Maternal Aggression
Bitches can become aggressive when they have young, even to the owner. It is always best to move in slowly, when looking at the mother and her pups. The Bitch will not be normally aggressive while she is giving birth to the pups unless something may have gone wrong and she is in pain. When you first handle the pups pick one up that may be leaving its mother, show it to the mother, let the mother lick the pup then give it back.
By doing this you are showing the mother that she should not be fearful of you taking away the pups. If you have visitors that may wish to see the pups, it would be best to leave that visit for about one week unless the mother shows no sign of aggression. The Mother may not be aggressive towards humans but towards other household pets like another dog or the family cat. In time the mother will not class these animals as a threat and allow them to come close to the pups. In summary it is good to let the mother have lots of peace and quiet for the first four days at least. But, this does not mean any visitors, just tone it down a lot.
Another important point is to keep your shoes off before entering the room where the mother and pups are. This will prevent any outside contaminants from entering the room.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Tagged with: maternal aggression
Filed under: Dog Aggression
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
