Why some bitches don't care for their puppies - Page 1

In the last few weeks I've been searching the internet for info on breeding dogs, diseases, accidents etc. I saw several questions asking for info what to do as their bitches don't show interest in the puppies, do not feed them or keep away from them. Assuming the bitch is a good Mamma and has sufficient milk and the reason is a medical thing but not mastitis what are the other possibilities that make a bitch not interested in caring for and feeding her puppies till they die. I know one should consult his/her vet in such a case and use milk replacer, but I'm interested in knowing the various reasons from your experience and if some of these reasons can be predicted through blood tests before breeding.
One more question, I assume it is not a genetic thing otherwise the bitch wouldn't have lived in the first place, or is this a wrong assumption?
And one more question (sorry the've become too many), when you buy a female puppy and you plan to breed it in future do you ask the breeder to do any specific medical test on her?

Ibrahim

Abrahim, I went to a seminar where Jiri Novotny was talking about how dogs at the pohranicni straze were selected and bred. Females gave birth in wooden dog houses regardless of weather and if the females wouldn't or couldn't raise their young they were excluded from the breeding program. A female that could not do these things were seen as weaknesses. I agree with that.

A female or male should be able to perform naturally what they were designed to do. I do also think there could be health issues to hinder what would be normal, but there again health should be the number one prerequisite for breeding.

In a lot of cases I believe it is genetic.

hank

Unfortunately,,this is another bad trait of working line German Shepherds, they do not have the quality temperament and many will eat their young.Good luck

jdiaz has somebody crapped in your coffee this morning because seriously, this is the second time shit came out your post.
just saying.....


The worse mother I have even seen was showline... she not only sucked but killed half of the puppies and working line bitch raised them along with her litter...

Really are you really so narrow minded?


Ibrahim, some females are just not that great mothers, some are great, some are OK and some plain suck. SOme is hereditary and some is nature and circumstances.

My worse bitch I had was a high drive showline, she whelped 9 pups normally, but then turned around and ate the entire litter 2 hrs later.  On a better note, her daughter from a different litter recently whelped 9 pups her first litter  and is being an exceptionally wonderful mother, so not hereditary there. Both litters had same sire.  I later had an extremely high drive Czech/DDR bitch, and she wouldn't be still one minute. However, when she was bred/whelped her first litter, she was an outstanding brood bitch, acted like she'd done it a dozen times before, and raised her entire litter of 7 without a hitch.  so how knows, go figure!

Diaz,

 Here's the link again, all the best sorting things out.

http://www.thewatershed.com/

I haven't been on this forum in a long time -- but I guess I shouldn't be surprised at these kinds of comments !! "Working line do not have good temperatment and eat their young'? ARE YOU SERIOUS? I have a friend who has 2 generations of extremely capable EGerman/Czech/Belgian extremely famous working lines with a bitch with a SchH III and she has had many successful litters - never harming ONE puppy - and her daughters - by different sires - are also all good mothers. I have bred 13 litters spanning 4 generations of my female line - and allhave been excellent mothers -- even when whelping as many as 12 puppies (her first time) I believe there is a strong genetic component to this problem -- but it's quite variable,I'm sure -- some of it is probably hormones - some of it is the bitche's "security" and how safe she may feel in the surroundings under which she has whelped -- and also how calm her owner is over the whole process --- I'm quite fortunate to have never encountered a bad mother - but after an experience of a bitch NOT taking proper care of her puppies - I would be reluctant to beeed her again.

I wouldn't breed a bitch ever again if she wasn't a good mother. I had a mentor who actually sold a fabulous bitch because she wasn't attentive enough to her pups. She wasn't horrendous, and she didn't harm them, but wasn't up to snuff in that department and he felt strongly that only good mothers should be bred if we are to preserve good temperament. I totally agree and really respected that. Many breeders wouldn't forfeit that kind of money just for the sake of not promoting poor temperament. 

Ibrahim - don't know if this will be useful ?  Relates back to what Desert Dog was saying about the
Pohraninci Straze bitches all-weather accomodation (!).  I have known bitches occasionally to eat part of or whole litters apparently because their caring owners made their whelping conditions TOO
warm (heatlamps etc).  Maybe there is some genetic / temperament basis which acts as  a trigger for this behavior in those circumstances (cos for sure not all bitches would be provoked by being too hot) but its food for thought ?

The last bitch I had (now I stick to males) mother, killed and ate her pups. My bitch was better and didnt do either but she was a bad mom so I spayed her. Hormones are released after birth which help bring in milk and give the mother instincts to take care of her pups. I wonder if for females who are not good moms, something happens and they dont get the necessary release of hormones to tell them what to do. I come from the belief that if the dog cannot be bred naturally, birth and raise a litter to term, then they shouldnt be having puppies. I think if more people culled females who didnt cut it, we would have stronger lines and better tempered dogs.