Freya had her pups on Valentines Day, 12 in total, although we lost one the first night.  Freya wouldn't leave them for a minute for the first 2 days.  On day 3 she kept coming downstairs and wanting to sit with us but wasn't happy being around the other dogs.  Last night she spent a lot of the time in bed with us, not even going to the pups when they cried.  Is this normal?  I know she will need a break from them from time to time, but I am just worried that they won't be feeding enough now.  I haven't weighed the pups yet as she would get very stressed before if you went anywhere near them.  I will weigh them this morning but does anyone think I should start bottle feeding them as I also have concerns about Freyas milk supply.  Her milk never drips and I can't get anything out if I squeeze her teats which I could before.  Any help or advice most welcome, although I am probably worrying about nothing!

i wouldnt be worried unless it was more than and hour and more than 3 times a day excluding toilet breaks. it is actually better if she isnt dripping because that means she is producing on demand if she was heavy with milk you would have more of a chance of mastitis. If the pups are sleeping well, their bellies appear to be round and they a warm and content then they are getting milk you have to think though 11 pups would be sucking her dry everytime plus to her actual milk would be starting to come in. Did she have the vet check within 48 hours of whelping.

i wouldnt bottle feed if they are suckling and appear content and sleep the majority of the time bottle feeding can interfere with the natural process and sometimes make mum abondon or try to hid her pups

Thanks for that Slee!  The pups all seem fine and contented and sleep well.  Freya and the pups had a check up Wednesday, and all was OK.  I am going to get the scales out and the nail polish ready to identify the pups that are silver from head to foot - I can tell them apart from the stripe patterns on them, but as soon as the stripes fade I won't be able to tell one from the other! Weighing them will make me feel better I think.

Thanks again!

Louise

Congratulations on a super litter.   I usually weigh pups every day until they are 3wks old, that way you can keep a look out for any pup not putting on the extra weight every day, you will find that she will feed them at different times, when my bitch had 7 she fed 3 while the other 4 were sleeping then the other way round, I have a bitch that comes to you after about 4 days as well, just for a bit of company, but she still fed pups o.k.