truly amazing creatures.
Poor Brody..I hope he is a good brother and goes along with the “baby” thing.
How sweet, a pear pizazz puppy! I’ve never heard of this in dogs, but then most dogs don’t know they are dogs. Sorry about your football Brody. Wishing Muffy a speedy recovery from the delivery!
I have never heard of this either, how funny and sad at the same time. I’m glad you didn’t take away Muffy’s puppy, hope your sleeping time and Muffy return to normal again soon!
Hi Ann! Miss Muffy looks so peaceful in her pictures. Bless her heart! And poor, poor Brody losing his favorite toy. Perhaps he needs another one until this passes. Loved the “grandma” comment. Too funny!
Hi Ann
I have been following your blog for years. Until just recently I have been breeding Lhasa Apsos and showed one of them for a year, but the show scene was just “not my thing”. Now, I plan to just do my crafting.
You might just really enjoy breeding Muffy… it is an amazing experience! You can see my adventures on my blog http://podgypawslhasaapsopuppies.blogspot.ca/
I have had many of my girls go through false pregnancies and they do eventually lose interest in the “baby”. Don’t feel shy to write me, if you have any questions – we have a lot in common. Cheers!
Well I’m glad that your post came through, thought I was missing something. But, poor Muffy, what a time she must be having…cute pictures though.
AWWWWW!! Hugs and cuddles for Muffy Lin!
I remember a Golden Retriever that we had many years ago that had 2 or 3 false pregnancies. Such a strange thing! And, yes, I remember rolling over in bed in the middle of the night onto the “puppy”…LOL! The pics are cute. Good luck and thanks for sharing!
Poor sweet Muffy. What a doll she is!! And poor Brody…hope the dear fellow is being a good sport about his favorite being adopted. What big hearts these lovely animals have. Thanks for sharing the pictures!
Congratulations, Grandma! LOL!
Awww, poor Miss Muffy! She is being such a good mommy! Just think what she would do with a “real” puppy! I have heard of dogs having false pregnancies but never experienced it with my dogs. I have always wondered why the AKC doesn’t allow dogs to be spayed or neutered? I hope this passes before too long!
Thank you for sharing this story with us and the pictures of Muffy are adorable.
ColleenB
So cute! I’ve never heard of that before. Poor Muffy!
I searched for the Muffy’s Puppy Post yesterday!:0)
Wow – this is really interesting. And we think/used to think animals didn’t have emotions!! Sure hope everything is back to normal soon.
Awwwwww!!
Poor Muffy! But that IS the cutest little pear-pizzazz football puppy I’ve ever seen! Bless Muffy’s sweet little heart.
I remember when my Maggie had her first (and only) period! She turned into a real “Bitch” pardon the expression! Talk about PMS! This was all new to me since I hadn’t had a female.
Leave it to you to say it was the pear pizzaz color! Maybe she will let Brody babysit later on. What a good little mother she is. Wonder what Brody thinks?
I love the comment about who the puppy looks like!
Chris R. from Iowa
so sweet and so heartwrenching
Loved your story! Poor Muffy. She is just showing you how good a mother she could be! How is Brody taking the loss of his favorite toy?
Oh the poor “sweetie”,it must be a bad moment for her.The doctor is right ,don’t take her “baby” away for the moment ,it will come back to the normal later.
By the way ,who does the baby look like ,it father or it grand parents………lol?
Give her a big hug from me .
She looks too cute.
Ann, thank you for sharing about Muffy. I was not aware of false pregnancies either. It’s so touching. And poor Brody, too. He lost his toy.
Oh my goodness….I have never heard of such a thing! I guess you should be blessed that it was just a squeaky toy, there are lots of other things she could have chosen instead!!!! Too funny!
Poor Muffy. I have never heard of a false pregnancy in animals. But as Muffy proved, it does happen. I am sure that she will take very good care of her Pear Pizzazz baby.
Isn’t nature funny! Our daughter-in-law has a German shepherd that had a toy “baby” for a while too. I think I recall our daughters golden lab going through the same experience. Looks like Muffy would make a very good mommy! Don’t know how I would handle the 2 a.m. awakening!
Isn’t nature funny! Our daughter-in-law has a German shepherd that had a toy “baby” for a while too. I think I recall our daughters golden lab going through the same experience. Looks like Muffy would make a very good mommy! Don’t know how I would handle the 2 a.m. awakening!
Poor love, it must be a strange time for them, mustn’t it? Does that mean that you wouldn’t breed from her in the future? Won’t you get requests from breeders if she turns out to be very good indeed?
Hilarious! I learned something new! What a cute puppy!! No training necessary!
Ann, this is such a cute story and I love the pictures! I’ve never heard of dogs having false pregnancies.