7 reasons a female dog eats her litters

I have read this in one of the post in a Facebook group i was a member into and i just want to share for all dog owners who doesn't know it yet and those that wants to breed their dog

Litter eater

First I want to say how sorry I am to hear about the pups being eaten...I have experienced this before and it is a very sickening feeling to say the least. Unfortunately some bitches do this...and the reasons vary and I will state some of them below.

1. The newborn pup(s) are not healthy, meaning that we can not see what is wrong with them...but the mother can smell disease, sickness or weakness on the pups as soon as they are born.

2. The pup(s) are born dead. Prompting the mother to follow instinct and devour the dead pup to help provide milk and nutrients for the living pup(s).



3. The mother starts eating the pups after eating the umbilical cord from the tummy of the pup. Some mothers go into a sort of trance and will literally chew a pup to pieces once they start tasting the blood from the pups cord.

Many pups lose arms, legs, or their lives to "mistakes" like this. More common with first time mothers.

4. The free whelping was very traumatic, and painful for the mother. She will grab a pup that was a particular difficult whelping and kill it almost instantly.

Some will take the pups by the legs and bash the head into the floor till the pup is dead. Others will take the pup into their mouth and crush it. Or will take a pup and lay on top of it with the full weight of her body, until the pup dies.

5. A bitch will eat their young pups out of desperation, when they are starving to death.

6. A bitch that has a cesarian, which means she does not know she just gave birth. The pups will not smell like her because they were cleaned up...therefore she may not develop any attachment to them.

If left alone with them, she may kill every single pup in the litter. This is common in English Bulldogs, and other dogs that are very prone to cesarian sections.

7. Lastly, bitches have also eaten healthy pups that are days old. There appears to be no reason for the behavior at all. She just attacks and eats, or rips the pups apart without warning.

This is due to a hormonal imbalance in the bitches brain, which causes her to "switch off". She sees the pups as intruders, and never feels any motherly bonds towards the pup(s)...so she "eliminates" the "problem".

Bitches like this should NEVER be bred again! They should be spayed and live the rest of their lives as pets only...never a breeder again. The bitch should also NEVER be allowed to be alone with newborn pups, or very young pups that are not her own.

The chances are very good that she will also kill the defenseless pups of another bitches litter.

The only good advise from a situation like this is to NEVER, EVER breed the bitch again. She does not want to be a mother, and the same fate could befall any future litter that she could unfortunately get pregnant with.


Photo credit: http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/Cum3bpAJi5Y/hqdefault.jpg