Registered: Sep 2005
Location: Orangeburg, SC
Posts: 196

My bitch is eating her newborn pup's feet and legs off.
Why and what can I do to get her to stop while still allowing her to clean and nurse them? Any help is appreciated.

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Last edited by WEBBER on 06-09-2010 at 03:10 PM

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Registered: Apr 2010
Location: Illinois
Posts: 69

wow, dont know of much. All i could think of is put a muzzle on her, let them nurse for a bit then seperate for a bit so she can eat/drink. I suppose this is her first litter? Good luck

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Registered: Nov 2005
Location: New Market Va
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Go get a Muzzel at Petsmart ! You can Clean and Dry the Pups with a Towel .. She Just Dosn't Understand yet ..

Same as the Above Anwser !! lol

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Registered: Sep 2005
Location: Orangeburg, SC
Posts: 196

Not her first litter. First with me. She's 7.5 years.
Was told by previous breeder that she was a good mother, but you know how that goes. She is still having them, lost 4 before we noticed. I have taken 2 from her. I don't want to raise them but my wife and daughters want have it any other way.

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Registered: Feb 2010
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A good mother will eat the still borns also. Before you accuse her make sure this isnt what is happening. If so then it is muzzle time if you want to raise any.

psiskjr

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Registered: Sep 2005
Location: Orangeburg, SC
Posts: 196

No, they were alive with 1, 2, and 3 legs trying to nurse.
I put them out.
I would think the muzzle would get in the way of her continuously cleaning and making them urinate and poop.
I don't know, thats why I'm asking, thanks for the info.

I seen another post about giving her raw hamburger meat.
You think this would help.

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Last edited by WEBBER on 06-09-2010 at 01:51 AM

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I don't know why they do it but I've also heard of giving them the raw hambuger meat before.

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give her some liver soon

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Registered: Jan 2005
Location: Wisconsin
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I had one that would eat her pups too, it was the most disgusting thing I ever seen. The last litter she had 13 pups and they were all fine except they were on her menu. Every time I would go and check on her another one would be gone. She even ate one in front of me one time. the last thing she ate was some lead. She was not mean or upset about anyone by her pups. She would be standing there wagging her tail and you would be petting her. She would lean over into the whelping box smelling the pups next thing you know she was gulping it down.

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I've heard of this before but haven't seen it, I did have a friend who had a female that did this to a couple of her pups, he kept her on the same amount of food throughout the pregnancy and didn't increase the food when she started nursing, I suggested that he increase the amount of food and he started giving her twice the amount at seperate times morning and night and she didn't do it anymore. maybe that will help but it's only a suggestion. I've also heard of female dogs eating sick or weak pups not just the dead ones. It's wierd to us but it's nature and something is making her do it!!!

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Registered: Dec 2009
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Dogs eat their young right after birth due to a lack of vitamins and protein in their system and their body's drive for SELF PRESERVATION and SURVIVAL.


Feed them right, make sure they are HEALTHY and their body is getting all the right things it needs to be unstressed BEFORE and directly after birth, and this wont happen.

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Registered: Jan 2010
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You should take the pups away from her and get a muzzle . Bring her to the pups every few hours for them to nurse . She can clean them wearing the muzzle . I went through a female that would kill and eat her pups, it isnt fun . Just don't take the muzzle off too soon ! After about a week, Sadie would take her dew claw and remove the muzzle as she went out the door ... she also got to barking when it was near time to be brought back in. The pups were put in the dog house with her after 8 days. I don't know whether it was was the muzzle or a swift kick that made the difference but she would still let them nurse till they were 4 mouths old !
Good Luck !
Glenn

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Last edited by Glenn Wells on 08-17-2013 at 07:36 AM

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feed her some chicken livers

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I am under the impression that a hormonal or dietary imbalance causes afterbirth intake, more extreme, but still normal, is stillborn pups and ultimately, live pups. I've never heard of an "imbalance" that would cause one to eat the legs off one. Must be a brain imbalance.

I'm not into breed standards, don't even show. Why then do most standards talk about scissors bite except for a practical reason? to keep from having to have a vet available to deliver most litteres? You can save them , YES, But are they worth it?

Last edited by l.lyle on 06-09-2010 at 08:21 AM

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Registered: Sep 2005
Location: kokomo
Posts: 495

had a litter last year, i found this works good

1/2 lb cooked hamburger
1 can wet food
scoop of dry food

fed this twice a day, raised a very healthy litter

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Registered: Jul 2006
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She needs a LOT of CALCIUM and she needs it NOW!

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Registered: Sep 2005
Location: Orangeburg, SC
Posts: 196

Thanks for all the replies.
I feed dog chow, no not the best but have been good. She was and is on a self feeder so she gets as much as she wants. Maybe I should have switched to puppy chow to give here the extra minerals and vitamins. I'm no expert but if it was a mineral deficiency, wouldn't she eat the entire pup and not just the feet and legs?

I watched her when she dropped pup #6 she swung around, tore the sac open, aggressively biting and shredding the cord, she had the pup outside the box, picked up the pup, into the box, and continued to bite and nibble the cord "aggressively" My daughter couldn't take any more we took the pup before.....
Maybe the aggressiveness is normal. This is the first time I've ever seen this so I'm not sure what’s normal.

After 11:00 last night we left her to do her thing, right or wrong. Woke up this morning to find 3 more pups, 2 of them had small nicks/cuts on one leg each, the other OK. I took 2 from her and will let her nurse the 1 to see what develops. If she gets over this episode maybe we can slowly introduce the pups back to her.

We have raised pups in the past and were successful, but it is a tough demanding job but is also a good learning experience for teen kids. Maybe this horrible and costly experience will turn around to be a positive one.

Thanks for the help,
Kevin

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Registered: Oct 2006
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You asked all these people for their advice they give you alternatives that are cheap and sensiable, yet you sound like you are going to do nothing but let nature take its course. I don't think you need this litter.

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quote:

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Originally posted by imacorgimom
She needs a LOT of CALCIUM and she needs it NOW!

---

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Registered: Sep 2005
Location: Orangeburg, SC
Posts: 196

I'm not just letting nature take its course. I took the pups from her AND I'm not just throwing the advice from everyone to the side and going on my own. I have fed her chicken livers, and raw burger, and giving her a calcium supplement. I plan on introducing these 4 pups back to her with supervision until I'm comfortable that she can handle it on her own.

I'm not taken everyone’s advice, as I've gotten many, not only by this board but personal calls as well. I'm doing what I can and what I feel is reasonable. The muzzle I have not used.....from other comments this is not the route I want to take. I'm just letting everyone know where I'm at and hopefully "we" can all learn from this.

If it's a deficiency thing, then I'll learn from this experience and maybe try her again next year and feed her a better quality feed with supplements if needed. She is from a well known cross that I feel could help me in producing some nice coonhounds when crossed with my male. She wasn't cheap and I don't want to give up on her especially when it's my fault. With the exception of a few comments, so far it seems to be my fault for not feeding her a quality food. It's been a while but I've raised several litters by a different female without any problems. I've seen and heard of mothers eating the pups head and entire bodies but eating just the feet and legs was a new one on me.

Doug, critical or not, your info is welcome and appreciated.
I did change her housing location to give more shade because of the hot humid weather we are experiencing. Calculating the 63 days from her first breeding, she was 4.5 days late. You're right, there are many things or combinations of some that could be factors. When I said "it is a tough demanding job" I was referring to hand raising without the mother's help. My bad, I wasn't clear on that.

Again, thanks for everyones input, recommendations, and opinions.

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Registered: Jul 2006
Location: Carrollton,Missouri
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I dont think it is a deficiency problem.There are alot of people that have raised a litter off of alot cheaper food.There are probably people out there tthat have raised a litter off of always save dog food.This would be a hard thing to go through,we get anxoius for a litter of pups around here and hate when we lose any.Is it a intellegence problem?Is she a nervous mom?I know you have alot of money in her and probably like her but it would be hard for me to not hate her after doing that.Just my opinion,i would hate to go through something like that.

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quote:

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Originally posted by wakenda creek b
I dont think it is a deficiency problem.There are alot of people that have raised a litter off of alot cheaper food.

---

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what kind of dog food are you feeding is it meat based or grain based.
in school we did an experiment with rabbits and found when a rabbit was fed corn they would kill and eat there young once there diet was changed to a balanced diet they raised there litters with no further canibalism.
so i could really see feeding chopped meat would help prevent this

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dont know if its right but i always start feeding the female esbilac milk replacer and puppy chow 10 days before delivery to try to get calcium and milk up in the mother and have been fortunate but i have another litter coming from a new mother that came from my 1st litter/hope she takes after her mother shes got everything else her mother had including a messed up heat cycle

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Registered: Mar 2010
Location: maine
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mabye in her mind there isnt a difference between legs and umbilicle cords thats why she is chewing them off. take the pups and cut the cord yourself clean with towel reintroduce later after the birthing is over and the pups are dry . supervise /go the nutrition route to be on the safe side .

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