Or do I mean learnt? I’m originally British so it ought to be learnt, and I’m sure it used to be, but some time in the last few decades I seem to have moved across the pond, linguistically speaking. Hang on a minute… in fact I think I say learnt but write learned. A ghastly mishmash which I’m now going to try to eliminate! Likewise for dreamt and spelt.
Anyway, back to the point. Yesterday I learnt that dogs (bitches, strictly) can suffer from phantom pregnancies and that it’s even a fairly common occurrence. This turned out to be the explanation for our French bulldog’s slightly wacky behaviour for the last week or so, including refusing to eat, being even more cuddly than usual and guarding her toys from her playmate (they’re her babies, according to the vet). She’s also producing milk, which we hadn’t noticed.
She’s going to be neutered at the start of next month which will put an end to what can be a recurrent problem. Meanwhile, she has medication to stop the milk and we have to change her habits in order to distract her from her non-existent offspring!