A dog owner recently posted a heartwrenching video on TikTok of her German Shepherd Dog with false pregnancy. The post has left netizens in tears as the dog tries to self-soothe herself using whatever she can find. After the pet parent removed all the stuffed toys she used to baby, the pup is left showering her love on random objects around their house.
Watch dog heartbreakingly soothe herself after false pregnancy
German Shepherd Ava is only 11 months old and was experiencing false pregnancy for the first time. Her owner, Laura Walton, first noticed her babying stuffed toys. However, after her vet advised Walton to remove the stuffies to help quicken the process of the dog getting over her false pregnancy, Ava started treating random household items as her baby.
Phantom pregnancy or false pregnancy usually happens to unspayed canines, with their hormones making them think they are expecting. The medical condition comes with strong maternal behavior. Walton noticed Ava’s behavior was similar to when she first went into heat. However, she couldn’t have had her second season so soon as estrous cycles happen every six to 12 months.
This concerned the dog owner, so she checked in with her vet, who clarified that it was a common occurrence among unspayed pups. The German Shepherd Dog’s self-soothing technique was to treat the stuffed toys as her baby. However, when the stuffies were taken away, she resorted to doing the same with random objects around the house.
Walton told Newsweek, “I felt quite mean stealing all her teddies, but she didn’t seem to care or be looking for them. She just found other objects to carry about.” However, Ava’s nesting has ended, and she has stopped babying household items. Many could relate to Walton’s experience, with the video garnering over 977,000 views and 124,000 likes. The German Shepherd’s attempt at nurturing and caring for inanimate objects melted everyone’s hearts.
