My lovely girl had a litter on Wednesday night, she started off ok with them, she is a first time mum and this is also my first litter, but since sunday she has not seamed interested in them..she has been digging holes in the garden and lying in them as if her teats were hot, I've spoken to my vet and have anit-inflammatory tablets for her.
She is feeding them and cleaning them but only if I make her go to them, she will not go to them on her own even if they are screaming, she will only stay and feed them, then she is off. Does anyone have any idea's on how i might make her more interested in them?

> Does anyone have any idea's on how i might make her more interested in them?
>

I think it varies tremendously the level of interest that different bitches display but I think they pretty much all get less "clingy" rather than more so as time goes on so this may be something you will just have to work with.  At least she is going to them when prompted.
Has you vet actually seen and examined her?

Hiya, Do you think that perhaps you have the whelping box/ room too hot?

I had this issue with Cher, also a first time mom.  I stayed with her, and petted her while she was feeding her pups saying "Good girl" and stuff like that.  I also put some canned food on the pups so she would clean them off.  Dont know if it truely helped anything, but she became better with the pups.  Now that the pups are weaned, I am having a beast of a time trying to get her away from them!  LOL.  Whenever they make a sound, she is whining at the gate barking as if to say "LET ME IN"

HTH. 

No advice really, just to say my bitch was very similar.  The first couple of days she was great, then I had to make her go in to feed.  She totally ignored any cries.  I just noted down the last time she fed them and would encourage her to go in about every two hours or when they cried. Had to take shifts through the night for 4 weeks.  When she finally got in the whelping box and lay down, she was OK as long as I was touching her!  I actually started to wean them early, about 2 weeks as I was concerned she would totally reject them, but she was fine, just hard work!
Good luck

i have had the same problem with my girl 1st litter ,she didnt want to feed them to start with then she was ok but the pups would cry al greatl the time and their weight wasnt great so at 2 1/2 weeks old i started to wean them and omg the poor babys were sooo hungery ,i think she just wasnt making much milk for them (large breed very small litter ,only 4 of them) but now 5weeks later there half a stone in weight :) love their food and now mum dont feed them at all she runs amile when they run after her :) ....

we had to hold her down at times for her to feed them at the start and make her get into them every 2h then 3h till she wouldnt go in but i was luckly thay were so hungry for food ..

good luck with your litter ,enjoy as thay grow so fast and time flys and then thay go :(

Is your whelp box covered? she may not feel its safe. they like it quite dark and cosy in the early days. If she is acting a little strange digging and looking around as if she has lost something try giving her some ice cream or really cold milk  that has been in the freezer for 5 mins  or so calcium levels can make Mums act peculiar they dont always need medication for this just a top up from you can do the trick ( it happens with Mum to my litter each time but a little cold milk works wonders)
Have you tried lying in the box with her to let her know what you want her to do ie:keep putting puppies on the teat talk to her and stroke her , it doesnt always come naturally some Mums are not good at looking after a litter I am afraid and you have to be firm.  Once she feels better in herself, as it is a big strain on mum , she will hopefully gain a little more confidence.
I stay with my Mum and puppies all of the time and I feed her in the whelp box by hand for the first week or so then I give her her bowl but still in the pen as she only really leaves puppies when I do.
Everyone understands thier own bitch best so do what you think she needs at this time .
If you are really concerned and the puppies are not gaining weight you may need to have her seen by the vet or top up with a bottle.

Roni

The temperature in the room is 68F, I have a heat lamp which I only have on when she is not there..the pups lie in the circle of warmth.  She was panting like mad, so I keep it off whem she is there. 

It's funny, she loved the whelping pen before the pups came, struggled to get her out of it some times!! I have tried giving her some ice cream, I'll try some cold milk. I have been staying with her, getting her to lie down, putting the pups on and staying there until she is calm..this does seem to work, but then she leaves..
I've tried to feed her in the pen as well, by hand and with a bowl, sometimes she will eat sometimes not!
It's very hard to force a 7 1/2 stone dog to do anything..but i'm trying very hard..
We took her to the vets to be checked after the pups were born and everything was fine, she had a scan and exray's to be sure everything was ok inside.

Thanks for all your replys, I will continue to put her with the pups every 2-3 hours and hope she settles down.

God love her :)

it is normal for her to pant for a good while yet she may have a little pain whilst everything is going back into place after the birth. As long as she is feeding the puppies dont worry too much and make sure she is getting plenty of fluids ie: lactol or whelpi with water to keep her milk supply up.
also check her teats that they are not hard or sore this could also make her not want to stay with the puppies.

Are the pups claws trimmed? sometimes this will put a bitch off if they have sharp claws.