recently i placed a "rescue" English bull terrier bitch "Sally" with a family friend. she's now back home with me...and a belly full of pups!!! i actually paid for her a while ago simply to remove her from her then owner. my apologies for the long post but I'm giving you her background in the hope that someone has had experience with a bitch exhibiting similar traits; and hopefully a pearl of wisdom or two.

in a bad way physically and mentally, she didn't trust anyone but only aggressive around food ,and not at all towards dogs. a chronic tailchaser (a neurological problem not uncommon to the breed). from what i can gather she'd had several owners, the penultimate one kept her alone outside tethered to a concrete floored kennel without bedding. i summised this had excaberated the spinning. stopping only if you had hold of her and resuming as soon as you let go. judging by her flinching at mop/brush etc i believe she may have been beaten. her nipples indicated that they had been suckled upon, so presumably at some point she was mentally sound enough to rear pups.

i found out a few weeks after i got her it emerged (LITERALLY) she was carrying one pup but not producing any milk (common in highly strung/aggressive bitches, adrenalin counteracts the oxytocin). over protective towards the pup,the only time she'd ever "gone for me". it was impossible to bottle pup and return it . she held pup in her mouth and continued to growl and bark. i managed to remove "Solo" eventually but not before she'd cut it holding it in this manner. despite antibiotics we lost zimdays later. Sal was back to "normal" tail chasing in the garden after half hour with no ill effects.

estimated at 5 years but could be as old as 7. she's come on leaps and bounds in a relatively short time. she has only a few old callouses, only tailchaseing when excited. amazingly without any medication or training other than by myself around the house (i thought at one point she may have to be euthanized, she was that bad).

it was never my intention to keep her once she was healthy but she's been returned from new homes twice. I'd resigned myself to the fact she'd be living out her final years with us. a low maintenance dog nowadays, my other "raised from pup" bully is more bother; but i didn't want her being bounced from pillar to post.i have her on a joint supplement owing to her age and knee problems common to EBT's. she's protective over the family although to an appropriate level. fab with kids although ball and tire obsessions mean she can't always play.

several weeks ago i reluctantly made the decision to rehome her again but still see keep my eye on her. there was no room at the inn when i took her on, still isn't, but that's not the main problem. my younger EBT gives her stick and as she's not naturally a fighter i didn't want her to learn. additionally she is prone to brief outbreaks of random barking. although not excessive, it draws attention to the fact i have several dogs, resulting in my being blamed for all barking in the locality. living in rented accommodation this poses an obvious problem.i agreed to cover the spaying costs and half of any vet bills resulting from old age.

the move and/or bitches at my friends must have knocked her out of sync. she came in season immediately - months early - so spaying temporarily postponed. initially she'd settled in well but one of their dogs started to bully her. so back she came. another friend in my street(much better) agreed to take her this week, same deal, until i noticed a suspicious sudden weight gain. my friends were genuinely surprised. she hadn't escaped during her season. however a a rather agile staff is known to visit next door....

it's the last thing the dog or I need. (i have my own litter on ATM plus 2 orphan pups) but my problem isn't the hand rearing, it's the heartbreaking task of forcing a dog in labor to be caged and muzzled whilst i whip away her pups.

obviously if there's a way of avoiding this I'd like to try. on the plus side, we have a better bond now, she's very much my dog. to date she's bitten 1 intruder, 1 ex-boyfriend and 1 other dog. it sounds a lot but she correctly judged each situation, defending me at the time and releasing them when i called. not intended to sound boastful, more to highlight improved trust.

however a phantom pregnancy followed her last season and during the convincing "labor" she would periodically have a go at me for a few seconds (muzzled) then return to wanting fussing over, climbing on my knee. taking the muzzle off and on again may have made her worse but i was worried about her overheating. based on this I'm assuming she'd behave the same in true labor. as you can appreciate risking one bite from a hormonal EBT doesn't have the same repucussions as with a shih tzu.

so my long ramblings are my clutching at straws. i was hoping someone may have owned a similar tempered bitch, who with possible drugs/lotions/potions, was calmed enough to be allowed to stay with her pups, or had success giving something to encourage milk production.

i'm taking her to the vets tonight for a scan hopefully to find out how many are in there so i know when's safe to remove her muzzle. my new stethoscope mustn't be strong enough as i can't hear pups in bellies with it. she hasn't long to go i don't think. oh and did i mention her temperature doesn't drop?

i believe urtica urens 1m is useful for milk production. sepia 30c for the overprotectiveness and also 5 bachs rescue remedy/5 flower essence to calm. all other trieds and testeds greatfully received...or is the general consensus that im peeing in the wind, and i'd be better just removing pups.

needless to say the next job on my list- spaying!

so these are accidental/mixed pups? i'm not a breeder, so this may be useless, but....how far along is she?

when i did TNR for feral cats, as long as a cat wasn't too far along into the pregnancy, we spayed and aborted the kittens. if the cat was at the point where spaying/aborting was going to have a real impact, we did not, but there is a point w/cats where it can be done and i would imagine the same is true for dogs.

I agree with Jennifer, but I also don't know the time-line. I looked it up but did not find a cut-off date. I'd call the vet today and find out.

the only other dog known to sometimes be in the area she was living is another english bull. but noone is that lucky, especially not I. the likely culprit is looking to be a staff. if i'd known she'd been caught she'd have gone for the morning after jab. judging by approximate date she went to new home (coming in season next day) and the positioning of bump i believe only days to go.

as she's known to only carry a few pups (have since heard on the grapevine that her original owner got rid of her because she only had 2 or 3); she hasn't shown any signs til this week. when i got her i didn't know she was in pup til she went into labor.

abortion at this point not an option. even if it was i doubt i could go through with it as the pups would be viable - this is someone who can't even drown a weak pup when most other breeders would have. i'm one of these that stays up 4 nights giving fluids every half hour. (well worth the exhaustion i might add- haven't lost a pup for years)

basically i was hoping for a miracle suppliment to curb her aggression/hysteria enough so i don't have to take the pups off her. assuming she can be given something to encourage milk production, she could be left with them. she doesn't attack the pups, rather she won't put them down and ends up cutting them

I don't know that much about it, but I think that any drug you give the mother would get into her milk and also affect the puppies. It sounds like you are using a cloth muzzle, I would get a basket muzzle so she can pant and drink, but not pick up any pups. I would keep the muzzle on her, and when she needs to eat (I fed my bitch 4 times a day) first remove the pups (maybe to a crate or another room) then remove her muzzle and feed her, then put the muzzle back on and return the pups.

When I had a bitch nursing a litter (pups are now 9 weeks) I gave her lots and lots of chicken broth mixed 50-50 with water. The more she drinks, the more milk she has. Other than that, I would consult a vet.

Unsalted chicken broth, BTW. :>

Yeah too much salt isn't good. I also gave the mother Pedialyte (unflavoured) during the birth and for about a day or two afterward.