most of you will know the problems ive been having with getting my girl to eat from her having her puppies ,pups are 5 weeks and 1 day old ,mum is now back with her sister atfer not wanting to be with her pups she started eating again with us having to force feed her but yesterday she wanted to feed pups ,im not stipping her she has free run to them so she when in and feed them 1st time in 48h but today she wouldnt eat! so am i wrong to stop her from feeding them at all now cus it will mean stopping her from going in to them at all!..it seems if she feeds them she dont want to eat when she dont she eats ,she carnt aford not to eat ,i carnt have her not eating for another week ,dont know what to do for best?
thanks x

Have you tried feeding her the same food as the pups, at the same time, beside them? Sometimes the thought that there is competition is enough to get them started.

Or have you tried mixing tinned dog food wth her food? Or fresh fish, poached and liquidised.

ive tryed everything ,mum not go anywhere near pups when theres food in their pen anyway ,she only eats when shes back with her sister and dont have anything to do with pups :( ,i think im just going to have to keep her away if thats the only way she will eat , my other girl (i have 3) older and has had pups before, she is playing with them ,we call her nanna :) shes great with them ,i just feel so sorry for mum :(

Hello White Lilly - I would wean her off them completely.  Sometimes you have to take control and do what is best for the bitch, obviously if it is left to her she will continue to feed them at the expense to her health.

Good luck

Or you could feed her with her sister and then let her have access to the pups after shes fed, if she wants to feed and play with them. Then let her have her meal with her sister again. At five weeks my bitches take several hours away from the pups, then they decide they really ought to see them at some point and then spend an hour or so with them for a quick feed and a play then they are off again.

Mine are usually pretty much weaned at 5 weeks, mum still topping up, but they could cope on their own if they had to.

dogsdinner is right!

Hi rocknrose,
she was doing that and starting to eat very well for 2 days then she went into her babbies and that was it she stopped eating even tho she was still with her sister after and at meal time, it seems that when she goes to her pups she not eat that day ,yesterday she eat nothing at all and this morning she was very sick ,my breed do this when there tums are empty and their hungry ,so she eat everything this morning but hadnt been with pups ,so thats it now im going to have to keep her away from them :( but thankyou x

I see, well if she won't take even intermittantly feeding and then eating with her sister,  then I agree..wean them off her.

At five weeks they should be working up to being fully weaned if not already. I reckon its the way forward but what a nightmare its been for you. Theres other posts somewhere about breeding not being a pleasure. I agree, the word 'stress' does not even begin the cover it.

Hi rocknrose ,im so ready for some sleep ,last night was the 1st time in bed for me!! i fell in at 1am and was up again at 6 :( how anyone can say breeding is a wonderful thing to do, ive lost alot of weight ,my kids are suffering because im so worried about mum and pups for the last 5weeks and i still will till they go ,they are fully wean'd now and enjoy goats milk to drink and water ,but i watch every bit of food they eat and worry its not enough ,but their growing well and playing well ,but it dont stop me LOL....x

And then you'll cry your eyes out when they go LOL

I know I do.

o yes buckets full i always do LOL and worry again till new family ring me to say they have settled LOL