My girl had 6 puppies yesterday a.m and all went well.  I have noticed that the pups are not feeding from her 2 posterior nipples and they are swollen.  I have massaged them to get the milk to the test and tried to interest the pups but they turn away.  Should I be more forceful in putting them on the nipples or am I doing something wrong.  I am worried that she will get mastitis, if that isn't already what it is.  Her temperature was 102 this morning.

early for this to happen, but they may be too big for small pups to get a grip on, so you'll need to express milk until the pups can cope with them - or yes, she'll get mastitis... sometimes if you can get bigger pups to do this it's easier, but you'll have to do it if you haven't any :-)  I'd also put aloe vera on them when the bitch has fed the pups - very soothing and helps to reduce inflammation

I have been able to draw some milk down and try and temp the pups with it, but none of them are interested.  Is mastitis always the result of unused nipples or do they also just dry up with no problems.

The 2 nearest the back legs tend to be the ones that become the fullest and if you have a small breed can be too hard/large for them to latch on, you need to persevere as by milking them to soften also makes them produce that much milk for next time, the pups will soon realise that they flow the easiest, my girl had 10 teats but only 3/4 pups but all of them were in use including the ones in her front armpits, they were also the ones that dried up first when the pups started to wean.

Just keep a close eye on them all and at the first signs of them being red/hot treat them with warm flannels.

they wont 'dry up' whilst the pups are still feeding - you'll need to persevere with expressing the milk (and throwing it away as it wont taste very nice) until they can latch onto the nipples - the back ones contain the most, so they'll want to use them - but the pups may be too small at the moment.  It's chicken and egg, mastitiis because they're not used, they're not used because of mastitis.... take your pick depending on the circumstances....

good luck with it, but keep going :-) and the aloe vera is very soothing if you can get some on :-)