I think it is safe to say that every dog owner sees their little furry friends as a part of their family. They make sure that they make them feel loved, happy, and most importantly, healthy.
When a pet parent notices that something is off with their fur baby, they go to unimaginable lengths to figure out what is really wrong.
So, when Christian Pautsch noticed that his pup, Bonnie, wasn’t acting like herself, he decided to take her to the vet.
A Visit To The Vet
Since Pautsch rescued Bonnie from the streets, he had to postpone her neutering appointment because she was in her heat cycle. So, after realizing that she was acting out of character, he thought that maybe his adorable border collie was pregnant.
He suspected this because he also had another dog, a German shepherd and Australian shepherd mix named Heinz, who he tried to keep away from this sweet girl as best as possible until she got the procedure done.
After conducting a thorough medical examination, the vets stated that what was happening to Bonnie was a phantom pregnancy.
A phantom pregnancy, or a false pregnancy, is an instance where a pup begins showing signs of maternal behavior while also displaying signs of pregnancy though they aren’t actually pregnant.
Such signs usually include vomiting, fluid retention, decrease in appetite, restlessness, and nesting. Some pups may also begin showing signs or false labor. For most cases, treatment isn’t necessary as the symptoms usually go away after 14 to 21 days.
Wrong Diagnosis
Trusting the vet, Pautsch took his pup home, deciding to wait for the symptoms to fade on their own.
However, after just a couple of days, Bonnie went into labor and surprised her owner with a litter of 11 adorable and healthy puppies.
“Two days after the vet was here, she went into labor during the night. My wife, Stefani Jacoby, was awake with her the whole night until all the puppies had arrived. They’re all doing fine. From the beginning, we started helping Bonnie to feed them, and now they’re a really happy and chaotic bunch of pups,” he said in an interview.
Pautsch joked at the fact that maybe he didn’t do as good a job of keeping the pups separate as he thought.
Nevertheless, Pautsch saw how good of a mom Bonnie was and he absolutely loved the fact that Heinz stepped in to help too.
Fast forward to today, and a couple of pups have already found a loving home for themselves, while the furry parents are still looking for possible places for the rest of the litter.
It is important to note that Pautsch did point out the fact that the vet specializes in horses, so he did not blame him for this little mix up. And how could he? The little puppies are the cutest thing that he ever saw!