Pseudopregnancy is a common phenomenon that occurs in the entire dog that is not pregnant during the diestrus or anestrus period of the estrous cycle. Pseudopregnancy may be characterized by swelling of the mammary glands, swelling of the abdomen, milk production, and a change in the female's behavior such as maternal grooming of objects or other animals, restlessness, aggression, nesting, and anorexia, (Hermo, 631) . For the subordinate female gray wolf this phenomenon is typical behavior for taking care of young pups while the alpha female, and the only female to mate and give birth to pups, is out hunting for food for the pack. This process evolved because the gray wolf is a very social animal with a monogamous alpha male and female who will be the only mating pair in the pack to produce offspring; they are also the pack leaders who lead all hunting expeditions, (ASA, 251-259). A descendant of the wolf, it is the domestic dog that most citizens living in the United States of America have as a pet and that many people consider part of the family. Although there are many different breeds of dogs in the world, they all share the wolf as a common ancestor, but live a very different lifestyle than their ancestors (Ehresman, 1). What kind of effects might the shared phenomenon of pseudopregnancy have on the dogs we all know and love who suffer from this syndrome without the need to care for any pups? Domestic dogs are not like gray wolves in many ways. One of the main differences between domestic dogs that live as pets and wolves that live in packs is that dogs do not eat a restricted diet like their distant relative, the wolf. Wolves do not always have enough food and are forced to......middle of paper......rus, Pregnancy and Pseudopregnancy in the Labrador Bitch." Theriogenology 27.6 (1987): 827-40. UW Libraries Proxy Service. Division of Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Uniformed Services Bethesda University of Health Sciences, June 1987. Web November 5, 2013. Ehresman, Dan "Gray Wolf" 42.1 (2012): 1. Northcoast Environmental Center, February-March 2012. Web. 5 November 2013. Hermo, G., P. G. Gerez, A. M. Dragonetti, and C. Gobello “Effect of short-term restricted food intake on canine pseudopregnancy.” Animals 44.4 (2009): 631-33. November 5, 2013. Tsutsui, T., N. Kirihara, T. Hori, and P. W. Concannon “Progesterone and Prolactin Concentrations in Overtly Pseudopregnant Bitches: A Clinical Study.” Theriogenology 67.5 (2007): 1032-038. UW Libraries Proxy Service. 15 March 2007. Web. 06 November. 2013.