what would cause a dog to do this?

Question

female dog had puppies and ate one of the dead ones by chewing it up.what would cause a dog to do this.

Answer 1

It is in their nature to do that if one of the pups is not "normal" or they sense that something is wrong with them when they are first born. I know it's gross but it's completely normal. :)

Answer 2

well she is doing what comes naturally to a dog. remember in the wild a dead animal stinks so to protect the living pups she "got rid of " the scent, even though you are there to dipose of the pup. Have no fear if the pup was already dead or not triving she was weaning out the "unfit" survival of the fitest even occurs in our pets. She is not turing into a cannibal this is normal my female did it to one of her pups who was born stillborn and had one leg I got it away from her but not after she had ate half my vet said it was okay she may throw it up later, she never did but I just kept a good eye on her the other 8 pups lived and are great family members to their new homes.Good Luck.

Answer 3

In the wild, a dead puppy attracts ants, draws attention to the nest, and is simply a waste of meat. Even some herbivores will do this; it's common in rabbits. Your dog was protecting the rest of the litter and taking advantage of a nearby protein source. Sorry you had to see that.

Answer 4

Usually an animal will eat its young if it is dead or mal formed. They do this by instinct, when in the wild. When an animal gives birth and there are live births as well as stillborn the female will eat the young to prevent the living babies from being found by preditors. Your female was not being mean or gross it was instinct to do so....Try not to feel grossed out...it is how it is in the animal world

Answer 5

It is natural for a female dog to eat a dead puppy. She is just cleaning up after herself. It is instinct.

Answer 6

She knows her puppy was sickly. She disposes of the puppy in this manner to prevent any contamination to her other offspring.
Perfectly natural and done by many animals.

Answer 7

Motherly instinct - She instinctively knew something was wrong with that puppy, so she killed it.

It's very common for dogs (Any animals in fact) to do that.

Please have her spayed after her litter is out of the house!

Answer 8

It could be a food allergy. My mom's Boxer started scratching because of the type of food that he was eating. I think it was Eukanuba. However, there are other foods that could cause this.

Answer 9

It's called Nature.

Answer 10

Think of it this way, she was doing in a natural way what is in the best interest of the survival of the rest of the pack.