Snapping at puppy

[HeathLanca]

Tonight, while Princess was feeding her puppies, I put her bowl down in front of her, she usually likes to eat while they are eating, and one of the puppies kept coming near her bowl, well she finally snapped at him, poor thing, he ran off crying and shaking. I picked him up and calmed him down.
Needless to say, we won't be feeding her when she is with them anymore, but this kinda scared me... I know dogs with their food is a touchy thing, but her own puppy? :(

[Rott-Wiley]

Some mothers will do that when they don't want the pup to have what they are eating. Usually it's to keep the pups nursing longer but knowing the history here I don't think that is the case. I would guess she doesn't want to share her food. She's not much more then a baby herself plus she probably isn't sure if there's more where that came from. Some mothers are simply "Mrs. FullCharge" and want to control everything. It's hard to say.

[PooPooPie]

Maybe try hand feeding her when the pups are near.

[poohbearsmom]

Well, I can only tell you how I handled it when Attila was whelped. Pooh was fed separately from the pup. Attila got his fill, then I called Pooh from the whelping box to feed her.

Pooh is a resource guarder. What you have effectively done, IMO, is allow your girl to teach her puppies the same thing. Please allow your girl to eat in peace. There is no need for her to eat while the pups are feasting. Although she may be a wonderful mother, this is a behavior that can cross the maternal line.

Attila was a singleton, so I kept toys in the whelping box...not for him to play with, but more so he would have obstacles to move over and around and snuggle with. Pooh would religiously remove the toys from the box, and I SHOULD have listened to her. There was one toy in particular that she fancied, and when Attila was about 2 weeks old, she let him know in a very matter of fact way that it was off limits to him. MY BOO BOO. That afternoon, Pooh very effectively passed on the resource guarding behavior to Attila, through her actions.

While your pups are nursing, your bitch should be quite content tending to her brood, and to wait for her supper.

Good luck!

Elisabeth