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!

Hand raising pups in this situation would be an up-hill battle at best. Besides cleaning the pups during delivery (which will take forever if the bitch isn't relaxed), making sure that they get colostrum from a bitch that won't relax, has no milk, and is fighting with you, you will also have to do the round the clock feedings for weeks, if they live that long.
Bull Terriers are frequently poor mothers, even without the neurological problems your dog has.
If she has raised pups in the past she may do it on her own again.
One alternative would be to keep her very secluded so that she feels safe and secure, that means giving her a very private, not-too-big whelping area and leaving her alone during labor and the first few days, at the very least. She will be more likely to relax and take care of her pups that way.

I'm locking this thread because it's duplicated in another forum here. Please refer to:

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=6&Number=160470&Searchpage=1&Main=16741&Words=+jacqui+taylor&topic=0&Search=true#Post160470

To the O.P., I know you're concerned and upset, but PLEASE don't post the same message in various forums on the board.