Hi my Staffy had a litter of 7 pups 7 days ago unfortunately one died

One of the puppies have a  cleft palate. Have taken the puppy to the vet's they said that it's not inside the mouth it's just outside so feeding should be ok.
The puppy is latching onto mum with a lot of difficulty. I will sit next to Mum and support the puppy when feeding. it does get milk but not enough. so I am doing extra feeding with a syringe. I have been told that I was too involved.  most of the time i will let the puppy feed on Mum on its own. But the other puppies are quite strong and he gets bullied off.

Ok I'm going to try and explain this the best way I can mum is ok with me handling the pups when I feed the weakest one I generally sit in the welping box so she can see what I'm doing.

On two occasions the littlest one got stuck somewhere in the  whelping box.  I tried to encourage Mum to take her from there's, obviously mum  didn't understand what I was telling her to do so I put my hand in the whelping box to take the puppy out. This is when she snapped at me. I'm not quite sure if she was trying to take the puppy away from me or she was snapping at the puppy. it's happened twice now. overall she's generally fine she will let me pick up the puppies it's just now and again so I don't know if it's something I'm doing wrong. I don't know I just need some advice.

She is doing very well with the puppies also with the littlest one. Sorry one more thing I took her to the vet today again as she has been bleeding a lot and had some  diarrhoea they gave me some antibiotics to give  her I gave her one today so I don't know whether her having the infection has made her upset

I'm just worried I don't want to lose another puppy.

Also I think this is important to mention when the puppy died mum had suffocated it by accident. she fell asleep on top of it. It was a day old she's a maiden bitch so it's all new to her. When I spoke to the vet that night they told me to keep hold of the puppy and bring it in in the morning so they can investigate it. In the morning I was getting ready and I've left the puppy on the side unfortunately mum found it. I managed to get it off of her. so I don't know whether she sees me as the person that steals her puppies.

Mum is still looking for pup. I think that's what she's doing because she's running around the house trying to look for something. but what is really confusing to me is that it's 95% of the time she's fine with me around the puppies sorry if I'm repeating myself and going on I just feel like I need to be clear with everything.

Thanks in advance

Is she in a large enough whelping  box, covered by a blanket so she feels as if she's in a den?  She is wandering around and agitated because she wants to rear her pups without your interference.  I would have had the cleft palette PTS and not interfered so much.

Bitches in the wild would have savaged you for touching their pups.  Please remember that there are some instincts that dogs keep, even though we've domesticated them.  I've known of bitches killing their pups because people kept picking them up.

By the way - she is snapping at  you, not the pup.

The whelping boxe is massive so there's more than enough space
She's not wondering around and agitated she's very comfortable
Not too sure what PTS is please explain
If I hadn't fed the little one is most probably would have died by now so I feel that I've done the right thing by feeding it.

And by interfering it was me lying next to the whelping box in the night to make sure they are all ok.

And I don't think she was snapping at me I think she was trying to take the puppy off of me.

I've asked for advice and fair enough people are going to say what they need to say
but people don't need to be so negative
I'm sure we was all at this stage Once Upon a Time where we had to learn so no need for the arrogance.

Thanks

Also
The pup with cleft palette, it's only on the outside of mouth
Not inside
Vet has said it will be able to feed

PTS means put to sleep?

I hope it doesn't as I wouldn't understand why you would advise that!!!!

If so then I would not like your advice please
As I believe  very little life deserves a chance.
And if that means me interfering then I will and if it's not able to sustain itself then I rather let it do it the natural way

the suggestion that PTS ( put to sleep )may have been kinder was from experience of many years of breeding and that most pups born with this disability if they survive will have some sort of difficulty  throughout life.
I imagine u will be keeping this pup as finding a home for a pup with special needs isn't easy and a  big responsibility for any potential owner. Including any ongoing vet costs that must be considered

Sadly the life of a breeder is one which unpleasant choices sometimes have to be made and not always letting g nature take its course is one . Breeders dont do this lightly and yes each life does deserve a chance but sometimes it is better that the life is short and with a peaceful end
I hope your pup does well .

> Sadly the life of a breeder is one which unpleasant choices sometimes have to be made and not always letting g nature take its course is one . Breeders dont do this lightly and yes each life does deserve a chance but sometimes it is better that the life is short and with a peaceful end

I totally agree with this...... when we were still breeding, we had to pts twice - one for a puppy who had a club foot, the front which meant that as my breed carries most of their weight on the front, meant he'd have had a hard time being handicapped like that.   We didn't do this lightly but only after long discussion with our vet (vets hate having to pts normally).   The other one was with a little bitch who took a long time being delivered and suffered anoxia which left her like a child with cerebral palsey (? sp).   We kept her to 18 weeks but it was obviously she was very challenged and certainly not able to be homed.  She showed no control over her bowel or bladder whatsoever, apart from anything else and I couldn't think about somebody else getting frustrated with her and she certainly couldn't be a passenger with us.   She was quietly pts, with dignity.   I still weep for her actually.

Congratulations on your litter; sorry about the little one that got overlaid. Does the whelping box have pig rails?

Personally I'd have the little one with the cleft put to sleep; the surgery that it'll need when it's older can be very risky, and if they survive they never thrive. As the palate is the roof of the mouth I'm not sure how a cleft palate can be outside the mouth? It's not really consistent to say "If I hadn't fed the little one is most probably would have died by now so I feel that I've done the right thing by feeding it. " and then say that you wouldn't want to pts but would rather nature took its course! You're stopping nature doing just that ..

She probably has diarrhoea, especially if it's black, from eating the afterbirths and should be shortlived. She'll need easily digested food for a while until her insides get back to their normal positions after being squished by a belly full of puppies! Also the discharge from her vulva could last for several weeks - as long as it's not profuse or smelly this is normal, just as with human mothers. The placental sites on the uterus wall bleed and the blood has to escape!

She's probably snapping at you because she's trying to guard her babies and keep them together. It sounds as though she's getting anxious with the little one being taken away from her so often, and wants it to stop.

> > I'm sure we was all at this stage Once Upon a Time where we had to learn so no need for the arrogance.

There was no arrogance in Jean's post, just clear information that answered your questions from a place of great experience.

You asked for advice on a site that has a lot of knowledgeable people on it. Sometimes the advice we are given isn't what we want to hear but that doesn't make it arrogant advice - just honest advice. The person that you referred to as arrogant is a person that has decades of experience and knowledge and their input is always a valid one.  I just hope that person hasn't been put off sharing their valuable knowldedge with others in the future.

I have never bred a litter - and never will - but have been a member here for many, many years and know that the knowledge and advice was given from a position of great experience and with the welfare of the pup in mind.

I hope your vet or breed mentor is able to support you and share their knowledge and experience with you - your mentor is the ideal person to advise you on any concerns.

I wouldn't be on here if I wasn't willing to take criticism and advice it's just the way you put things across

comments like that will put people off to ask for help

Referring to the other comments, would like to say thank you very much I can understand now why somebody would suggest to put a puppy to sleep. I'm new to all of this.

The studs owner that I bred her with is going to take the puppy as he is quite experienced. This is good as I will still be able to visit.

the little thing is walking which is really weird as it's only 9 days old its quite strong so will see how it goes
I think personally i have become very attached to it which probably isn't the best.

Mum seems a bit more calmer with me as I haven't been feeding it as much only twice a day it's latching on much better.