Hi all, I’m confused & could really do with some advice. Me & my hubby we’re just saying yesterday how much of a fantastic mum our girl is. It’s her second litter & I didn’t think it was possible to do a better job than last time but she is. They are spotlessly clean. She's with them constantly & we're having to feed her in her box she only really gets out to go outside then runs back in. They're wriggling around the box quite a lot now as they're 6 days old. And we can see a difference in size each day so they are feeding well.

Since then I have noticed her growl at them. I don't know if it's when there's food nearby & they wriggle towards the direction of me & she think they might get her food. She's like this with the kids, especially my youngest as she rushes to eat her food when they're around in fear they'll go near it. I heard one of them yelp just now & I think she nipped it's ear. I don’t know if it was because I was there with her food ready to feed her & it was wriggling over to the front of the whelping box. But I told her off. I’ve taken her out of the room. She’s sat in the hallway next to the door staring at me with her sad eyes waiting to go back in.

Any ideas what's going on? We are giving plenty of calcium daily. She’s on a good diet with some cheese & goats milk in between. Her milk glass are good and soft. Not hot to touch. She did have to have a section and we had her spade so she has been through the mill. She was checked at the vets two days ago & they’re happy with her & her scar is healing well. The box is in the dining room at the front of the house. It’s dark & quiet. Everyone is still sleeping so there’s only me been in with her this morn & we haven’t let anyone else see the pups. She’s let me handle them from day one. But apart from checking their weights, bums, and having a quick cuddles I’m not picking them up constantly.

Just wonder if she is protective of her food & would it be best to stop feeding her in the box? I’m confused but obviously extremely concerned now...

MORE CALCIUM!

It is quite astonishing how much calcium you need to give.  I'd lay a bet that your "plenty of calcium" isn't enough - if you're not supplementing with calcium tablets or powder, it won't be enough.  You simply can't get enough into a bitch by just eating foods, when you have eclampsia threatening.

Give calcium if you see weird behaviours:  Nesting, moving puppies, aggression, hiding, stress etc.  Then, how much to give depends on bitch’s size, litter size and how aberrant the behaviour is.  Large breeds should get 1000-2000mg (of elemental calcium), each dose.  Her behaviour will often improve within 30mins but if it doesn’t, give another dose immediately.  You can then dose 4-5x a day if her behaviour continues, or stop supplementing if she’s ok.

There are two types of calcium supplement:

Calcium Carbonate:  This is the most common form of supplemental calcium but it must be taken with food for it to be effective. Calcium carbonate is the form found in most antacids and supplements, such as Tums, Calsorb, and OralCal Plus.

Calcium Citrate:  This is the most effective oral supplement but it is a bit harder to find. It is absorbed as soon as the dog eats it and it does not need to be taken with food. Citrical is the most common example.

If you don't have any calcium supplements at home, I would recommend finding a chemists in your area which is open on Sundays and seeing if they have any.  Don't them it's for a dog, as pharmacists get a bit weird about selling people products for animals - even though calcium isn't a prescription med or a 'behind the counter' med, so they should be fine with it really.

Make sure you are dosing going by 'elemental calcium':  Calcium citrate, (better in some ways because it doesn’t require food for processing), only provides 21mg of calcium for every 100mg of calcium citrate.  Calcium carbonate:  A 20lb bitch could be given 1800mg of calcium in 4500mg calcium carbonate.

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Suzanne Ellisson says: I would stop feeding her in the box and start a routine with her so she feels more secure with her food. At 6 days old she can leave them for half an hour, so maybe a little walk out and then food so she is more relaxed.  Obviously take precautions for infection risk, but leaving them for a while is not going to hurt. More importantly though, is she healing alright? Does she have a signs of mastitis? Is she really hungry and need increase in food? Would keep a close eye on that but definitely start her in a routine of being fed away from pups as weaning is really only around the corner

Niall Curtin says: Have you tried feeding her separate? I know they’re young but mom might enjoy a short break to go bathroom nd have a drink and bite to eat? Even leaving a door open so she has a free gal to walk down?

Donna Connelly says:  Feed her separate from the pups, it won’t harm them

Thank you so much. I will try the local pharmacists today & hopefully get my hands on some. Failing that, I’m quite lucky I work at an Emergancy Vet Hospital that’s open 24 hours so I could drive over & pick some up though the pharmacy is closest. I’ll let you know how I get on. Really appreciate the advice!

> But I told her off. I’ve taken her out of the room. She’s sat in the hallway next to the door staring at me with her sad eyes waiting to go back in.

Don't do that ever again. You are compounding whatever caused your dog distress with punishment. The only result that will follow, is next time the same thing causes her distress she will expect and fear the punishment, and become stressed even more. That's how you get to fear aggressive.

Given that she is normally worried about her food, to me it would be a no brainer to try feeding her away from the puppies, in a separate room if she would agree to it, if not in the same room but far away from the box....

Feed her away from the pups, if she is even slightly food defensive then she will have a conflict between her love for her puppies and her desire to protect her food, take the dish away from the box and feed her almost as much as she wants, I would predict that this will solve the problem.

> Feed her away from the pups, if she is even slightly food defensive then she will have a conflict between her love for her puppies and her desire to protect her food, take the dish away from the box and feed her almost as much as she wants, I would predict that this will solve the problem.

Agree, have also found my girls grumble at pups while trying to eat once pups are mobile.

Thank you all. We have observed her today and when there is food about she seems to watch them and has a little growl under her breath if they move about while she is trying to eat. She doesn’t bat an eyelid if they’re still sleeping but as soon as they move while she eats she watches them. It’s a bit like me when my husband picks my chocolate out the kitchen cupboard & I really don’t like sharing!

It’s been hard trying to get her to feed outside the box, she wouldn’t entertain it at first just runs back in. But slight progress as we are hand feeding her next to the box now. But we’ll keep trying to move further and further away. She doesn’t want to be away from them but they’re a week old tomorrow so she might start to move away a bit more soon. We’ve also given calcium supliments today too. Apart from the food situation she is wonderful with them. Thanks for reassuring me today, much appreciated X

Don't put her food in the box.   Extra Calcium?   Why?   Sounds as if she's getting enough from the food you are providing her with.

We had one, with her second litter, who hated it when her puppies crawled anywhere near her head and would growl, but not actually nip.   She'd not been like that with her first litter, but I just had to make sure one of us was pretty much there, or after a good feed, put the puppies in a box in the whelping box, if we had to be away from them for any time.    It was her last litter!!

Again don't feed her IN the box - and it's fine for her to take some time out now the puppies are 6 days old.   Many bitches prefer only to go in to feed and clean their litters, from an early stage in the rearing.

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Rachel Savage says:  Do not feed her near the pups