Hi,

I wonder if anyone knew what I could do to help my dog feel a little more welcomed with his new pups. My bitch and dog are the best of friends but since having her pups whenever he walks past her she snaps at him. Yet when I exercise them both of a morning they play like normal. I understand it is her natural instincts to do this but do you know when it will stop or what I can do to help.

Thanks,
Jay

It may not stop until the pups have all gone to their new homes.  My Carmen is now fine with her mum being around and her pups are 3 weeks old tomorrow.  Not all dogs are the same and Carmen was quite nasty for the first week so Lana was kept away.

It would be very stressful for the bitch to have to have another dog around when she has pups. She needs to be on her own so she can feel her pups are safe. I would wait until 5 or 6 weeks at least. Sometimes not even that as some male dogs (both entire and neutered) can't stand an entire litter of puppies around their feet.

Think it is normal for the bitch to protect her pups.   She will, one hopes, return to the normal situation once all the pups have gone.

It is very common for a bitch to be far less tolerant of a male near her pups than her female relatives, this is quite natural as he could harm them having no maternal bond to them. 

Little squeaky creatures could easily stir a predatory instinct, so your bitch is quite sensible keeping her babies safe.

Thank you for your replies. I just hope he doesn't miss out.
She has been better since moving the whelping box from up to down stairs. They are just walking (without balance) so I am sure they will cross paths soon. They are both very good dogs.

Thanks!

Be guided by the bitch.  I warn you he will be horrified once they a re Mobile and your biggest problem will e to ensure he can get away from the beasties who will try hard to find something to suckle on.

Lol thanks :)

Well my Lastar must be weird, because he thought that his pups were wonderful and loved the attention that he got from them (aggh can't do smilies, will have to look how to do them again!).

My pups dad is always terrified of them but the unrelated and much smaller boy, Cuddly Duddly, was the first in the whelping pen when my girl went outside and sat there like a proud mum.  She didnt even snap at him he just got out when he saw her coming back.  But then she always had the hots for him (sadly different breed altogether there will be no mating there lol)

The males in my breed are pretty good with pups,a nd once weaned they seem very happy to be with them, it is when they all try and swarm underneath that can frighten especially young males.

The boy I own in partnership was scared of the first pups he was around at first, but since then any litters born he is happy to play with or ignore as the mood takes him.

When I commented on the fact that the males were playing with the pups when I collected my first one to a Friend in another breed she was very surprised, as in her breed males were considered unsafe around young puppies.

I have a male I bred comes to my house when used at stud.  On one occcasion I had a 9 week old pup still here and the male was not in the least put out by the obvious hero worship (he has always adroed pups) and it was really funny whn the pair were tied the pup came over and stood on his back wondering what his pal was up to :D

I think he was taking notes as he has gojne on to be a successful sire.

My male has never been that interested in our puppies and is actually quite scared of them (even though he is 40kg)  I don't normally allow any of the dogs near to a newly whelped bitch as the mother needs to feel secure although I know that many breeders do allow access to their other dogs.  He has seemed a little more interested in this litter (his grandchildren) and has actually looked at them but when they managed to escape yesterday and get to him as per usual he was scared of the little darlings trying to feed from him!!  I do know though that he would never purposely hurt them but as he is bit clumsy he might stand on them or knock them unintentionaly.

When our recent litter of pups were 5.5 weeks old, Mum decided she had had enough and didn't want anything to do with them.  When they started going in the back garden at 6 weeks, Dad really came into his own.  He absolutely loved playing with them!  I've got a video of them all playing tuggy in the back garden.  To start with I was worried he would be too rough but he seemed to know the right level instinctively.

The pups have been gone just over a week now and whilst Mum is totally unfazed, Dad seems to miss them!

My girl was very protective of her litter till about 4-5 weeks old.  I introduced the others gradually and initially through a stair gate.  My girl only ever growled at the others but I must say they were very respectful of her and her litter.  I have my bitch's mum (now spayed), brother (entire) and my older neutered male who is nearly 11.  Granny could not wait to be with the pups and has been fab all the way through, Uncle was fascinated at the beginning and looked at them in a very prey orientated way, I allowed him loose with them when they were about 7 weeks old, all other interactions had been thru gates or on my lap, he surprised me and was great with them when they were loose.  My old boy was not interested in them at all until they were almost 8 weeks old, can't say I blame him at his age, he'd done his bit with the previous litter when he was 8.  The pup's mum became more relaxed with them all over time and by 7 and a half weeks, the whole litter were running loose with all my adults (supervised only of course).  The adults all disciplined the puppies and the mum seemed to feel it was completely normal and didn't react at all.  Its been great for the puppies who have learned "pack rules", their mum, uncle and granny have all played and disciplined them.  As say, I took things carefully and at my girl's pace. 

Got to agree with the others I think it must be stressful for the mum to have any other dog near her and I certainly dont allow other dogs near mine until they are weaned when mum is around. 

I own the dad to my currant litter and although he is good with other dogs I must admit puppies scare him as they tend to hang off his dangly bits ;) 

Ellie was unusual in that she didn't mind either of our boys near the puppies, in fact it was hard to keep Henry out of the whelping box he was having such fun! Even when a visiting dog accidentally sneaked past the gate while I was showing his owner them she let him sniff them a couple of times and then politely but firmly pushed him back out of the room!

Hi,
yeh she,s just being protective, when they get to 4 to 5 weeks old you will prob find she will only be to pleased to let dad have a turn playing with them, may happen sooner, but if they are usually close she will let him in when she,s ready, untill then he,ll just have to look on.

Sacha