# I am getting frustrated....



## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

I have started working with my dogs again in obedience.... Taking a break from conformation. Anyway, I have gotten obedience titles on my dogs, plus a bunch of CGC's. Mantha has been easy. I worked with her a lot as a pup, and she retained it all. My goal at 9.5 years is to get her CD this year. However, Emmie really never mastered heeling. I blame it a lot on her early comformation handling where when she would stress, she would duck her head and check out.
Well, now she is going thru a false pregnancy...crawls under my bed and I just can't do a thing with her. She is non responsive and acts like she hears nothing. At the moment, she is fussing and whining at Basil(also in heat at the same time). But most frustrating is that up until one week ago, she was making progress. Does anyone else have these issues with their intact females? The upside of crawling under my bed is that she did bring up some dust bunnies!


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

This probably isn't the least bit helpful, but when I read about your post, I thought about what I have been reading up on lately-Asperger's Syndrome. Children with AS may sometimes need to retreat (hide under a desk or go inside their shirt) or may over react (throw tantrums) when they get stressed (too many requests, requests being made which they feel they cannot comply or deal with).


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

I think Emmie is hiding under the bed to have her phantom puppies. But yes, I believe some of how she behaves is her coping mechanism from when she was stressed showing in conformation... My friend that I train with says to withhold food. Well she doesn't want to eat any way, so that won't work. Her other suggestion was to crate her in the house. If I have to do that to make her work with me, then it is not worth it to me. Currently, I do not have a crate set up and I like it that way. Plus I think it will just make her anxious, not in a good way.


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## Muddypaws (Apr 20, 2009)

I don't think you want to punish a stressed dog. She needs to have her confidence built back up. I think she is like Kirby and very very soft, the slightest perceived negative or if she doesn't understand what I am asking her to do and she will shut down.

We took 18 weeks of attention classes and learned how to work as a team. I learned her stress points and would back off immediately. Our mantra is "if we're not having fun, we stop" Not pressure and not pushing her. She as done a 100% turn around. I put her in agility class afterward to help build her confidence and Wow, she is a different dog. My only advice is to leave her be for now, then get her in an attention class, take is slow and positive and build up her confidence. Best of luck.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

I think MuddyPaws is right on the money...
Time to back off and rebuild. Im not sure withdrawal of food and attention is going to inspire a dog that is retreating (false pregnancy aside).

Janice do you clicker train? Things like "101 things do do with a box" and other games (like nosework games) can help the dog figure out that they have some say in the relationship are wonderful for confidence building as it is impossible for the dog to make a mistake.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Of course, I clicker train. I have been doing it since 2000. What I am looking for is other people with experiences with girls with false pregnancies and the inability to train them at all. Other than Emmie, I have worked with three other intact bitches, and none have shut off like she has.... You would have to see her expression and demeanor to realize at this time, nothing involving food will work.


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## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

Does she enjoy anything? A game of fetch? Tug-o War? just going for a walk? If she likes any of these maybe you could use that as a reward for 2-3minutes of training time. The best would be the ball. You could hold it in your hand and after she heels for so long you toss the ball as a reward. It might get her mind off of false pups too. I dont know I have not been through anything like this so I dont know if what I just wrote is of any help at all.


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## Selli-Belle (Jan 28, 2009)

My Selli had major false pregnancies but they did begin to be less intense as she got older. I tended to baby her during these periods. 

If I were you I would put up a crate in your house for her to nest in so she isn't nesting under your bed. At work Selli nested in her crate, at home she nested on the couch and she had separate sets of "babies."

Luckily after say her third heat, she loved agility enough that her false pregnancy didn't distract her. 

Thinking about it, I would skip the detail oriented stuff in obedience for right now, her brain is too distracted by hormones.

I spoke to Cherie Berger about Selli's false pregnancies and she said they are sometimes point to a hormone imbalance, but your the vet. I was just thinking there may be some supplement you could give her to ease the symptoms?


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Actually the false pregnancy part seems to be genetic...her mom did it and one of her daughters does it. Selli belle, thank you for your insight as I decided that I should limit what I ask her to do while she is like this. The cure, of course, would be an ovariohysterectomy. Soooo, I am working with her 1/2 aunt in obedience and her 1/2 cousin in nose works and obedience .


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## Aislinn (Nov 13, 2010)

My Deja did this. I just let her alone, using only things like recalls and sits around the house and yard. I let nature work itself out and then we went back to training. I wouldn't punish her or keep food away. Hormones have taken over and I just felt you can't fight Mother Nature.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

That is it. I do not punish her or take anything away. I think this time. Is purely hormonal.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

from talking to other people with this issue it seems most agree the best thing to do with a dog like this is stop training until it passes.


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## Selli-Belle (Jan 28, 2009)

If you think about it, she is feeling very anxious because she feels like she NEEDS to get back to her "babies" and she is already an anxious dog about training so the cortisol must just be flooding her system. I like your plan to chill out with the training.


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