My dog doesn't love her puppies?

Question

My dog is the nicest dog is the world. My family and I always thought what a good mother she would be, and last night she had seven puppies. The problem is, she won't lick them or cuddle or clean them. I actually think she might even be scared of them. Is this normal? What can I do to help? Why won't she act like a mother to them? [Please don't say that I'm stupid because I should be a respnosible breeder..I'm only 15 years old]

Answer 1

her mother instincts should kick in but if they don't you should probably take her and the puppies to the vet because the puppies have to have their milk from their mother!!!!! !!!!!!! i would give it about 2 hours and if then she was not feeding them yet i would go to the vet right away!!!!!!!

Answer 2

Veronica, some dogs, like people, just aren't cut out to be parents. Sometimes the maternal instinct just is not there and that sounds like the case with your dog. I don't think that you are being irresponsible in the least and if you didn't love her,honey, you wouldn't be on here asking this question. I do suggest however that you or one of your parents call your family vet and ask what you need to do to keep these little ones alive. You vet may have a simple salution such as a dog that lost most or all of her litter and could nurse the puppies for you. I hope that I have helped you in this regard. Good luck with your dog and her puppies.

Answer 3

Has she fed them at all? If not, you are at risk to losing the pups right now!

You may have to hold her down and allow them to suckle, but they need the colostrum that she will produce for only hours after birth! The colostrum will boost their immune systems and help the pups survive until they have vaccinations.

After the initial feeding, your dog may become more friendly toward the pups. Whatever you do, do NOT shut her in an enclosed area with the pups. First time mothers can become cannablistic if they are truly scared of the pups and don't know how to care for them.

Try introducing her to one pup at a time, but handle the pups as little as possible. She needs to get used to their smell and the sounds that they make.

If she will not feed even one pup at a time, you need to go to the pet store, buy puppy formula and bottles and begin feeding them every 2 hours.

You may also want to contact vets in your area and see if they know of any dogs that you can use as a surrogate mother. Sometimes dogs lose their litters, but still produce milk and it would be beneficial for that dog and your pups if they were placed together.

Make sure that the pups are kept warm and away from drafty areas. While mom won't go in with them, you need to keep a water bottle or a heating pad on low in with them. Make sure you also leave an area that is not heated that they can scoot to if they get overheated.

And, remember, if you have ANY problems, CALL THE VET!! Even though you're young, they will still give advice and try to help your dog and her pups!

Good luck!

Answer 4

I think you should take her in to the Vet. She may have a retained puppy still in her uterus and she is not taking care of the puppies because she is sick. Your dogs hormones may not have kicked in and your vet can give her an injection to help it along. When you go take her and the whole litter.

I was a Vet Tech for many years, and we recommended seeing all dogs within 24hrs of whelping to make sure their uterus did not retain any tissue or possibly a puppy, and make sure all the puppies were doing well.

Answer 5

how old is the mother? Is she under 2 years old? If so, she is way too young to have puppies. She is still a puppy herself and does not know how to take care of them. You will have to do all the things the mother would do for them. Is she feeding them? I had this problem myself when my toy rat terrier got pregnant by accident when she was a year old! She only had 1 puppy, but refused to take care of it. We would force her to feed the puppy, but had to clean them up and put on heating pad to keep warm. Unfortunately, the pup is dead now, she did not get the nurturing from the mom and it affected her. She turned mean and bit several people and we had no alternative but put her down. Please, if you cannot care for these pups call a humane society. They will take care of them.

Answer 6

Is she very young?

If she isn't feeding them, you have to force her or bottle feed them yourself. They also need to be stimulated to urinate/defacate by rubbing there genitals with a soft cloth, they will not otherwise.

Don't you have any books on puppy care? If not, go to the bookstore, there are many good ones.

I don't think you are to blame for not knowing what you're doing, but your parents SURE should have educated themselves before breeding.

Answer 7

My dog has her pups one day and later that day will leave the bathroom to visit with us, while my other dog would not leave the bathroom for a week when she had her pups. We had to cloase the door and sit in the bathroom for five minutes every half hour to make sure my dog gave all the pups milk.

Answer 8

Sometimes animals refuse to take care of there offspring if there is something wrong w/the babies take them to the vet and have them check out.... And make sure you feed them yourself.

Answer 9

I'm not sure what the problem is, but if it continues, you need to get them an "adoptive" mother or start bottle feeding them yourself, or they wont survive.

Answer 10

oh well you gotta give them time, they need to be together BUT make sure that when they "play" they don't play too rough. Have them bond my dog was like that but eventually they get to play nice.