What do I do?

Question

I have a mother rat terrier that just had a litter of pups. The pups are only 4 days old and the mother is growling at them, when they try to nurse. I do have puppy formula on hand and a heating pad....I just hate to take the mother away if I don't need to. I don't know what to do. I don't know if she will hurt the babies or not....it is not a playful growl. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

For Cavalier Mom:
Just to let you know, the mother is not normally aggressive. This is the first time that I have ever seen any aggressive behavior from her. You know what the say when you *** U ME something, before you know the facts! This is Ellie's first litter and my second.

Answer 1

Do her nipples look sore or irritated? Are they unusally swollen? It's possible she may have mastitis, or she may just be too full, and that is what is causing the pain. Or as her first litter, she may be confused by the pups.

If they don't look sore or irritated, try milking her and seeing if you can relieve the pressure. If they are too full, she won't want them to nurse as it's really painful. Once you get them emptied a bit, try and let the pups nurse then, she may be more inclined once the pressure is off.

If she still isn't interested and is growling at them, hold her down gently, and praise her, tell her what a good mommy she is, how proud you are, etc. That sweet, singsong voice that is soothing and lets her know it's ok, and this is a good thing.

I once provided stud service for a friend, and helped with the whelping. Her dog, gave birth to the first pup, turned and looked at it like it was from mars, and quickly shoved it not-so-gently into the corner of the whelping box and proceeded to bury it in the newspapers! My friend asked me what she was doing, was she trying to keep the pup warm? I had to ask her how many of her own children did she bury at birth for that reason! It was obvious that Sugar didn't want the pups and was ashamed. I had my friend praise and sweet talk her until she was happy to be a mommy, and Sugar turned out to be very attentive once she knew it was a good thing and her mom was proud of her!

If you can't get her to safely nurse them, you're going to have to remove them and do it yourself.

Answer 2

Elle is suffering from motherhood, she may not know what to do since first litter, you need to sit with her as much as you can, talk to her quietly,, its okay girl, its okay, let the pups feed, try not to take away from her....when she growls, its a very gentle no, and make sure she lets the pups nurse....Rat terriers are great moms, she may just be very scared herself..

try this and see if it helps, the pups will be much stronger if left with mom, she will provide the immune system they need thru her milk, not formula....but sometimes you have to...I had a female 2 yrs ago, that would not accept the pups, her first litter, we took them away, by the 2nd day, she wanting back into the whelping box and she nursed them like she had never been mean to them...today she is one of my best females....try it, and it no improvement, only if she wont let them nurse, then take them away,,,call your vet to see how much formula dose you should feed...it depens on the breed size......good luck, I think she will be okay, and you sound like a very good responsible dog owner....

Answer 3

is your dog a first time mother?? This could be a reason - she may not think the pups are hers or she just doesn't know what to do with them. Is she only growling when they nurse? or when they get close to her? If it is when they nurse - is the hair on her belly shaved? it could be uncomfortable for her. It would be best for the pups to get milk from her since their immunity builds up from the mother's milk. If you are confident that she won't bite you then i suggest that you hold her down to allow the pups to nurse at that time. Sit with her - give her attention when she nurses the pups. give her puppy milk formula to reward her if she is nursing her pups. You will have a rough few weeks ahead of you but once she starts accepting the pups it'll be a lot easier - our corgi refused to feed sometimes, but we held her down and that seemed to work, but she was never aggressive towards people. btw have you taken her to the vet after she had her pups? she should get a dose of oxytocin (not sure how u spell that) it would help her expell any remaining particles inside the uterus. While you take her in for this, ask the vet about her behavior towards the pup

Answer 4

Four day old pups.. I take it she has only recently started growling at them? Does she want to spend time with them otherwise? Does she do everything else for them such as licking their behinds etc? If she is being motherly in every other way except for nursing then i would say she is experiencing some teat soreness and she should overcome it, be sure she isn't actually snapping at the pups and, apart from the growling, be sure that she actually wants to spend time with them. If she is ignoring them mostly then you will probably have to rear them yourself. I would think that its too early for mastitis to develop, but if she has it look for hard lumps all along her mammery/stomach line. Mastitis is an infection that will show as a hard area and will need antibiotics.

Answer 5

Does the dog growl at you too or just the pups? If you are right there will that keep the dog calm? But a check with the Vet should be done. I would guess because this is her first time she isn't sure what to do and it must be sore for her. Good luck.

Answer 6

Take your dog and puppies to the Vet to be examined. She may be super sensitive when her nipples are touched.

And BTW good job with doing temperament testing on your dog prior to breeding her. Don't you realize that when the parents have aggression issues it gets bred down to their offspring. That is why so many dogs wind up in shelters.

EDIT: Sorry i made that statement about the temperament testing but most people out there are Back Yard Breeders. I've worked for a high kill city animal shelter and have had to euthanize dogs. Most people are just breeding their dogs for profit. If my dog was acting that way towards the puppies I'd take her the Vet as soon as i could get an appointment. Like i said before she could be having some kind of Breast infection causing her Breast to be sensitive to the touch.

Answer 7

growling????? that's not normal. i would take the pups. unfortunate for you, you'll have to care for them though. Better to do that then to see little babies like that getting hurt. if you feel like something is going to happen - go with your instinct.

Answer 8

Is this her first litter? I would watch her very closely. Puppies can get dehydrated very, very fast, so you need to watch that too. If you end up feeding them, they need to be fed every four hours. Good luck!

Answer 9

She might have mastitis, a painful infection of her teats. Bring her to a vet, bring the puppies too. He will be able to help. Good luck.

Answer 10

Get her to a vet. pronto, it looks like she has pain. Something might have gone wrong during delivery. Dogs will rarely hurt their off-spring. It h*ll giving birth!