Mother eating puppies - Page 1

HI

I am new to this group... Why would a dog eat her litter...?  I mean eat.  She had 5 nice puppies... 2 days later one is gone..I thought perhaps something was wrong w/her, but she seemed healthy.  Now 2 more are gone? 

Thanks for any input.

Janet

Is this her 1st litter? I have heard of this a couple times before and one solution that was utilized was muzzling the bitch when pups are put with her to nurse, sit there until pups are done nursing monitoring the process, and after  nursing take pups away and take over from there.

 you better muzzle her if you want to save the last one.  Maybe they were sick,maybe her hormones haven't kicked in yet, maybe she is not feeling well.

Better  yet...I would let her in to feed and clean the pups and then remove her immediately.  Don't let her have anytime alone with the pups at all.  It's a pain but it sometimes has to be done.

We find at work that if it's the dogs first litter, this will happen, but only once in a while.  They instinctivly know what to do, but some get goofy about it.  Most moms KNOW if something is wrong with their pup, even if we our selves don't!  If this happens more than once at work, we remove the pups and foster them out to a better bitch that has been through it before.  Then we never use the mom that ate her pups again.

Unless in a situation of extreme stress, or a bitch killing one weak or disabled pup, this is a hereditery mental problem with some bitches.

In my opinion, I wouldnt breed her again, or use any surviving female offspring. I've known in my years a couple of families of brood bitches, and it just goes on and on and on with this behaviour. (very often coupled with other temperament deficiencies) It's cleary bad for the breed.

Lots of reasons, and it does not necessarily have to do with temperament issues.

How old is this female?
Are there any other females present in the household?
How do these females relate to each other?
Do other dogs/animals have access to the whelping area?
Do other people have access to the whelping area?
How long has she been accustomed to the whelping area?
You could be stressed yourself? And the female picks up on that.
You may be a very dominant person over this female.
She may not find the whelping area suitable, does not feel secure enough to raise a litter there.
The pups may not be healthy. Or something that is not obvious now is just not right with them. Some breedings just don't work.
Pups may have been dead when she ate them, they could have been fading pups and she just kept her lair clean.
She may have been clumsy, crushed of suffocated one, laid on it, and then disposed of it. Does your whelping box have pigrails? Do you use blankets/towels the pups can get caught under and be laid on or suffocate in?
She may not be healthy. Retained afterbirth? Retained pup? Torn uterus? Mastitis? Cramps/eclampsia? Hypoglycimic? Fever? Any source of pain? Did you have a vet check done after she had the litter? You said she seemed healthy, so I assume you did not. 
etc....

The moment the first pup was gone you should have acted and kept 24/7 watch on her and the pups. You need to do that now, separate them for a couple of hours if necessary and always watch her while she nurses and cleans the pups. At least til they are about 10 days old. Very rare for a female to do something to her pups after that. Unless there are strong enough outside influences. We can't tell much by a single litter. I would breed her again, to a completely different stud, and keep a close eye on the litter. If the behaviour repeats itself after 2 or 3 litters, the problem pretty much takes care of itself, especially if there are no pups left. Then I would not breed her again. But one litter does not tell me enough to not breed her again.

I agree with DH   but you have to decide if this bitch has all it takes to rebreed...The female that used one of my studs last year, had a breeding problem , first of all,  had to be AI and then she actually had a schutz 1 but was not breed surveyed and who knows if she could have been,,has nothing to do with how they breed or raise their pups;;;;;Never leave a bitch alone with pups for first three days,,,if in doubt  take pups away , put in lighted carrier and give the pups only for nursing and then clean , poop stimulate and burp...

owner sold the bitch after spaying her,,,,decided she had some faults not making a good birthing mom....I agreed....

I had a female out of Enclavehof male that ate her first litter , lock stock and barrel, before I even got to her....so bye bye she went.....

Some females just dont make a breed bitch...plain and Simple   but that is why you must provide a room just for the delivery, no interruptions,,,music,,,,and constant monitoring along with proper diet...for the female....for good whelping.. That and other things   , D>H mentioned....and if it still goes wrong......you dont have a breed bitch.....she is a pet and spay her.

I hate to ask this question, BUT, is your female from American show dog lines?

I met this lady that bred American show line shepherds awhile back and she said
 

when her female had pups that she killed them as soon as they came out.
To me that's totally wrong, and the bitch is not right in the head, to me that signals
bad temperament, and a very unsmart dog, have her spayed, and if you want to breed
GSD's or any breed, a good mother will die protecting her pups, I have never ever
experienced that with any of my girl dogs, I am at a total loss to give you a reasonable
explanation.

If she has any pups left, take them away immediately and hand raise them.