? about puppy pack structure - Page 1

if a newly born litter was nursed by humans rather than the bitch (mother) of the litter what negative or postive impact enviormentally speaking would that have on the pack structure, temperments, etc...  of those pups?  What role does the mother have in shaping pack structure - in keeping some kind of order within the pack?  Assuming the bitch could not nurse the pups and the pups were human bottle fed and left among themselves.   

The biggest difference I can think of is that all the puppies would be on an even playing field.

With the bitch, the puppies need to wrestle amongst themselves for the best teat, the most milk.  This is where you see the stronger, potential alpha pups start to form over the weaker individuals who either won't fight their siblings for better or who can't fight their siblings for better.

If humans step in, with equal amounts of milk for each puppy, there is no competition to shape the mind and body from birth, the puppies basically get it all handed to them as if they're all equal.

In the beginning, you probably wouldn't notice much up to 3 weeks, but even without the bitch, you would be able to see the differences by your hours of observation (and backbreaking sleepless nights!!) Regardless, eventually the puppies would show some pack structure.

The biggest difference I saw when I had to bottle feed a litter of 13 puppies starting from 3 days old wasn't much in the beginning. But they still began to wrestle amongst themselves for pack hierarchy. The mom normally helps to in still discipline to the puppies making them easier to train. They learn proper social interactions with other dogs. Most of those puppies I had to put in extra work so they would be easier to train. They were very bonded toward people, but many developed social issues with other dogs either fearful / aggressive if they weren't highly socialized. Some puppies could develop issues with being constrained, & not handle stress as well. Because life with out mom is a lot stress free. There is no competition for food, or no jostling over food, so puppies normal don't get use to heavy handling.

If the puppies go to knowledge able experience people they will turn out just fine. If they don't then they will become harder train, some will display hyper activity / ADD like behaviors, & lack proper social skills.
Can't deal with stress as well & heavier handling.

Mind you this does not always happen! I've had to hand fed many puppies / litters through rescue & few from breeding. Some litters this had no effect on them what so ever, others their temperaments were drastically off. Some were actually better workers / pets from bottle rearing.

I've learned to avoided pit falls by having the puppies raised with lots of social interaction from other stable dogs as role models / foster moms. Or if available kept mom with them even though she can not feed them. Handle the puppies very often, & have children socialize with the puppies. They tend to be intentionally heavier handed with them.

cp - thanks for sharing the experience - I never had to do it.  I had thought there would be possible social issues to deal with.

We purchased a puppy from an orphaned litter, good working lines. The pup ended up with allot of digestive issues as an adult, plus not as strong of a temperament as the parents. Not as social either.

Had a 'nurse mom' from a very placid breed for first three weeks of puppies life, then put on formula.Litter had minimal colostrum at birth, or none.

I would not buy a human hand raised puppy again, not as a working dog candidate.

cindy