Our female had her second litter of pups 4 weeks ago. After the second week her behavior started to change. She has started to bark allot. not incessantly but enough to really become annoying. She is with her pups on and off during the day, as we are starting to ween but the barking is starting to make us all a little nuts. We have 2  other dogs. A male that sleeps in my sons room and a pup we kept from last litter that sleeps in the crate next to her barking mother.

She is healthy with no other issues. Any thoughts?

Do you know why she's barking? Dogs rarely bark for no reason, is she attention-seeking or something?

Don't know if I am reading this right but is the bitch also crated at night?  Is she in the same room as the pups but simply not in with them?

I wonder if she is objecting to the presence of another dog in the room.

If YOU are weaning instead of her tailing it off naturally, she could be protesting or in pain with over-full teats and wanting access to her pups?  I always give mums AAA(access all areas) passes while they are going through the entire process.  They know better than me what's needed when.

>If YOU are weaning instead of her tailing it off naturally, she could be protesting or in pain with over-full teats and wanting access to her pups?  I always give mums AAA(access all areas) passes while they are going through the entire process.  They know better than me what's needed when.

Thats what I would be concerned about, especially if you started weaning around 2 weeks.

Or as Stooge mentioned, she could be objecting to another dog being in with her, even if it is her daughter.

The pups are 5 weeks today. She has free access to her pups and the 2 females have been crated next to each other, in separate crates, for nearly a year now. As far as her pups go she has been spending less and less time with them since week 2. We watch their weight and have been supplementing her feeding. This is totally new behavior for her and her routine is no different that it has ever been before.

> She has free access to her pups and the 2 females have been crated next to each other

I don't understand why a lactating bitch would be crated?  I would bark too, if you did that to me.  Is there a valid reason for caging a recently whelped bitch?

> This is totally new behavior for her and her routine is no different that it has ever been before.

I think the point is that, having just had puppies, her routine SHOULD be different.  Perhaps we are misunderstanding your post but you've commented on how annoying this is for you without seeming to understand her distress.  Even if she has previously been comfortable with the other dogs in the same room as her it's quite normal for her to feel differently with pups to look after.  Can you exclude the other dogs from this area?

Have you ever heard of leaving the door open? But allowing her to have access to a place she is comfortable?

Of course her routine is different. But no different than any other time she has has puppies.

Try moving the other dog out and see if the barking stops. 

Of course her routine is different. But no different than any other time she has has puppies.

By my reckoning it has to be different as you said your dog sleeps in your son's bedroom and the other bitch was kept from this bitch's last litter -so last time that bitch did not exist as an adult and therefore wasn't sleeping in a cage next to the other bitch.

My girls normally all sleep and spend their time in the same room, but none of them would be happy with another adult in the same room their pups are in for at least two or three weeks. After this time they will tolerate another dog in the room (actually I move the pups to where they are in the kitchen) as long as they don't come close to the pups, and would not be Happy with them freely interacting until over 5 weeks.

One of them will not allow another dog near her pups for four weeks, and is more tolerant (sees them less of a threat) of the older bitches that have had litters of their own.  These bitches never want to go near the pups.  A younger inexperienced bitch or puppy, or sometimes a male they may view as a threat.

Your bitch may not be assertive enough to make ti clear she doesn't like the presence of the other bitch, but making her uneasiness clear with her barking.

Why not crate the young bitch alongside the male, and leave the mother to her duties unmolested.

>But no different than any other time she has has puppies.

But then she wasn't with another bitch, was she? Because the bitch she's with now is her daughter from the last litter (if I've understood you right).

You really need to discover why she's barking, when she didn't last time. Is it the presence of the other bitch making her anxious? Does she want to be with the pups and can't get to them? At this stage all my dogs were allowed (by the bitch) to be near the pups and none were crated; does she have free access to her own babies?

Have you ever heard of leaving the door open? But allowing her to have access to a place she is comfortable?

So the crate is just a typical den rather than a dog bed for her to come and go to whenever she pleases, door always open? That is fine if the door is always open. :-) It is just where she is choosing to sleep in her own crate.

Can she see the pups from her bed?

What kind of barking is it? There are all different kinds, from calling out to her pups, perhaps just replying to their noises during the night? To being stressed and worried for her pups due to her older daughter being there, calling for your help? So many different reasons to bark and I agree it needs getting to the bottom of, have you tried staying downstairs with her to see if it stops then? Or maybe then getting an idea of what sets her off. Is the older daughter in the same room as her during the daytime as well if so it must be something else. Does the barking only happen at night?

Often the dam will not integrate as much with her pups a wee clean a wee top up feed a little socialising and manners teaching, then goes about her own business as nails and teeth will hurt her about now, if they all rush for a feed,  but it does not mean she does not need to see them, this could be the problem depending on your set up?