Hi,

Bit of a shock tonight when my bitch 'went' for one of her puppies. The puppy was up around her ears/face and she gave a grumble then went for the puppy! The puppies are 2 weeks old tomorrow. Any ideas why this would happen and anything I can do?

Would get your bitch checked out at the vets asap, I have had this once with a large breed, had been a fantastic mom with her previous litter and for the first 2 weeks with this one, then started to grumble at them, kept a very close eye on her till I could get her to the vets, she turned out to have nothing more than a very sore throat, needed antibiotics and just generally didn't want to be bothered, put puppies on in two's for a couple of days just to keep the milk going and after 3 days she was happy to feed and play with them again, and have them with her, but it was very scary at the time, suppose it could be ear infection, belly ache,  anything that makes her feel bad.  Best of Luck, and I wouldn't take my eyes off her, if you have to leave them for a few mins, take them away altogether where they cant get to her, 

....thanks for replying so quick! She has got some spots around her mouth and I've just had a good look and one looks a bit weepy. I s'pose that could be why she snapped ie her face/mouth is sore. I've just given her some honey (in case she has a sore throat) and I will bath her spots. I'll watch her overnight and see how she is in the morning before I ring the vets.  You're right it is a bit of shock to see them snap at such wee babies but of course they have no other way of telling us something is wrong.

Thanks once again!

I would not leave her alone with the pups just in case and a trip to vets sounds like a good idea,
my EBT turned on her only pup withing the first week of having him after thinking all was going well she then turned and tried to bite the poor boys head off we tried to get her to settle with him after vet said she was ok but im affraid we mostly hand reared the poor chap as mum just wernt interested in him at all and you could see her turning withing 10 minutes of putting him with her, it really was not nice so i would be very careful and watch her like a hawk,

i could also be wrong here but maybe the pup being at eye leavel with her made her grumble and snap i know my girl never liked her pup looking her in the eyes, sounds nuts i know but was just little things i noticed at the time,
best of luck and congrates on your new litter, im sure others will be on to give you some better advice than mine also so keep checking in xx

A bitches mouth can become very sore from cleaning the pups and also the amniotic fluids.  I find it a good idea to rub Vaseline onto their muzzles.

Also Eclampsia can result in aberant behaiour, and is a serious life threatening thing.

Also are you feeding Mum in the whelping box, as I have had bitches grumble at pusp when they take interest in Mums food.

..........no mum is being fed out of the welping box. I've been bathing the spots and giving her sulphur tablets for them and this morning there seems to be an improvement with them. She has spent a bit more time in the box with the pups and wasnt as growly when they went near her head - although I am trying to keep them away from her head end!

Hopefully we're over the worst of it!

I would still put the Vaseline on as it gives a protective barrier as well as being soothing.