We had planned to lay a tiled heated floor in our dining room but the guy has been taken ill and has left our dining room with drafty floor boards so the pups are in the living room in the whelping box.i had planned to have them in the dining room away from everything and set up a bed in there for myself ect but it hasnt gone to plan so now shes in the only place i can have her and pups.
pups are two weeks old and normally shes a blooming pain in the bum with visitors as she loves to see people and wants cuddles(literally)from anyone who will give them lol.

my problem is last night my oh's ex boss came to see us and came straight over to the box where she was laying and put his hand in to her nose so she could sniff i suppose and she gave a slight warning growl and he took his hand away saying its my fault she has pups i shouldnt have put my hand in.
normally shes happy to see him and shes not done this to anyone eles ever,but for the first time ive picked up on him being nervous around my dogs.(before the growl)i never noticed it before but the way he approached her was nervous.can anyone tell me what i can do to make sure she doesnt seee this as an ok thing to do?
i know he shouldnt have gone near her box but i wasnt in the room i was coming downstairs to see him (oh let him in the house).
this is not acceptable and i dont let anyone and everyone near her pups.although she is happy for my sister to come and handle her pups while shes in the box and everyone eles if they want to look in the box they can.my sister followed him in the door and she did this to him and i asked her to pick up a pup which didnt bother my girl in the slightest.
any advise id be gratful as i feel im doing something wrong and i dont want to stress my girl out.

I'm sorry but it is only to be expected, she gave him a simple warning and that is not unacceptable in my book for a bitch to growl at a person not a family member who interferes with her nest without your presence.

> I'm sorry but it is only to be expected, she gave him a simple warning and that is not unacceptable in my book for a bitch to growl at a person not a family member who interferes with her nest without your presence.

ok thank you,im glad you have replied as you give sound advise.i trust your knowledge so thank you.x

sounds pretty normal to be honest, i wouldn't worry to much, she's just trying to be a good mum.

and heres me thinking something is wrong.
i know bitches with new pups are protective but it quite shocked me to hear him say she just growled at me!
another question,if she is prote tive now will she stay this way as i have people wishing to view puppies.i have told them from 3 weeks but now im wondering if i should leave it longer maybe?

of course its weird and shocking for you if shes normally a sweety :) someone with more breeding experience will be able to give you an idea of when they calm down- our girl was rather laxidasical about it from the start and was happy for people (granted immediate family and my aunty who bred her) to handle pups but she was weirdly chilled about it all (even let older pups in for a look).

play it by ear and see how she's reacting. i'm sure if she was still a little on edge nearer the time and you called your puppy buyers they'd be fine waiting to visit.

> i know bitches with new pups are protective but it quite shocked me to hear him say she just growled at me!

Bitches are overtaken by the need to protect their newborns so this reaction was really nothing but maternal instinct kicking in - some would have been much more vocal and perhaps stood up to posture at the potential intruder.

> if she is prote tive now will she stay this way

No, gradually she will become more relaxed but it is very early days and, if this is a first litter, she may be protective a little longer around strangers than would be the case if she'd been through this before.

> have people wishing to view puppies.i have told them from 3 weeks but now im wondering if i should leave it longer maybe?

Do any of these people know your bitch already?  If not then I wouldn't.  IMO viewing pups at 3 weeks is pointless from the new owners' POV because the pups are only beginning to become more mobile and there's a huge change by leaving things longer.  I had family, friends and neighbours visiting my litter regularly from early days but these people were all known already to my bitch so didn't upset her.  Nobody will be able to pick a puppy as early as 3 or even 4/5 weeks so unless you're in a fairly isolated location and have no-one who can help with socialising I personally wouldn't invite prospective owners until the pups were at least 5 weeks.

At whatever point you decide to introduce people to the litter, ensure they meet mum first and spend a while getting to know her - really to allow her to trust them - before bringing the pups in :)

HTH, Teri

My most loving and dopey girl would have been growling and standing in a threatening manner.  And I would fully expect her to.  I would be wondering about her maternal instincts if she wasn't protective. 

I know we all have different viewpoints on CD, but I am just giving my opinion.  If anyone tried to pick up a 3 week pup of mine, I would have their guts for garters.  But, to be fair, potential new puppy owners know when they reserve a pup, that they won't be invited to view until pups are 5 weeks.  I keep them up to date with photographs, and they have to wait until I'm happy for them to come and have a cuddle.  I make this quite clear before I accept anyone on my list.

Your bitch is doing what her instincts should be telling her to do.  You wouldn't normally have put her in a situation where she felt so threatened and stressed.  If things had gone according to plan, she would have been in a room to herself.

Nothing wrong with your girl.  :-)

yes she would have been in her own room where just me and her would stay at night and somewhere she'd be a lot more secluded.shes happy where she is though.i will say that.
when people come to view my pups they know they cannot touch.i dont allow it.they are simply viewing the litter and coming mainly to meet mum and dad.i want that to be clear.i wouldnt expect to handle a pup from a litter at the age of three weeks myself so wouldnt allow anyone to touch my girls babies.when the lady who is coming next week(pups will be 4 weeks on sunday and she is visiting on the friday)i will invite them into the dining room for a chat and a cuppa and they can meet my dogs in there away from the pups so she doesnt feel she has to protect her babies no matter what floor we have down ;-0.the lady ive been in touch with all since the pregnacy was confirmed is happy to wait and isnt bothered by the flooring not yet done,shes coming to meet my dawgies.lol
and thats how i like it.ill probably allow her to have a peek and a coo over babies if my girl wants a wee outside,but if she wants to be with her babies shes already said shes happy just seeing mum and dad.and shes doing a 5 hour trip and staying in a hotel the night.
i just wanted to know that my girl is doing whats right and that its to be expected.
thanx all whos helped me understand its normal.xxx

As she's in a 'public room' it might be an idea to put a temporary barrier - puppy panels or a plywood panel - a foot away from her whelping box, to give her some distance and to avoid any accidents ................

It also sounds quite normal to me. My Beardies & GSDs were very quick to pick up on anyone they didn't trust & although they were never aggressive, they definitely warned people off. People they knew & trusted were allowed to do as they liked with them & the puppies, in fact one of the Beardies(who loved the vets & especially the one who came to take off the dewclaws for us)was so happy to see the vet she didn't even bother when the puppies squeaked as they had their dewclaws removed. One of my GSD was half way through whelping when the same vet dropped by just to see her & she was all over him like a rash & even picked up a puppy & dropped it on his knee !! JJ(the vet)was a lovely man & all the dogs just adored him !

I went to see a friends Great Dane babies(at the breeders request) The bitch wouldn't let anyone but her & her son near the puppies, but when I drove up she heard my car(which she knew)& she brought me a puppy to inspect, when the puppies had their eyes open & were running around she didn't mind who came to see them as long as she was given cuddles & treats before the puppies !

With my latest litter I had one buyer visit at 3 weeks. The ONLY reason for allowing this was that this couple were EXTREMELY experienced dog people and knew full well how to act amongst dogs including potentially aggressive dogs. It said a lot that my Papillon bitch who is scared of strangers , particularly men, jumped on his lap within minutes. That never happens normally.They came in, made sure not to make eye contact, did everything right -and so were accepted -but grudgingly. At 5 weeks when everyone else came, the mum was MUCH more relaxed and loved meeting everyone.

When pups are newborn I don't even let my own kids near them.

As for reaching out the hand for the bitch to sniff -I don't like this. It's totally unnecessary, dogs have such a good sense of smell they don't need a hand shoved in their face to be able to smell them, and a bitch in her whelping box may very well take it the wrong way.

Tamara, to me your girl sounds like a perfectly normal mother. With the right instincts, and not overreacting at all.

I often visit only a couple of days old litters of my breed. It's vitally important to approach the mum and pups in the right way, to be able to inspect the pups (I check for dermoid sinus, which is a hands on procedure) It's to be expected that a bitch will protect her pups, especially if the owner isn't present. For someone only remotely familiar to the bitch to actually stick his hand in the whelping box, without you being there for reassurance, is in my eyes just stupid. Well done to your girl for reacting so soundly!
Karen

Perhaps he was cautious as he knew she had pups, rather than nervous. I would say she was fine, just gave a small warning, nothing too strong, but just enough to tell him to back off.

I helped whelp a working bred Golden last year. I did all the whelping as the owner was a complete  novice at breeding and I knew he would definitely stress the bitch. This bitch knows me very well and I knew she would trust me. After whelping was over, all of a sudden I saw her bare her teeth at me and I knew that she was telling me to leave her alone now with her pups. I took the hint. Went to see her after a few weeks and she was all over me again. Some bitches are just so much more protective.