HELP!!! NEED ADVISE 2 FEMALE DOGS WITH A LITTER OF PUPS - Page 3

Most veterinarians only have experience spaying and neutering dogs, and know nothing about raising a litter of pups.
Therefore, if I needed advise pertaining t husbandry I would listen to an experienced, ethical breeder before I listened to a vet.
As an example of how uninformed veterinarians can be; two days ago I had a call from a gentleman who had a dog that he got as a puppy from me eight years ago. During the conversation pertaining to a picture of a gsd I own, he asked me if the dew claws had been removed yet. Making clear he was speaking of the FRONT dewclaws and not rear, I answered appropriately that dewclaws should not be removed on the gsd except for health reasons (ie, bone infection, etc).
I asked why he mentioned it, and he explained his vet removed BOTH dewclaws on their gsd's front feet because the dog broke a toenail on one of them. I was not shocked concerning the vet's inappropriate, unnessesary amputation of toes on a dog, but I did advise the man to find a better vet. I'm not saying your vet is not good, but in general, most vets are not to be trusted with our dogs.

Any advise or information regarding this from anyone who may have had a similar experience would be greatly appreciated.

Dexter, I am not a breeder of dogs, and never have bred a litter of dogs. My similar experience is a stretch, I admit. I have had two cats though, that had litters within a week apart, a mom and daughter. The daughter cat was barely past a kitten and had difficutly nursing her kittens and would take one kitten only and sequester herself with it, she was all sore and didn't have the milk for them all. The mother cat ended up accepting and supplementing nursing, all the kittens from her daughter.

 

I think the reason you aren't getting much similarities to what you have observed is because the very experienced breeders on this board simply know not to allow such a scenario to develop in the first place. We don't know, but suspect this is your first time with whelping and rearing puppies? The danger is that you might be tempted to amphorpmorphize the behavior you are seeing and in turn, ascribe the incorrect conclusion to the collie's growling, the mom's tolerance of such, and the seeming desire to nurture pup's that the collie did not birth.

We certainly can't ever say for sure why, but it is usually understood, that any growling should be taken seriously as it is precurser to the next step, a bite. Your mother dog, in her harried state could be tolerating the collie's growl for any number of reasons. The only thing that can be safely recommended is to not force the issue so that it gets repeated because her tolerance is not guaranteed to be consistent.

I would think that Susie is dead on with the 8 month old hormones kicking in for the first time for the collie and there is some confusion going on, since the 8 month old is not actually lactating and in a postition to take over the duties of Mom.

I also think that your vet's recommendations for a weaning and supplemental feeding time table is really a guide. My rescue pup was started early with food introduction because his mother was emaciated and abused when found. You could try and see what happens and it would be the pups themselves that would let you know if you made the right decision.

Hope this helps and if not, I certainly do not want to add to your stress.

Absolutely get and keep the BC away from the litter before she gets hurt or worse. As others have said, trim the pups' nails as this is about the time they start to hurt the female when they feed which probably explains her reluctance to do so.

Trust your momma dog. She sounds like she's doing fine. Allow her free access to her puppies and let her feed as she chooses. Do keep the border collie away if you can't correct her behavior, you don't want your puppies learning it. You should also be trimming puppies nails weekly, if you aren't already.

Dexter, how are mom and pups doing?

Dexter, you should trim the pups nails on the front paws when
they turn 2 weeks, or a new mom my stop feeding them.
It could be something simple as trimming their claws to lake
the mother dog feel comfortable about feedings.