Mama Dog has a date for spaying in a week; can I keep her overnight with her pups the night before?

Question

I had to separate mother and pups early due to some medication the mama dog had to have. She's been separated for about 2 weeks, and her pups are 6 weeks old approximately. I tried letting the 2 remaining pups out to play with mama yesterday, and they immediately tried to attach to her teats, which are quite small now compared to when she was nursing them. My question is, is there any danger in keeping mama penned up with the pups overnight before the spaying operation if the pups might possibly try to nurse on her? She and the pups are outside dogs and she cannot be allowed to eat after 9 p.m. the night before the operation, and we only have the one pen. She has been known to hide wild game and gnaw on it, so we can't let her just sleep in her Dogloo on the porch like she's been doing. The pups normally stay in the pen closed up for safety. I just want to be sure that mama will be ok with this arrangement and that it won't affect her spaying the next day. These are rescued dog/pups.

Well, it is now *pup* instead of pups, since we found a home for one of them. I tried another go with pup hanging around mom but again, he went straight for the teats; mom doesn't seem to mind much, so I had to pull the pup away myself. It's looking like a lonely time for the pup in the pen for awhile, because she has to shrink up before the surgery (she is pretty shrunken now but I don't want to give her any reason to start producing milk again!)

Answer 1

Not a good idea to pen the pups up overnight with the mom. They will try to nurse and mom won't get much rest. I would have her spend the night before her surgery at the vets office.

Answer 2

Can you keep the mama locked in maybe the garage? Even if she's not producing milk, there is a chance she could start back up. Some animals have produced milk even if they haven't had a litter. Another option you could do is keep mama locked in her pen and lock the pups in your bathroom (easiest room to clean up) or a laundry room? The medication she is on or was on, could still be in her milk if she's still producing. You don't want the babies getting it. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Answer 3

Find a way to seperate them. Pups can be a awfully persistant when it comes to mom being right there. If your dog hasn't been nursing them then she may become a bit nasty to the pups.

Answer 4

What I would do is find some kind of box big enough for the puppies to stay in and not be able to get out but small enough for the mom to get out of so if the puppies are bothering her she can just walk away from them.

Answer 5

I don't think it will bother her to be with her pup's before her spaying, but I sure would keep them apart for a while after the spaying she will need her rest.

Answer 6

I think so, but if you have already seperated them then why get them back together, find a different place to keep her, I understand your need to keep her up though.

Answer 7

Well, if she hasn't been feeding them, and she is not producing milk, and they harass her, you risk her biting the puppies to try and get away from their hurtful little teeth and nails.

Answer 8

Good question to ask your vet..You can get the answer quickly by phone call. I would think it would be fine, but I sure would ask first.

Answer 9

I think you fine if you just keep them in different places

Answer 10

You better keep them separated. Where she hasn't been nursing them, she won't appreciate them pestering her, and might get nasty about it.