Behavior of dog after spaying normal?

[Lloydsgurl]

This past Monday we took my nine year old boxer in to the vet's to be spayed and have a growth on one of her nipples removed, and ever since she's been back she has been acting very oddly (moreso than normal).

The odd behavior:

* non-stop panting days after surgery
- We called the vet and he told us to make sure she stayed hydrated and was eating, and to call him if she didn't. She is drinking fine, but will only eat ground-up wet dog food. Even then, she does not eat much.

* "burying" her food
- she tries to bury whatever food she does not eat. She will use her face to push the dog bowl to a corner and try to cover it with something (including a little mat from the kitchen and dish towels. The dish towels weren't even in the same room as the food, she had to bring them in.) She has never done this before.

* constant burrowing
- she often found comfort in sleeping in closets, but this behavior has increased tenfold since surgery. She is constantly tucked under computer desks, chairs, beds, tables, boxes, etc. She also rarely wants to leave the side of our other boxer (a male).

* new interest in chew toys
- she, unlike our other boxer, has never been one to enjoy chew toys. But one of the first things she did when she got home from surgery was steal our other dog's favorite chew toy (a squeaky elephant)

* hatred of the telephone
- I was doing some work today, when into the room walks my dog, telephone in mouth. The thing was completely mangled! Battery missing (thankfully no chew marks on that) and buttons missing. She was disciplined and I got back to my work. Ten minutes later, she walks into the room with the other phone in her mouth, thankfully she hadn't had much time to chew it. Again she was disciplined and the phone was removed. The stealing of the phone was attempted another three times (I finally managed to inform everyone in my home to stop leaving the door to the room with the phone open). She has never tried to chew on the phone before.

Her mother, who recently had to be put down because of a tumor, had a hysterectomy late in life and did not exibit any of this behavior.

She has a follow-up vet visit on Friday to remove the stitches and I was just wondering if we should pay the vet an early visit. I mean is this behavior normal? Do other dogs act like this, or is it just mine?

[OntarioGreys]

I have never had major behavioural changes with dogs that were spayed or neutered , so I would probably call the vet Monday and explain what is happening

[rainbow]

I agree that this is very odd behaviour and would definitely call the vet Monday morning.

[hounds003]

Just curious if she's been bred before? If she has it's a much more extensive surgery. Did the vet give her anything for pain? I'm just asking because it sounds to me like she could be in pain.

[Prin]

Sounds like some sort of weird nesting behavior among other things... I agree that it might be the pain that is causing the weirdness..

[coppperbelle]

Sounds like she is experiencing a false pregnancy. One of my dogs did this after a spaying at a later age. They do get over it but it takes a few weeks. She may even adopt a stuffed toy and treat it like her baby.

[Beaglemom]

Has your vet provided you with any pain medication to give her? Her panting could be due to pain.

[kimsmith5]

Originally Posted by Lloydsgurl

This past Monday we took my nine year old boxer in to the vet's to be spayed and have a growth on one of her nipples removed, and ever since she's been back she has been acting very oddly (moreso than normal).

The odd behavior:

* non-stop panting days after surgery
- We called the vet and he told us to make sure she stayed hydrated and was eating, and to call him if she didn't. She is drinking fine, but will only eat ground-up wet dog food. Even then, she does not eat much.

* "burying" her food
- she tries to bury whatever food she does not eat. She will use her face to push the dog bowl to a corner and try to cover it with something (including a little mat from the kitchen and dish towels. The dish towels weren't even in the same room as the food, she had to bring them in.) She has never done this before.

* constant burrowing
- she often found comfort in sleeping in closets, but this behavior has increased tenfold since surgery. She is constantly tucked under computer desks, chairs, beds, tables, boxes, etc. She also rarely wants to leave the side of our other boxer (a male).

* new interest in chew toys
- she, unlike our other boxer, has never been one to enjoy chew toys. But one of the first things she did when she got home from surgery was steal our other dog's favorite chew toy (a squeaky elephant)

* hatred of the telephone
- I was doing some work today, when into the room walks my dog, telephone in mouth. The thing was completely mangled! Battery missing (thankfully no chew marks on that) and buttons missing. She was disciplined and I got back to my work. Ten minutes later, she walks into the room with the other phone in her mouth, thankfully she hadn't had much time to chew it. Again she was disciplined and the phone was removed. The stealing of the phone was attempted another three times (I finally managed to inform everyone in my home to stop leaving the door to the room with the phone open). She has never tried to chew on the phone before.

Her mother, who recently had to be put down because of a tumor, had a hysterectomy late in life and did not exibit any of this behavior.

She has a follow-up vet visit on Friday to remove the stitches and I was just wondering if we should pay the vet an early visit. I mean is this behavior normal? Do other dogs act like this, or is it just mine?

My 2 year old was spayed on teh 19th and the exact thing happened to her. They said it is a false pregnancy but my breeder says that that can only occur if she were recently in heat. She wasn't so it really doesn't make sense. I took all the stuffed toys away because she seemed to think they were her puppies and she was digging and hiding them. She has been agitated and obsessive and just a completely different dog. I was wondering how yours is doing.