I have a new litter, mum who is normally a loving dog, is now quite stroppy. Every time I go near the whelping box she growls, I talk to her as I approach (with her still growling) I even touch her and the pups, I know she won't bite me, but it's like she's warning me off..............is this normal behaviour?? She let me help her all through whelping without a growl!! I don't back off, as she has to trust me............any suggestions please? I know it's possibly instinct to protect her pups, but it's most unlike my girl to be like this, this is her first litter too.

Both mum and pups have been to the vets and have a clean bill of health.

Thanks

Admin:moved to behaviour

It's okay, she is behaving completely normally, so give her space if she wants it. How old are the pups? And it's her first litter?

A new mother's hormones are all over the place and she is acting purely on the instinct to protect her young. This instinct will take priority until she is more confident and relaxed about her new family.

Act normally with her, but don't push her. She'll get back to normal soon.
:)

this is totally normal.my lab bitch daisy was really hormonal and ratty with my husband and everyone except me, and growled if anyone looked at the pups.this carried on till they could walk and get out of the box to meet people.she's only protecting her babies.

Thanks for your replies...........I thought that this might be the case, but it's nice to hear it from people that have also experienced it!

Jeangenie: as per regulations I can't give details, could you e-mail me then I'll mail you back.

Thanks

Have done.
:)

My girl seems to be settling down now, she doesn't growl, just grumbles a touch! I think she realises that I'm not taking her babies and she's quite happy with me handling them now!

Thanks for all your help

Glad it's all settling down now - confidence takes time!
Good luck. (Did you get my mail?)
:)

Jeangenie, yes got your e-mail thanks.

The situation has now changed, yesterday we lost a pup from the litter, this pup had problems from day one, mum was trying to nurse the pup even though it was dead, I had to remove it but she turned quite nasty towards me and ever since every time I go anywhere near her she really growls. This morning my husband took the pups to the vet for the dew claw removals and mum was back to her normal self happy, lying on the floor having her belly tickled............it seems this aggression is only shown around the pups. I must admit it does make me feel a little uneasy, especially as I have 4 children, she's never bit or even attempted to bite me or anybody else, but it just seems so out-of-character for her to be like this!

Let's hope now the remaining litter are healthy perhaps she will settle down, maybe she knew one wasn't well??

This is perfectly natural, though perhaps a little OTT on her part. It is always best to remove the bitch from the room, say to go out for a pee, before removing puppies. I have found they will try and find them, if they have seen them taken away.

My husband actually took her for a very short walk, while I placed the pups in the box with heatpad ready for the vet, I put them in the car before he got back, but she was still frantically searching for them, she actually moved the whelping box out of the corner it's in thinking the pups were behind! When hubby got back from the vets we did the same again, took her out returned the pups, then returned mum. When she got back in, she sniffed them all over then carried on looking as though searching for the missing dead pup! While my hubby was at the vet she was fine, so obviously she just has very strong maternal instincts, protecting her pups!

It's just this growling business I'm not too happy about, let's just hope things improve in time, when she realises nobody is going to steal her babies!

i'm very sorry to hear that one of the pups has died.my bitch daisy used to go out for a wee, then come back and literally count the pups.also if we removed one for any reason she would look for it, they're very clever like that.good luck with the rest!!what breed are they?