I have a close friend that is a beginning breeder of GSDs that recently had a horrible experience with a new breeder bitch. She purchased the dog at 2 1/2 years of age from a kennel in Germany, with a shady history of breeding (was told the dog only had had 1 previous litter). She bred the dog to a local PSD 70 days ago, and the dog gave birth 8 days earlier than the usual 63-day period. As the dog was giving birth to her first pup, she suddenly clenched the puppy inside for over an hour. The puppy was born dead. Her next 2 pups were born in the normal way, however when the dog leaned over to clean her 3rd, she just suddenly bit the puppy in half! We rushed to the whelping area (we were watching via closed-circuit tv), however when we got there there was only the rear feet and tail left. Her next 3 puppies were cleched inside again, and were dead when she delivered them. We only could save two small females, and even then we have to muzzle the bitch to let the pups nurse.
I was wondering if any breeders out there have had similar experiences. My theory is that the dog has had more litters than the breeder was informed of, and that she was probably bred her first heat and the experienced mentally screwed her up. If someone can give us some insight, please help! We are planning to spay her reguardless, we would just like to know how this could have happened. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

This behavior is considered very disturbing and the bitch should never be bred again. She can pass this trait on to her puppies. Bitches who eat their young are not of sound mind and should not reproduce. This bitch should be spayed. This can be a genetic problem in dogs. I would never buy a puppy from a bitch who ate her pups. Something is NOT wired right in her genetic make up.

We already decided to spay the female and not breed her, and we figured if this was a genetic flaw and not a learned behavior that the pups were to go to pet homes. One has a very good personality, and may be a SD prospect. We'll keep an eye on the pup's progress. Thank you for your reply!

What an awful experience. Sorry for your loss. Thats really sad.