# Mother won't bond or feed her new born puppies



## cevans

First off what a great site! My issue is that the Mother delivered 8 puppies last night, only cleaning about half of them, won't allow them to feed.
She's already bit one, pretty bad, the pup may not survive. 

We don't trust her with them now, so what can we do? We've been bottle feeding every 2 hours. Is there a way to still have the mother feed her pups. Has anyone gone through this? Yes we will bring them to a vet for a check up! 

thank you!


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## Emoore

This happened to my MIL years ago. We got Esbilac and had to bottle-feed the puppies (there were 14 of them) every hour, 24 hours a day in shifts. You also have to rub their tummies to stimulate digestion, and clean them of excrement. 

Your vet should have better directions.

Edit: we had to keep the mom and puppies separated because she'd kill them.


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## Shaina

My old boss who bred working line shepherds for a while had a female that would kill her puppies. She had to use another mother to feed the pups and it never changed. I know that's not the best news, and I hope that an experienced breeder will help you.


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## onyx'girl

Shaina said:


> My old boss who bred working line shepherds for a while had a female that would kill her puppies. She had to use another mother to feed the pups and it never changed. I know that's not the best news, and I hope that an experienced breeder will help you.


Why would your boss breed her again when he knew she was not a nurturing mother? 

cevans, I hope the pups thrive for you, and welcome to the site.


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## msvette2u

Don't let her near the puppies unless you want dead puppies.
Spay her after this is over, don't breed her again.

Bottle-feeding and hand-raising newborn orphaned puppies, whelping supplies, and recipes for supplementing new born orphans - from Chinaroad Lowchens of Australia Great advice here.


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## Chris Wild

You need to get the puppies eating some from the mother. Even if you supplement with tube or bottlefeeding, it is important for them to nurse from the mother *within the first 24 hours* in order to pick up the antibodies in her colostrum.

If you have to muzzle her and sit on her to allow that to happen, so be it.

You may find that if you can force her to nurse the pups, her attitude toward them will change once the hormones released as a byproduct of nursing get coursing through her system. Then again, she may never take to the pups. Either way do not leave her alone with them for even a moment, and please spay her as soon as possible after this is all over.


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## Shaina

onyx'girl said:


> Why would your boss breed her again when he knew she was not a nurturing mother?
> 
> cevans, I hope the pups thrive for you, and welcome to the site.


When I said "never changed" I meant as the pups grew older the mother didn't suddenly take to the puppies through training or anything, not that she bred multiple times.


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## Chris Wild

The goak milk based home-made puppy formula recipe on this site is far superior to Esbilac or any of the commonly available milk replacers for feeding the pups.

Leerburg | Bottle Feeding


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## BlackthornGSD

Chris Wild said:


> You need to get the puppies eating some from the mother. Even if you supplement with tube or bottlefeeding, it is important for them to nurse from the mother *within the first 24 hours* in order to pick up the antibodies in her colostrum.
> 
> If you have to muzzle her and sit on her to allow that to happen, so be it.
> 
> You may find that if you can force her to nurse the pups, her attitude toward them will change once the hormones released as a byproduct of nursing get coursing through her system. Then again, she may never take to the pups. Either way do not leave her alone with them for even a moment, and please spay her as soon as possible after this is all over.


Chris is spot on here.

IOW, ^^ WHAT SHE SAID.

Best of luck--I know this is a stressful and heartwrenching situation.


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## wyominggrandma

Goats milk is much much better. Use the formula found on the web site. Esbilac and other commercial foods have been known to cause cataracts in puppies.
You might try muzzling her to let them nurse, but like everyone else said, don't let her alone with them for one second, that is all it will take to kill the babies. Is this a maiden bitch? Has she had other litters before? Sometimes she is in pain from full breasts and the puppies not emptying them , so a maiden bitch will assume its the puppies and want to make them quit nursing. You might be lucky enough that once the babies nurse a few times, she will relax, but again, even if she will let them nurse, don't trust her at all. NEVER.
Spay her and don't let her have babies again.


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## Emoore

That's terrible about Esbilac! How do they get away with selling it?


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## robinhuerta

Chris... I whole hearted agree...


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## Mrs.K

Chris Wild said:


> You need to get the puppies eating some from the mother. Even if you supplement with tube or bottlefeeding, it is important for them to nurse from the mother *within the first 24 hours* in order to pick up the antibodies in her colostrum.
> 
> If you have to muzzle her and sit on her to allow that to happen, so be it.
> 
> You may find that if you can force her to nurse the pups, her attitude toward them will change once the hormones released as a byproduct of nursing get coursing through her system. Then again, she may never take to the pups. Either way do not leave her alone with them for even a moment, and please spay her as soon as possible after this is all over.


This!


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## msvette2u

We raised puppies on Just Born and they did okay?
I would be quite concerned about muzzling her as a dog can still damage through or in spite of a muzzle. If you do this please be sure to have at least one person to hold the mother down.
And be aware it might not work anyway due to her being too tense to let the milk drop.

If you're unsure at all, do get the formula and have your vet help you get started with the bottle feeding process.


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## wyominggrandma

Because the company said it never happened, although there was quite a big thing about it years ago. I have never used it for raising babies, always did half and half goats milk and water. Never had issues with diaraha or problems like that, the goats milk digests easily.


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## selzer

After getting the cholosterum in them, you might want to tube feed -- much easier and quicker than bottle feeding. A vet can show you how and provide you with what you need and how much to feed. 

You have to keep the pups warm. If you feed them cold, they will die. Talk to your vet. 

I am sorry you are going through this. It is not unheard of. I am curious at how old your bitch is, sometimes young bitches have trouble. Hard to say. 

Tube feeding will be quicker and easier to get enough milk in each puppy, until you can wean them. I hope your dam gets over this, but I agree that leaving them together alone ever is a terrible risk.

Also, VERY IMPORTANT. You must stimulate them to get them to relieve themselves. Take a warm wet cloth and clean them in that area until they pee and poop, and clean it up. 

Good luck.


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## msvette2u

BTW, between 5-10 days they'll start sucking on each other and must be separated. If they aren't, they can cause horrible sores on each other and we received a 5 day old litter left together where one puppy sucked another's intestines out his rectum. It can be a huge mess. Even if that trauma doesn't happen, they will suck on each other's potty parts and cause problems in that region.

We used a heat mat (the kind for outdoor use-- lectro mats or whatever) and put each puppy in a separate kitty carrier to keep them from sucking. You simply cannot feed them 24/7 and they require way more suckling than we can replicate with bottles.
We had to have them right by the woodstove too, not too close or too far away, and we also had one start to fade so had to use a rice bag (microwaved and placed in one area of the kitty crate) to keep her warm. She survived...but it's a full time job for about 3-4 weeks.


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## dazedtrucker

Another thing that is of concern...when a mother doesn't nurse her pups, she will be at high risk of a uterine infection. The act of nursing stimulates the uterus to contract and return to normal. If it is not caught soon enough, she can die. (I lost a rescued greyhound. Rescued too late . RIP Missy, you were loved)


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## Stevenzachsmom

I hope the OP comes back and I hope everything is OK.


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