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carrying puppy around

my bitch has only had 1 puppy, previously had 6 before. It is now 4 days old and from the day she has hd it she is constantly picking it up in her mouth and carrying it around then going back to her bed. The pup must be feeding as it is starting to grow, but I have now noticed that she has marked the pups skin, like a graze on her side, where she keeps putting it in her mouth, why is she doing this, and any ideas what I should do?

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Answer #1

the puppy is now a week old and I had to take it to see the vet as there was a nasty open sore on one side where mum kept carrying her and constantly licking it. The vet said that she was being over protective as it was the only pup, but she was being too cruel too be kind by constantly licking the sore, as it would never heal and dry up, so he told me the only solution was to take her away and hand rear her, which is what I have been doing. The sore is scabbing up now, obviously mum is very upset, but it was the right decision.

Answer #2

I would check with your Vet. My Boxer did this to her last puppy. She only had one and she stressed it so bad that she lost it. I did try to save it but she let it get cold too often. I would check with your Vet and see if she can take a tranquilizer or something to calm her down.

I told another friend about what happened (she breeds Boxers too) and she said she had a same situation happen and they lost that pup.

So if my dog has any more pups (just one) and starts this I will be calling my Vets right away to see what we can do to stop the habit. (oh I don’t think I asked the right questions with mine)

There could have also been something wrong with the pup, but I don’t think so. I tried taking it from her and feeding it, kept her with me and the pup and tried to supervise her feeding it. It just didn’t work because she kept carrying it and pushing it off the heating pad.

Oh is the puppy maybe cold? They have to be at 98 degrees the first week?

You really need to check with your Vet and see what is going on.

Answer #3

I really don’t believe the breed matters I think it is something totally different. Let us know what you find out or the outcome because I would like to know more about this myself.

Answer #4

because she has only had the one puppy she it protecting it, it wont be doing the puppy any harm as you will notice were your dog picks the puppy up it will have lose skin.. there is nothing you can do she is just protecting her puppy and looking after it.

when the puppy grows bigger and stronger it will be wandering around more and your dog wont need to carry it

Answer #5

the puppy is a springer spaniel.

Answer #6

what kind of dog is it?

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