After my dog has had pups, I might need to move them to a different place. But can I move my dog and her puppies immediately after their birth? We will answer this question here.
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Yes, you can move your dog and her puppies. Just make sure to handle the puppies with extreme care as newborns are very fragile. While it is better not to move a mother dog and her newborn puppies, sometimes it becomes necessary.
You might need to move your dog and her puppies if one or the other has some health issues, clean their whelping box, or move them to a new and better location.
Often people feel wary about moving their dog and her puppies, as some mother dogs might react aggressively. Read on to find out how to move your dog and her puppies without upsetting them and why some mother dogs act aggressively while someone tries to touch or move her puppies.
Can I Move My Dog And Her Puppies
Yes, there can be many reasons to do so.
A simple answer to this question is, yes, you can move your dog and her puppies. The reason can be anything; you have to clean the whelping box, shift it to a bigger box, or any puppies or the mother dog need some medical care, you will have to move your dog and her puppies. You need to take care of a few things while moving your dog and her puppies:
Never separate the mom and babies
If you need to clean the whelping box or shift the mother dog and her puppies to a new whelping box, then make sure never to separate the mother from the puppies.
While moving puppies, bring the mother along and never take the puppies out of sight. A mother dog has maternal instincts to protect her puppies from any imminent danger, and if you take her puppies away, she might consider you a threat. Also, puppies can’t retain their body heat, so it is best not to separate them from their mother for a long time.
If you have to separate them, make sure the pups are warm and well fed
If a puppy or the mother dog is sick, it becomes necessary to either move the puppy or the mother dog out of the whelping box to get the proper treatment. While doing that, ensure that the puppies are warm and well-fed even in the absence of their mother.
If your dog is not ready for weaning, keep the pups in a safe and warm place.
Sometimes, a dog doesn’t have any maternal instincts and may harm her puppies if they try to drink milk or go near her. Look for any such alarming behavior like your dog growling at her puppies orbiting them. It is also essential to move the puppies away from your dog in such scenarios.
My Dog Just Had Puppies Can I Leave Her Alone?
No, you should not leave the dam and her pups alone. There can be many complications, so someone responsible needs to be with them at all times for a few days.
If your dog just had her puppies, then you should not leave her alone. You don’t know what complications may arise in the few minutes you leave them alone. The mother dog and her puppies both are vulnerable and need full attention from you. Several health complications can arise and be very dangerous for your dog and her puppies.
While your dog may want to hide the puppies from you and even show aggression if anyone gets too close to her, you should stay with her. Maintain some distance between you and the puppies so that your dog feels that you mean no harm to them.
You must constantly monitor your dog and her puppies for any warning signs that imply a health risk. Check whether all the puppies are fed by the mother and keep track of the mother dog’s food intake.
For the first week after the puppies are born, please don’t leave them unattended. Once it’s been a week, you can leave them alone for some hours for a grocery trip or something, but make sure that you or someone else checks up on them every few hours.
Why Does My Dog Separate Her Puppies?
Some dogs may initially reject their puppies due to various reasons.
There can be several possible reasons why your dog separates her puppies like her not feeling well or she doesn’t feel maternal instinct yet and some other reasons. As much as we like to think that a mother has to have maternal instincts for her puppies, there are a few scenarios when a mother dog separates her puppies.
If the mother dog is unwell or some of her puppies are sick, and she doesn’t feel like they will survive, she can separate or ignore them. Stay attentive to your dog and her puppies, as it is easy to notice if she rejects the whole litter, but if she ignores just one puppy, then it might not be too noticeable.
If the mother dog herself is not mature, then there is a high chance that she will separate her puppies, and there is a high chance that she might even attack her puppies if you try to force her to go near them.
If you notice that your dog is not licking her puppies and tries to stay away from them, then these are some of the signs that your dog is rejecting her puppies. Also, if she rejects some of her puppies, you can notice visible differences between their and other puppies’ growth. They also will cry a lot louder because of hunger.
Why Does My Dog Smother Me?
It’s a sign of affection, you can train it out of them.
Dogs get attached to their owners, and sometimes they can become too clingy. If your dog is too fond of you, expecting to get a treat, or fearful that you might leave them, they can smother you.
If you spend a lot of time with your dog, they get habitual of seeing you around. Any time you try to leave them alone, they can smother you. Also, if you encourage this type of behavior with rewards and treats, they think every time they smother you, they will get a treat.
If your dog behaves this way, you try some home exercises to make them understand that this behavior is not appreciated. If the problem persists, you can try taking them to a dog behavior specialist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my dog let me touch her puppies?
Yes, if you share a great bond with your dog and she trusts you, then she will allow you to touch her puppies.
In some cases, mother dogs have strong protective instincts for their pups, and even an otherwise gentle dog may show some signs of aggression if its owner tries to touch the puppies.
When your dog just had newborn puppies, then she might try to hide them but give her some time. Soon enough, she will introduce them to you. Once they realize that you mean no harm to her or the puppies, then she will allow you to touch them, given that you don’t get in her way of caring for and nursing her puppies.
When can I move the whelping box?
Typically around 2 or 3 weeks after the delivery.
Once you find that all the puppies are safe and healthy and don’t need to be with their mother all the time, then you can move the whelping box.
Newborn puppies are born with their eyes closed, and they cannot retain their body heat on their own. For survival, they must remain with their mother. Generally, puppies’ eyes open on their own in about one to two weeks, and they are curious little creatures.
As soon as they start standing and walking, they need to explore everything around them, so by three to four weeks, they will try to crawl out of their whelping box.
Also, mother dogs have a protective instinct towards their puppies, and if you move their whelping box too soon, they might react aggressively.
Can I move the whelping box?
Yes, but make sure both the dam and her puppies are safe and well-fed.
If your dog has newborn puppies, it’s best not to move the whelping box as mother dogs have protective instincts, and they may act aggressively if they don’t like the place you are moving the whelping box into.
However, if necessary, you can move the whelping box, but you need to make sure that the mother dog is with you all the time. If she feels that her puppies are endangered, she might react negatively.
Also, if she doesn’t like the new place where you have moved the whelping box, then she might try to move the puppies to a location that she feels is safe.
Will a mother dog kill her puppies if you touch them?
This is extremely unlikely.
While it is highly unlikely for a mother dog to kill her puppies just for you touching them, certain instances may cause a mother dog to kill her puppies intentionally or unintentionally. If a mother dog finds that one or more puppies are sick, they might kill them.
When dogs used to stay in the wild, a puppy making too much noise can give away their location to a predator and could be dangerous for her and other puppies.
In such circumstances, the protective instinct of the mother dog would be to save herself and the other puppies, and they might kill the puppy for making noise.
In some instances, the mother dog will also eat the puppy’s body she killed to avoid any predator finding the body.
Final Words
Moving your dog and her puppies becomes necessary when you feel that the whelping box is not big enough for them, any of the puppies or the mother itself is sick, or for some daily cleaning of the box.
You can move your dog and puppies; however, make sure that you don’t separate the puppies from their mother as young pups can’t retain their body temperature on their own. Also, separating a mother dog can result in her acting aggressively.
Thank you for reading the article. You can learn more about your dam and her pregnancy in these articles: Can A Dog Get Pregnant Without A Tie?, Can My Pet Dog Get Pregnant After Giving Birth?, and Do Dogs Get Diarrhea When Pregnant?