Is it normal/good that my dog doesn’t mind people being around/handling her puppies? I’m imagining it is, I just remember the first time I ever got a puppy and going to see it for the first time, the mom dog hated her owners getting too close to the puppies. It seems to be a common thing of people thinking mom dogs are aggressive/super protective over the puppies, as people are so surprised seeing how my dog reacts!
She doesn’t care at all about me, my boyfriend and his father picking them up, laying them on the bed with us etc. (the puppies are 2 weeks 3 days old) I’ve had all 6 laying on my bed for hours and every now and then mom comes to check on them for a minute then goes again, like she knows they are okay with us and trusts us alone with them! People she know decently well can come and sit with the pups and cuddle and she’s completely fine with it, just sticks around to watch! Obviously we don’t let people maul the puppies and always make sure mom isn’t stressing out!
I want to add we aren’t backyard breeders, we own the father dog too and this litter is moms only litter, she will be spayed once the pups are grown!
@chromechris You are a nice pack of dogs to her lol. Glad she feels so safe! Of anyone outside of that pack cones in she may be nervous so keep an eye on her body language.
@aenon We do! Only one person so far has been here that we could tell she was a bit nervous with. She knows the guy but it’s not someone she sees often! So glad that she trusts us and people in general, and doesn’t stress out when we need to move/handle the puppies!
@chromechris My dog will tolerate the four people she’s closest with interacting with her pups. No one else is tolerated until the pups are older and she is firm in this boundary.
@chromechris My girl is my shadow. My daughter is her #1 human, tho. However, within 10 min of whelping all puppies & even tho my daughter and I had to do everything, including basically birth 2 of the 4 pups, she didn't want anyone even 5ft of those babes. I guess it just depends on the bitch. Mine just has an overactive motherly instinct to protect her puppies. Much like me I guess. I wasn't even able to clean the whelping box the first few days. I would only mess with them once a day to weigh. But then I got real tired of not being able to check on them & decided to show momma I was there for her & to protect the babies. They are now 3wks & 2 days and she spends a lot of time away from them. she's pretty tired of them, just like her vet claimed would happen.
Idk about keeping them on your bed, tho. Im so worried about germs and parvo. I wouldn't let my sister into the house when they were 1st born. Then she was allowed in but wasn't allowed to touch or get very close. She would stand on tiptoes to peer into box standing about 6 ft back. Now she's allowed to handle them since they're older and starting to roam, but ONLY after thoroughly washing hands! Puppies are so susceptible to illness when they are tiny... No way I would I allow them anywhere but they're whelping area until they could regulate their body heat, eyes were open and were roaming on their own. Im just very protective also tho. I was the exact same way with my children. They were both premies & I somehow offended my very dirty neighbor who screwed everyone & her husband & smoked like a damn chimney by refusing to allow her to touch my daughter when she did come home from hospital. Offending ppl isn't on my most thought of list.
