I adopted a red doberman 6 wks ago 2 weeks ago she had pups. She is mean to them, bites, snarls?

Question

she had 9 pups. she kept moving them all over the house even though we tried to keep her on the back porch, which is heated, or in the corner of a room. She would snarl and bite the pups at times especially when we came near so we tried to stay away. She layed on most of her pups and killed them one by one, I took them away for 24 hours and bottle fed because she was getting so aggressive with them. I gave them back to her 8 days ago and so far they are okay even though she is snarling at them alot. She wants to be in our bedroom and even in bed with us but we cant have her that close when she is acting aggressive like this. I have let her keep them in my room for 2 nights now and she is a little more relaxed than she was on the porch but still she woke us up snarling and the pups yelping at 4am. She is very obedient to me and my husband and friendly to all people but she does get protective of her pups of course. I have owned Dobermans before and never seen this behavior. HELP!

Unfortunately I dont know her background,nor did anyone realiz she was pregnant when I adopted her. My other Dobie had pups and I had no problems like this, never heard of this tye of nightmare. She will be fixed for sure after this! She seems to love AND hate her pups. It is difficult to separate her from the pups as I live in a small home with no garage, only a back porch. She goes crazy when she hears her pups and starts jumping on the doors and barking. It would have been easier for me if she would hve abandonded them and had no interest but thats not the case. I thought of boarding her at the kennel til the pups are gone. Then I could care for the pups without the stress of her intimidation. I onlywish I had known her longer before we went throgh this together as we have not had a chance to build mutual trust. What do you think.?

Thanyou all for the wondefuladvice. I have taken the pups and gave her the Ace 25 the vet gave me. She is til wining at the back door as she wants her pups but she will just abuse them if I did so she cannot be aound thm at all. I will probably kennel her for 2-3 weeks and visit her ti the pups are gone. I consulted a Dobie breeder locally. She had a bitch kill all her pups once and recommended I not let her around the pups at all and remove her from the house til she forgets the pups, then get her fixed.

Answer 1

The first thing I would do is consult a vet. He or she may have advice, or may be able to point you in the direction of a Doberman breeder in your area with specific experience in this situation.

We've had one or two aggressive bitches in the past (though we have a toy breed), and the fact is there's not much you can do about the way your dog is acting, except to make sure she never has puppies again. For now, though, your best bet is to separate them for a few hours every day. She's probably overwhelmed by all these puppies (especially if she's young, or a first time mother). Keep them in a warm area with a few hot water bottles covered in towels for them to snuggle up to. You'll have to change the water in these every hour or two- you can even use soda bottles, they work fine (and your puppies are bigger, so they can hug them with no problem). Get a couple of fluffy towels to help them retain their heat, and you could even stick a cheap alarm clock with a second hand (alarm off!) in the towel to simulate the mother's heartbeat.

Once they start toddling around on their own (about three weeks, I think), you can take them away permanently and feed them on yourself. At that point they can eat food, though it'll have to be specially prepared.. We mix a bit of oatmeal and oatmeal juice with milk replacer or evaporated milk (reconstituted), rice cereal (found in the baby aisle of the grocery store) and some kibble that was put through the blender or food processor, until powder. The end result is about the consistency of very wet sand, and it stinks. :) If you end up feeding them yourself, you'll have to teach them to eat from a dish (hint: start with your fingers, scooping food from the dish, and keep lowering your fingers until they're in the dish, and the pup eating from the dish itself), and be handy with a rag to wipe food from their noses so they can breathe.

Let the mother in with a few of the pups at a time and see how she reacts. If she still wants nothing to do with them, don't force it. But you will have to teach the puppies how to be dogs. That means playing with them, spending time with them when they're sleeping, and not being afraid to be a little rough with them when they get snarky (tip them on their back and growl a little if they're being mean). There's a line between meanness and puppy play, though, so you might want to seek advice on that one so you're not traumatising your pups.

But, um. Yeah. Lots goes into raising puppies without their mother. Speaking to a vet or a seasoned Dobbie breeder should be your highest priority in this situation.

Answer 2

I'm sorry you're going through this, I'm not much help as I've never had a mother that was aggressive with pups.

Please spay this girl and spay/neuter all her pups. Not only is she being a poor mother but her lack of mothering skills will be passed on to her daughters (this I have experienced). Her aggression is a real issue.

Personally, if these were my pups I would remove them from their mother completely and handrear them. At about 18 days you can usually get them to start eating mush (high quality kibble mixed with puppy formula)... its a bit young but better than having her pups learn aggression..

I'm going to star this and hope that someone with more experience with aggressive mothers will see it.

Answer 3

ok so the mother is taking care for now i always start weaning as early as possible as soon as our pups are 3 weeks old and eyes are open we start the weaning using porridge or weetabix. so mother is taken away during the day and only left with the pups at night but when the pups are eating well at about 4 1/2 weeks take the mother away from the pups and leave food with the pups during the night so now your feeding and cleaning them i know it easy to let the mother do it but if you want the mother to look her best and the pups not to bite her whilst after milk this is the only option for you. ensure the pups have a good supply of food and water and only let them see there mom once they are fed. try and let the pups in the garden after each meal so that they learn to go to the toilet outside. and its less mess for you to clean up don't sell the pups until they are 7 weeks plus

Answer 4

Your dog is not social enough for motherhood, for any variety of reasons (taken away from her own mother too young, etc.). You need to take the pups away and, if possible, find a nice, social dog to be a surrogate. One more thing: get your Doberman spayed - it's not worth taking the time to make her a good mother and there are enough puppies out there.

Answer 5

I've never had a doberman before but I'll try and help maybe she thinks if she's nice to the pups they'll get more attention than her try to pay attention to her and the pups at once see how that goes.

Answer 6

I have. You're going to have to take the pups from her permanently and get her spayed. It's pretty clear she is not enjoying motherhood.

Answer 7

To me it seems that she does not like her puppies or was not ready to have them. Try to keep them away from her when she is mad, and keep them near her when she is more relaxed. I'm not positive that it will work, but maybe.

Answer 8

I would have taken them away and bottle fed them. Some dogs just aren't good parents.