At the moment we have a 2 yr old bitch who has phantoms after every season and is in the middle of one at the moment, the only problem is that we are due to get a puppy in a week. The bitch is always crying and carrying everything from balls to squeakys and teddies around with her so im just starting to worry about what if she starts to 'mother' the puppy?!

We dont want to spay the bitch as she shows and we manage to cope with her phantoms quite well there are no big problems other than the obsessive mothering of objects. I was just wondering if she does start to mother it what should we do if there is anything we can do, because obviously they have to get to know each other so keeping them apart is not an option :)

Any help on this matter will be gratefully accepted - H

Helen, I've not had a bitch with phantoms so hopefully someone with direct experience will come along, but I've always had at least one maternal bitch who 'adopted' any pup that arrived and I find it great. Puppy gets a adult who continues pup's canine education and eases the transition to a new home, and in some cases the bitch has even helped me with things like house-training. At the moment I have three maternal adults busily mothering two pups (neither belonging to any of them), and its great fun to watch. At times the pups might prefer a bit less motherly attention and teaching, but overall they seem happy with their self-appointed 'aunties' :-). I might worry slightly if a phantoming bitch picked a particular toy to be 'baby', in case she protected 'baby' from the real live pup, but from what you say your bitch is mothering lots of things so hopefully that won't be a problem.

At least you'll have a bitch in a 'welcoming' mood towards the new pup, instead of a typical attitude of: "What are you? Get away from my people. You're taking attention away from ME, ME, ME! :) :) :) :) ;)

Could really help to ease that nasty transitional shock of leaving sibs and mum which young pups get :D
good luck,
toodles

HI, thanks for giving me the other point of view i hadnt thought of it like that before, just how would their relationship be affected in the longrun because if she adopts the puppy, even when its old enough and shes finished her phamton will she just loose her mothering instinct and give up on it as a mother and accept it as an equal doggy mate or will she always be protective of it?

i know you might not be able to answer as each dog is different but any past experiences are great to hear about! :)

ill keep you informed when we get it so that any more people with similar situations will have more experiences to go on.

thanks for all the help so far - H

Hi,
I wouldn't really concern yourself about the 'shift' in job titles. After all, you'll have other things that will be more immediate....like puppy accidents :D :D :D :D

IMHO: Mother/dominant bitch = same level of respect :) Chienne was 'mothered' by Samma when I first got her as a tiny puppy. She slept next to her and as she grew, the mothering shifted into buddiedom :) Still unseparable. Now that Samma's getting a bit slower, esp. when sleeping, Chienne is taking over the 'watchdog' job position. The same happened with Pepper 'retiring' when we got Samma. :)

I look forward to 'hearing' about your experience. Have fun with a new puppy :D :D
toodles