My bitch (breed name removed) had a litter of 6 pups on sat lunch time- 4 born between 10.30am- 12.30 then a still born born at 9.15pm and finally a runt at 10pm. sadly the runt died the sunday early morn ( she had never taken it in with the others).
She appears to be an awful mum, constantly sitting on the pups and most alarmingly the scratches her vets bed up into a ball often scrabbling or throwing the pups quite viciously out the way. she does this regardless of wether im right next to her or not.
We lost a further two puppies between 8-10pm last night and are now left with two.
Bella will allow them to lay near her but not between her legs where they should be, usually either at her feet or by her head, when i put the pups there she just wriggles herself away or licks the pups til there where she wants them.
She doesnt seem to allow them to feed- never laying out for them or nudging them into place.

Im desperatly worried for the welfare of both pups and mum. im terrified shes gonna seriously hurt one of them as she will pick them up by there head in her mouth or squash them or suffocate them

they currently have a heat lamp over them as i worry that as she is digging the bed so much that the heat mat would end up expossed to the pups.

I have constantly spoken with my vets who say i must hold her down and force her to feed them as its her job and not mine and then ensure she toilets them which is all easier said than done. And that i should stay with her ( which i have for the last 2 1/2 days) although my pressence doesnt stop her throwing the pups around, if i remove her as soon as she goes back in she starts again.

she seems to have no natural mothering ability and im truely scared to death. Bella came to me in whelp when a friend of a friend of a friend supposdly couldnt keep her, apparently this isnt her first litter, although i dont know if she was a rubbish mum which is why they moved her along.

PLEASE HELP IM AT THE END OF MY TETHER AS TO KNOW HOW TO HELP MUM AND PUPS

ALL ADVICE GRATEFULLY RECIEVED

im sorry i cant help much but it sounds like you may have to take over and feed them yourself before you lose the pups good luck

My bitches always scratch furiously at their bedding after the birth. I think when the uterus is contracting, it is painful, so to relieve some of this they scratch and bite at their beds. I always have a small box with next to the whelping box so that as soon as she starts scratching I can quickly put the pups into the box, let her scratch away for a good 10 mins with them safely out of the way. Once she has finished, straighten out the bed and put pups back into feed. I "slept" next to the whelping box for 3 to 4 weeks just incase Mum trod on a pup (even though the whelping box has rails inside) It does sound as though you might need to suplement the pups though.

Have they fed from the mother at all?  I would agree with the vet in large part but I know this is difficult if you are dreadfully tired and panicky.  It needs you to be calm, firm and encouraging.  Have you someone you can share this with so you can at least alternate and get some sleep to help you with this challenge.

new mums can be over zealous in licking, and tend to, inadvertantly knock pups away from the teats.. putting them close to her is not working.. so you are going to have to try and get them latched on.. once they begin suckling, they will get the much needed colostrum AND it MAY also help kickstart those maternal hormones.. latching a puppy on can be quite difficult, and if you have someone who can sit with mum.. while you do this.. it will be much easier for all concerned...

if someone can be at mums head, while she is lying on her side.. gently massaging her ears, neck, anywhere she enjoys being touched.. you can then concentrate on placing a puppy ON the teat, not just close to it.. once pups are latched on.. stay with mum.. gently talking to her, telling her what a clever girl/good girl she is.. poor thing is scared stiff.. so much seems to have happened to her over the last few weeks.. plus the pain of uterus contracting.. all adds up to a distressed dog...

Also.. has the vet seen her to determine that there isnt anymore pups left inside her.. It is quite normal for the scratching and digging.. My summer took out a chunk of wall 2ft x 1ft plaster and brick..she didnt bother with the bedding.. she literally climbed the wall..

Give mum Something to dig into.a pile of old newspapers to shred, or some old blankets, and place the pups in a safety box.. I used an old whicker cat basket with a water bottle under some bedding as my 'hot box'..

You will need to stay with mum 24/7, this is quite normal, even under normal circumstances.. be strong.. and keep trying with those pups..

Good luck

Firstly, get the vet to check mum over to hopefully confirm she is physically well.

Don't leave her on her own with the pups.  I am guessing you have only known the mum for a very short while, so it must be distressing for her to be in a strange environment and to just given birth to the pups. She needs lots of love and attention too, so i would feed her some good quality foods incl. maybe chicken/white fish/rice etc as she will probably have an upset tum for 7-10 days.  Get some natural bio plain yoghurt to help her with the tum.  Is she in a quiet, warm, cosy area of the house? Do you have one member of the family or good friend that can also help you?  Its just when you haven't slept it gets even more difficult to even think. Also don't let other people wander in and out from 'her and pups area'. 

Now the pups, when mum is not scratching etc and resting, then lay her down in the feeding position and put the pups to her teats.  Just before this squeeze the teats that you are going to 'use' for the pups on that occasion and if needed gently prise open the pups mouth so they can get the taste of the milk and hopefully they will latch on to mum's teats. As i said before do not leave them on their own with mum (this is why you need help now).  If you can't get them to feed at all, then you will need to hand feed them every 2 hours.

If you can get through the next few days then hopefully mum & pups will settle down.

Sorry if this post is a bit topsy turvy.  I hope that it all works out well for you all.  Good Luck x

you could try taking her out of the whelp box lay her on some blankets and put the puppies on the back teats lay with her talking calmly to her so that the puppies have a good suckle I have done this with the smaller babies so they get that little bit extra. Once they fall off place them back under the lamp and let her lay outside of the box if thats what she wants to do. My girl did a bit of digging I think you have to be firm with them , I presume the vet doesnt think she is suffering from low calcium levels? try giving her some very cold milk.
Even the best Mums tend to flop down on top of the puppies through sheer exhaustion , my girl fights to stay awake to watch her babies in the early days.
the number of times I have pulled a pup out I have lost count .I prefer to sleep with them until the day they leave, I put a single mattress in the  whelping room.

Much of what you are describing is infact normal behaviour, why do you think most of us will sleep next to our newly born pups and the dam for at least 2 weeks.

Bitches constantly scratch, upturn bedding, sit on their pups, clearly ignoring their squeals for help, if you don't wish to loose a pup particularly over the first few days you have to be there 24/7.

Place the pups to her teats to feed and I agree hold her on her side if she is not happy. Give her a few days to feel better and hopefully she will turn into a great mum, keep calm, and stay always in earshot and sight of her.

You need to make up a bed next to her and keep alert, it's what most of us have to do, if you are a heavy sleeper and every squeak and dig she makes is not likely to wake you up, I would recommend that you stay awake and then get someone to take over whilst you sleep.

Just accept she is not a 'rubbish mum' many, many bitches do the exact same things, relax and be extremely watchful, try to have your bitch lay on her side and then put them to teat. Make sure that the heat lamp is not making your bitch or the pups overheat as well, do you not have central heating?

Although you are to be watchful, unless tidying up bedding you really need to not interfere too much, just watch from a safe distance and hopefully she will bond and begin to care for her pups, sometimes over fussing can also cause too much stress.

Still scratching at the beding! sound like she is in pain. I would want the vet to check her.
There may be a puppy still inside her? If there is, she will not settle. Do you sleep with them?, hold them on boob?, is there milk when you squash the boo?. Does she feel threatend, Is there just you with her? She must feel relaxed leave the radio on low. I have a heat lamp as well as the central heating. She may not like the heat pad? A lot of bitches lay on there pups at first. That is why I never leave mine, We sleep down with them untill there eyes open. If a pup squeales and can't get on the boob we put them on and hold the smallest ones untill they have feed, they grow very quickly and get stronger.These are the things I would consider, give the girl chance, there are good moms and o.k. moms. Like us some need more suport than others.

Denese

thank you for all the response, i have and still am in constant contact with my vet and am following there advice.
Last night the vet finally decided they needed to see mum and pups. He gave Mum a internal check- theres nothing wrong there and her temp is still normal-he gave her a calcium injection to be on the safe side. he also gave the puppies an injection.
we came back home and touch wood bella appears much better- she will now lay with them and allow me to squeeze her teats alittle to get a bit of milk on end and then latch the puppies on, both have fed from her. She also is finally spending time layed down with them . So fingers crossed that the injection has helped her, and just pray its come in time to save these last few pups.
The vet also gave me life aid to syrine to the pups every couple hours. Although he did say he doesnt hold out much hope for them, if we can get them through the next 24-48 hrs there chance will become much better.

Unless I am misunderstanding your post do you mean those pups never actually got to feed from Mum until Monday??? 

If that is so then their deaths is not surprising, as pups need the first milk (Colostrum) to have the immunity they need to survive,  and this is usually only available for the first hours/day. 

Also pups need to feed every two hours, or basically almost continuously from their Mum for the first few days to bring the required milk in.

At this stage the pups will need to be put on Mum every hour and their weights checked and if not gaining then supplementing with a  good puppy milk until Mums milk comes in.

You must take care not to give too much supplement, as the bitches production is based on demand and supply, but enough for them to survive and gain strength.

It sounds as if you were totally unprepared for rearing a litter.