[deborah]

my 7 year old staffordshire bull terrier is acting very strange tonight....she ran and got her sqeaky toy which she hasnt played with for months and shes just carrying it everywhere..even outside to pee...shes been panting and and wimpering and circling on the bed,,shes just nit herself....she refused some chicken yesterday which shes never done before...has anyone got any ideas....

Debbie (uk)

[Todd]

Does the dog act lethargic at all? This would indicate something more serious or at least warrant a vet visit. Any occurrence like something the dog ate or did out of the ordinary lately? Any meds given lately including heartworm prevention or flea/tick treatment?

You're dog could potentially be in pain for a very wide variety of reasons. Here's something I found online (the symptoms you described are in bold)...

Behavioral Responses

The following behavioral responses can indicate that your dog is in pain, particularly acute (sudden onset) pain.

Whimpering, growling, crying out and other vocalizations, especially if your dog is typically quiet

Retreating from family members and/or hiding

Excessive panting

Growling, even snapping, when handled; or the opposite: an uncommon struggle to get away

An unwillingness to move

Pacing and restlessness, common signs that a dog is uncomfortable

Arching the back, standing with forelegs held away from the chest

Loss of or decrease in appetite, lethargy and listlessness

*Can you try to pinpoint where the pain is coming from? Either way a trip to the vet would be smart.

The carrying around of the toy seems puzzling. Could be merely coincidental. She could possibly be pregnant could she? Has she been fixed? Carrying around toys like this is sometimes considered a motherly instinct and if she could by chance be pregnant this would explain both behaviors (in pain and carrying around toy).

This could also potentially be nerves. Could there be a reason for her to be nervous or anxious?

dog could be sick. Here are other signs of sickness but I doubt the dog is sick or you probably would have described more of these but it's always a possibility;

o Ears: discharge, debris, odor, scratching, crusted tips, twitching or shaking.

o Eyes: redness, swelling or discharge.

o Nose: runny, thickened or colored discharge, crusty.

o Coughing, sneezing, vomiting or gagging.

o Shortness of breath, irregular breathing or prolonged/heavy panting

o Evidence of parasites in the dog's stool, strange color, blood in the stool, or lack of a bowel movement (constipation).

o Loss of appetite or not drinking as much water as normally would.

o Weight Loss.

o Strange color of urine, small amount of urine, straining, dribbling, or not going as frequently as normal.

o Bad odor coming from mouth, ears, or skin.

o Hair loss, wounds, tumors, dander or change of the skin's color.

o Biting of the skin, parasites, scratching or licking the skin frequently.

You haven't got another animal in the house do you? If so this could be a territorial thing which is not only making the dog nervous but also carrying around the toy to lay claim on it if you will. Could even be another animal in the neighborhood in the area which your dog perceives as threatening?

As I said, a trip to the vet would be the best thing to do here because there are just too many possibilities so it's best to see if it's something physically wrong and work from there. Good luck and hopefully everything turns out alright.

[CorkyMax]

Just a couple things to ask---Is your dog on any new medicines? Has it recently had vaccinations--esp. rabies?

[cigwyllt]

Could be a phantom pregnancy? Are her teats swollen? A false pregnancy may resolve itself but if it is hormonally induced she would need to see the vet. I would say a vet's visit is in order anyway.

[Yogi]

Originally Posted by cigwyllt

Could be a phantom pregnancy? Are her teats swollen? A false pregnancy may resolve itself but if it is hormonally induced she would need to see the vet. I would say a vet's visit is in order anyway.

I agree, anytime a change this drastic is seen in a dog the first place to consult is the vet. This is not the time to ask people to guess what the problem is. Dogs give signs when things are wrong and when you see them you need to get them to a vet promptly to ensure that whatever it is, is addressed correctly where there is a qualified person to actually physically see what it is you are talking about and monitor the dogs behavior. At this point in time no one here can tell you what is wrong with your dog, but can only guess and while that is going on, if the dog has a serious health problem it is going unattended.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by cigwyllt

Could be a phantom pregnancy? Are her teats swollen? A false pregnancy may resolve itself but if it is hormonally induced she would need to see the vet. I would say a vet's visit is in order anyway.

Sounds like a possibility. as u can see i asked if the dog could be pregnent because of her maternal behavior with the tou and the other symptoms. here's a brief over view of a phantom pregnency if there's no way she is actually pregnent;

What is phantom pregnancy?

False pregnancy, phantom pregnancy, pseudo-pregnancy or pseudocyesis can be defined as a display of maternal behavior together with the physical signs of pregnancy following estrus (heat) in a non-pregnant bitch. The female may or may not have been mated.

Many female dogs show signs of pseudo pregnancy. It usually begins 4-9 weeks after the previous heat period. The signs range from mammary development with or without the production of milk, lassitude, loss of appetite and sometimes vomiting. Signs can occur at any age and do not necessarily follow every estrus The severity of the clinical signs also varies between individuals and from one occurrence to the next within the same individual.

Will my female undergo behavioral or hormonal changes?

Behavioral changes include nesting, mothering activity, restlessness, disinclination to exercise and sometimes aggression due to a perceived threat to an impending family. The dog is often off her food, but surprisingly, seldom appears to lose weight, probably due to the amount of excess fluid she is carrying.

The hormonal changes the female undergoes following estrus are similar whether she is pregnant or not. Changing levels in circulating hormones in the pregnant and pseudo pregnant animal are accentuated and the reason that this occurs in an animal that has not conceived is poorly understood.

Mild cases are frequently not treated by the veterinarian and will subside of their own accord in approximately 14-21 days.

In some cases the dog appears physically ill or the behavioral changes are of such magnitude as to cause concern, treatment has to be instituted. This can range from mild tranquilization and treatment with diuretics in order to reduce the milk production to hormonal treatment.

What can I do to prevent false pregnancies in my dog?

The female should have an ovariohysterectomy, (spay).

If spaying is carried out while the dog is showing signs of pseudo pregnancy or alternatively has been receiving hormonal treatment the signs will often persist for several weeks despite the fact she has been spayed. Should this occur, treatment with a single injection of an hormone will usually suffice to bring about improvement.

As the others said, I'd take her to the vet if you haven't already.