I just took my dog and her litter of pups to the vet for a check-up. All the boys and girls are fine and looking really good. My mama dog is gaining weight. The vet said that she is looking a whole lot better. What I was wanting to know is will some mother dogs kill their pups? She is acting really funny towards her pups. last night I had to get her off the litter, because she was laying right on them. they were squilling, I had to litterly pick up to get her off of them. Then I caught her doing it again. I told the vet and she said as far as anatomy wise she is looking really good, no worries, but there might be a problem mentally wise. That she could be tired of the pups because they are getting more demanding. Told me to keep a watch over the pups and to keep an eye on her when she is near them. That it is not uncommon for mothers to kill or abandon their litters.

The female may be stressed or she just may be an air head.

This could be stress from taking the litter to the vet.

The litter box needs to be in a quiet secluded place. You should not allow family members in with the litter until its a week or more old.

Firstly make sure that this female is in a stress free enviroment, no other dogs around, not to many people coming in and out (high traffic)then make sure that you have a proper whelping box with a rail, the rail will stop her from squashing them,not sure if you have a box/pen, some females will climb over there pups it looks like they will suffocate them while settling down, but they don't,(still amazed how they do this) wrt to killing them, yes it can happen, if the stress levels are high or she is a young
inexperienced mother, I would try keep an eye on her at all times, try not fiddle with the pups to much this could also be making her act up, some females don't like excessive handling especially in the first 2 weeks, when you say she is acting "mental", what is she doing other than lieing on them, sometimes if the pups are not well they can eat them,
or push them to the edge of the box. Did your vet offer any thing to calm her perhaps something herbal? I use Rescue remedy when my females are whelping and for two weeks after.
It is the Bach flower Remedies, perfectly harmeless and totally herbal.

Ed you must have posted, as I was scripting <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I have her in a whelping box, no rail though but will get one today!!! My male is outside, so no other dogs in the house. I pretty much keep everyone away from the pups unless me or my husband go to clean out her box. Where can I get that herbal "rescue", I would like to try that. Anything to help her. Maybe I am being to much of a worry wart. It scared me when the pups were squilling and she was not making any effort to move the same the 2nd time around.

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The female may be stressed or she just may be an air head.

This could be stress from taking the litter to the vet.

The litter box needs to be in a quiet secluded place. You should not allow family members in with the litter until its a week or more old.

She did this before I took her and the pups to the vet. The pups are 2 weeks old. I have her an the pups away from everyone. My husband and I are the only ones who go in there, and that is just to keep her area clean. I fight with the young'uns everyday because they do not understand why they can't pet the pups, but I stick to my guns. At night when we go to sleep she will try to move the pups into our room, because that is where she is use to sleeping at night ever since she was a pup. Should I allow this?

Moving the box is an option ,hope you can sleep thru the noise <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I would since you say she keeps trying to move them,she is obviously not happy in her current location,
I once had a bitch who kept trying to get on my bed, they do some pretty weird things <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />The one you want is the "Rescue Remedy" made by Bach should be available at any health shop or pharmacy outlet,it is perfectly safe used on horses as well, you can put it on the tongue or put the drops into the drinking water.
When I travel with my dogs,sometimes they get loose bowels from stress it helps prevent this as well.
It is a wonderful and totally safe product.

Here's what one of my females preferred years ago: I was single, no one else in the house, and the whelping box was at the foot of my bed. When I came home from work, she was hiding the puppies in the couch cushions and then would proceed to try to move them all outside to the den she dug. So I emptied out the bottom of my closet (in my bedroom) and pushed both closet doors to one side so it looked like a den, put her blanket in there, I put the pups in there and then she was content and quit moving them.

To answer your question about can mother dogs kill their pups? I know of two instances of mother dogs killing their pups from friends of mine...even when they took all necessary precautions.

Both females were spayed shortly thereafter.