May 23, 2011
My female just had a C-Section and killed her puppies. Do you think it was because of the C-Section?
Full Question:
Hi Ed,I have just come across your great and informative website. I have a question that I have asked many GSD helplines but never really got the answer. I own 2 German Shepherds that I bred last year both at 3 years old. My bitch was contracting for several hours and ended up a C- section. We brought her home with 10 huge healthy pups . I put the pups on the bitch every 2 or so hours as she did not seem to know what to do with them . After 18 hours and several feeds she seemed to be accepting them eg licking and cleaning them . I put my bitch in another room so I could get two hours sleep, she obviously heard them cry and managed to flip the door handle, removed them from thier warming box and killed them all .I now realise I should not have left her or called in a friend to help. Do you think she may have panicked not knowing what to do with them or the C- section ,or that she has a screw loose . I have since had her spayed ,do you think she would have done it again ? .This is a very hard lesson I have learnt from, that is to leave it to the experts.
Donna
Great Britain
Cindy's Answer:
You jumped the gun on the “C” section. I would have waited longer – much longer.
It can be difficult to have a “C” section and then have the female figure out the pups are hers. Especially when it’s the females first litter. What I would recommend is to keep some placentas and when the pups are home rub them on the pups so the bitch gets more of her own scent on the pups.
I think it was also a mistake to not put the pups on the female full time – it was probably a mistake to stress them and take her away from the litter like you did.
With this said – I give you a lot of credit because you probably did the right thing in spaying the female. Any dog that kills her own pups should not be bred.
It can be difficult to have a “C” section and then have the female figure out the pups are hers. Especially when it’s the females first litter. What I would recommend is to keep some placentas and when the pups are home rub them on the pups so the bitch gets more of her own scent on the pups.
I think it was also a mistake to not put the pups on the female full time – it was probably a mistake to stress them and take her away from the litter like you did.
With this said – I give you a lot of credit because you probably did the right thing in spaying the female. Any dog that kills her own pups should not be bred.
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