My bitch had eight pups nearly a week ago and is leaving her pups to go and sleep with the other two dogs. Should i worry about it or is it normal? She leaves the pups and sleeps downstairs with the other dogs and comes down to be with the other dogs all the time. She is not aggressive and lets us and the dogs into the room with the pups. She also is not eating and drinking properly. Is this behavior normal or should i be worrying about it?

Any help or advice will be great!

Thanks

Firstly, is she looking after the pups? ie, is she feeding and cleaning them? If they are healthy and putting on weight then that part I wouldn't worry about. If she isn't looking after them then I would start to worry. You may have to hand feed rear them :(

A lot of bitches go off their normal food for a time. Try her with some raw mince meat. I use chicken to start with, or beef mince if necessary as it is smellier ;) Tinned rice is also a good thing to try to get them to eat again, but not too much. She really needs to eat to make the milk for the pups.

She is obviously a dog that is very happy with her pack mates, and hasn't realised that she is supposed to look after the pups. I had one bitch that fed, cleaned and then brought her daughter to me to look after. She had done the 'doggy' bit, but the pup was mine after that. There again, she only had one pup.

I agree, as well as they are putting on weight, she is cleaning & feeding them, and goes back to check on them every so often, it's not a problem. My girl has been leaving hers for hours at a time right from them being a few days old, but if you go in there and pick one up, or if she hears them squeak, she's straight back in to check on them. :-)

I had my first litter recently, so not that experienced, but I was suprised at how relaxed and laid back about it all my bitch was.

She had a litter of 9, and used to stay in the whelping box, including to be fed, for the first three days, but at nights would sleep next to the wehlping box by me, (she couldn't leave the room, I shut the door and slept in there with them) only going in to feed or clean them, and checking them if they made a noise. I have no other dogs, but she continued to be very laid back, even wanting to go for walks. She was a very good mother though, playing with the pups, although maybe a little too tolerant of them (they used to love all pulling her tail when she went in to feed them!). She continued to feed and clean them up until about 9 weeks. We have one pup still here until Tuesday, as the new family have been on holiday over Christmas and although Mum has now stopped feeding, she is still excellent with the pup, and will clean up after her if allowed. She also waits until pup has finished eating before she eats, despite having seperate bowls.

I went by the weight gain of the pups, and how they were doing in general as to how good a job mum was doing, so, in short, I would agree with the others. If pups are doign well, no need to worry.

I would be actively encouraging her to stay with the pups.  I would either stay with her or shut her into the room where they are.  She really ought to be in with them or by their bed most of the time this early.  Some bitches are just very pulled between motherhood and their normal routine or being with us.  Seems her maternal instincts are rather weak and she needs encouragement to develop them.

Is the box big enough for her to stretch out comfortably and frequently change her position?

Not too hot is she?

My bitch had her litter in april of last year and I pretty much had the same problem and did post on here. After the first week or so she decided she wanted to go back and sleep with my son in his room, in bed with him.I was worried that the pups would suffer but everytime they made a noise she was in the room like a shot.Although that made me have a very restless few weeks sleep coz she was back and forward all night.
I weighed the pups on a daily basis to check they were putting on weight properly and by 5 weeks they were in the garage instead of in the spare room and the bitch didnt see them until the morning.