Hi, could realy do with some advice as ive never had this happen before, i will try to explain..

My bitch had pups on 1st jan this year, before having the pups she was of very sound temperment with no problems ever shown, excellent with kids and my other pets and a great little all round dog, since having the pups she has started to change, now i know some bitches can be protective towards their pups and i put her change down to this, shes been in her whelping room and my daughter and all other pets have been kept well away from her, when i was going in to check/weigh the pups she would sit in the corner growling and showing her teeth but nothing more, however shes now turned on the pups twice and when ive rushed in to check shes turned on me! again i can handle her been funny with me although i dont see why as she trusts me and knows me well, its the fact she has turned on the pups and they arent even walking yet so its not like they have played too rough, she also growles when feeding the pups and isnt to happy on been anywhere near them (ive clipped there nails just incase it was hurting her and had her vet checked just incase i had missed anything), so yeasterday i try leaving the whelping room door open, i sent my other dog to my mums for the day and all other pets were kept well away again, my bitch has come into the family room and had a go at my daughter and growled everytime anyone moved in the room, im so worried about this change in temperment as my daughter is young and is now scared to death of our bitch, has anyone else had this type of behaviour with there girl? im so stuck on what to do, medical reasons has been ruled out, i realy dont know what to do next??? any advice xxx

This sounds almost certainly hormonal but also as though something is stressing the bitch beyond endurance. It could be she is not great mother material, plus it is her first litter and perhaps she cannot cope, or her nest might not be in the best place. if dogs are highly irritable/scared they can redirect onto the nearest thing to them- in this case her pups. Some mothers are also incredibly guardy of their pups, particularly if they are already feeling overloaded.

When you say she has turned on the pups what exactly do you mean? Some mums are very strict disciplinarians. Has she actually bitten any of them? She may have sore boobs, hence growling at feeding pups.

For now, I'd tell your daughter to keep well away. Is the whelping box in a very quiet warm spot with little going on?

First thing is you need to keep your family safe, so be careful and give your girl plenty of space. You do need to to look out for the pups, they are very young still.

What breed/type is your dog and how old is she?

We have extremely experienced breeders on here and I know they will give you the advice you need.

Hi, thank you so much for your reply, my dog is 26 months old and its her first litter, will deffo be getting her spayed after this litter as i aslo thought maybe motherhood just isnt suited to her too, she has her own room in the house with her whelping box in, ive invested in baby monitors as i didnt want to stress her out by been there too much but needed to be able to hear her every move with the pups so thought that was best, my daughter and other pets have not been alowed anywhere near the room as again i thought it may stress her out. As to her turning on the pups she growls alot at them but then the other day she grabed one round its tummy and ragged it like she would a toy, we took him to vets and was checked over and were told to keep him under obsivation, she didnt cut him but sort of did what they do with a rag toy shaking it. i could understand her been maybe strict with them when there up and moving about but they still arnt doing much, infact they seem a little slow but i put that down to them been born a week early, i may be wrong though.
we let her have them in her own room in the house as thats where she sleeps normally and she is happy in there, also it ment she can get out of the whelping box at any time and have space away from the pups but still not get disturbed by anyone, if that makes sense.
She is normally a very outgoing and friendly dog maybe a little bossy at times but shes always had a good heart, which is why its surprised me so much, suppose we never realy know how they will cope with a litter until its too late as if i had had any ideal she would be like this i woudnt have decided to have a litter from her. ive told my daughter to just ignore her if she comes into the family room so she doesnt feel threatened, but now im a little warey of her coming out incase she does bite my daughter as if its hormonal then its not realy the dogs fault.
im not sure if you are supposed to name breeds on here but shes a smally working breed who we do agility with. x

What with the pups being 3 weeks tomorrow, I would start weaning.  From the sounds of it, she''s doing more that 'telling off'.  Ragging the pup is not acceptable and I would certainly not be leaving her alone with the pups.  I would take her away all together from the pups and take over myself as she is obviously not happy about motherhood.  Treat her normally too.  Would you ordinarily let her growl at your daughter? No.  So why let her away with it now? My advice would be to start the little ones on puppy food (soaked to liquid consistancy) 4-6 times daily.  I would probably give some whelpy milk feeds too as they are still tiny(maybe after feeding top up with milky drink).
With the bitch, I would take her away from the pups and make sure she is supervised at all times with your child.  I would also start some training/exercise with her too to get her mind re-focused on something other than the pups.  I had a bitch once who resented her pups because she couldn't do her usual exercise/work.  She had really itchy feet by the time the pups were 4 weeks so I started getting her out a bit more then.  It was a hassle cos she would need a bath after every outing to clean her up before going back in with the pups but I swear that did the world of good for that bitch.  She just had too much energy to lie there day after day while the others were getting out!lol.
Another thing to think of would be the whelping box.  Have you just got a box in the corner of a room?  She might feel a bit protective and feel the box is too open.  Some bitches have been known to kill pups because of this.  I always make a cosy cave-like whelping box for the first few weeks which is covered with blankets to keep out the draughts.
Also, by 3 weeks, my bitches/pups were ready to move into the main part of the house where all the rabble/noise/other pets are for socialisation. Strange to be so protective now?

Would you ordinarily let her growl at your daughter? No.  So why let her away with it now?

This could be dangerous advice indeed if not clarified what you mean by "let her away with it". We all know we must never, ever tell a dog off for growling, as all it will result in is the next time they go straight for a bite, as they have been told warning first is not acceptable.

What did the vet say when you told him what happened?

Have you been keeping the pups nails trimmed as they can make Mum very sore? Are Mums boobs OK, mastitis is very painful and may be why she is out of sorts? Is her discharge OK, not smelly indicating an infection? There are so many possible causes for her being like this other than her simply not coping with the job in hand.

I agree not all bitches make good mothers, some do the bare minimum others refuse to get involved at all.

I have never had eclampsia in my dogs, would early  hypocalcaemia cause a change before the more serious symptoms appear? I give calcium rich foods to my Mums, yoghurt, cottage cheese and goats milk on top of their normal food to keep the levels up.

Is she eating and drinking enough to maintain her in good health. As the pups are nearly 3 weeks old I would start weaning them, give Mum free access between the puppy meals if she wants it so her milk dries up gradually, she may be happier when some of the care is being done by others

I hope she settles soon as it is a big worry when things are not going to plan.

Oops, Sorry.  You are, of course, perfectly correct, Goldmali! Thanks.

Growling is a warning and should be heeding at all times.

Has the vet checked her calcium levels as such behaviour including killing the puppies can be a sign of dangerously low blood calcium levels, which if untreated can be fatal.

I totally agree with Brainless.  I had something similar with one of my girls.  Her pups were 10 days old, she had been a fabulous mum but one day started growling at them if they crawled near her and definitely when feeding.  When they didn't back off (as 10 day old pups wouldn't know how to) she snapped at them.  She never went any further than that but we put her in a down stay every time she fed them after that and didn't leave her alone with them.  I took her to the vet who gave her metacam in case she was uncomfortable, apart from giving the pups diarrhea it made no difference to her behaviour.

I asked the vet to do a blood test to check for calcium levels (he didn't think it was necessary but humoured me) and her levels were on the minimum, not below but just on minimum.  I started to wean the pups at 2 weeks, a bit earlier than I would have liked but when they were 3 weeks old she returned to being a brilliant mum again and continued that way until they left.  She was a very easy going mum, not disciplining them at all, left that to her Mother to do!

My girl never growled at me or my husband but was uncomfortable with 2 close friends whom had been around the pups from birth and she'd never had a problem until they were 10 days.  I read up on something called pre eclampsia, have a search and see what you think.

Sorry in describing it I didn't name the problem, it is 'Eclampsia'.

I'm sorry to read this thread, it must be quite a shock to see your lovely girl turn into a little bit of a growly monster.If it was me, I would take the pups away from her, shaking them is not normal behaviour and you don't want them to pick up on her growly behaviour or even worse get hurt.
I would also make sure she is not let around your child AT ALL until you feel she has settled (or her hormones have gone back to a more normal level).
However, regarding the issue of growling, I'm a bit concerned about the fact that some of you seem to say that there shouldn't be a consequence (usually in my home, it's the dog being removed from the room immediately!) to growling at their own family members. What would you do then when the dog growls at your child (taking in consideration it is not a physical issue and the child hasn;t done anything out of the ordinary or bothered the dog?). Wouldn;t the situation get worse if you say nothing when the dog growl at the child in the family room.
I think potentially doing nothing in this case could end up to be as bad an telling the dog off for it. If she was my dog, I would take her out of the room immediately if she growls at my child, that's for sure!

What would you do then when the dog growls at your child (taking in consideration it is not a physical issue and the child hasn;t done anything out of the ordinary or bothered the dog?). Wouldn;t the situation get worse if you say nothing when the dog growl at the child in the family room.

No as said before, you cannot stop the dog from being allowed to WARN -warning is good, warning gives everyone a chance. Growling shows the dog has common sense -it doesn't WANT to have to bite. The last thing you want is a dog that has learnt that it's best to go straight for a bite. You can't ever tell a dog off for growling, you need to find out WHY it is happening. Sure, remove the dog from the room but in a quiet and non confrontational way -not as punishment. Dogs don't growl for no reason (they also don't bite for no reason -they always have one, even if we can't see it), the hard part is finding it. We all, adults and children, experienced and inexperienced, can make situations happen which will make a dog growl out of insecurity or whatever, without realising. Simple example: When it's cold, I often have my hands in my pockets when I sit and watch TV. Twice I've had a dog or a cat on my lap when I had my hands in my pockets, and without thinking about it, I wiggled my fingers. Both the dog in question (a pup) and the cat freaked out, not understanding what it was that moved next to them as they couldn't see my hand. The dog growled when it happened, the time it happened with a cat he jumped in the air and shot off. I'd done nothing wrong and nothing really out of the ordinary, but to the animals, it WAS something they didn't understand. It can be as simple as that.

Goldmali.
Sorry to deviate away from the thread slightly.
I'd never thought it through properly about telling a dog off for growling, yes of course if it can't give warning that it's uncomfortable/uncertain then it could move on to the next stage and nip or bite. So if you have a dog that is taken unawares with someone or thing that it grumbles at, say a person moving oddly threateningly when out. How do you, should you deal with it?

If you provide a consequence for the growling, you are not addressing WHY the animal is growling. She has a reason, she is not doing it for fun or to be a 'bad dog' - that you do not know the reason or cannot immediately see a direct link between the person being growled at, and the cause, does not mean there is no reason.

So again, punishing growling will only remove the growl itself, and never the underlying reason for the growl, resulting, potentially in a much more dangerous situation.

If you can easily identify the reason a dog is growling, then bring an end to the situation, by removing either the dog or the person as is appropriate (to end the situation, NOT to punish or provide a consequence!) - longer term, identify what triggers the growling, avoid those situations until you have built up the dogs confidence at a distance where she does not feel the need to react (ie, under threshold) and gradually build back up, providing positive reinforcement along the way so you change the underlying emotional state. With something like a general fear of some sorts of people, that will work. For the OP, this is likely a medical/hormonal issue and once the bitch is not nursing a litter it will hopefully resolve.

Back to the OP, I agree that removing the pups from the bitch now seems like the most sensible plan, though out of interest, at what point did she start growling and warning you away - assuming you were there from birth to at least a few days old pretty much constantly, when did she suddenly decide you werent to be near the litter?

Yes, it would be a little like telling your child never ever to say if something scares them, angers them or makes them feel uncomfortable.

I would suggest getting calcium/hormone levels checked by your vet also get him to check her for mastitis or other physical pain causes
you may also wish to discuss with him giving vitamin C as that can help if it is needed but over use of any suppliment can be harmfull so only do so under veterinary guidance
the main thin is carry on giving her some space to care for her brood, we find the little wireless cctv spy cameras great you can watch without disturbing her.
another thing to try is having a quiet radio on in her room as a consistent background noise so shes not sitting listening for peoples footsteps approaching.
im not sure what if any canine logic is behind this but it worked for me when we had a bitch who was very restless with her pups and get standing all over them everytime she heard people walking around in the house.
kate

How are things going? Have you taken up the suggestions made to help relieve the situation?