How to Help My Dog Cope w/ Loss of Puppies - Dog Forum

blklabgrl · 06-27-2006, 06:50 AM

Hi Everyone,
I wanted to get some advice on how to help my dog cope after her puppies have been adopted out to new homes. They are eight weeks old now and will be finding new homes within the next week and I want to know how my dog will react once her babies are gone and how I can help her. She has been very attached to her pups since birth - always protecting them and watching them when as I cared for them (i.e feeding, bathing, playing) - she ALWAYS wants to be involved. It took her about a week after they were born before she was comfortable w/ me picking them up, but was still VERY hesitant to let me be involved. She has even let them nurse (once a day) up until three days ago (as I said, they are 8 weeks old) - even though she has stopped producing milk. For the past 3 weeks or so, I have taken all the pups one by one on -what I call - "big adventures" by themselves w/out mom to get her use to the idea of them being gone - and them use to not being around her or their brothers/sisters. However, the last couple of days or so - I've noticed that my dog just kinda mopes around their area - laying in their box or on their pillow (which she hasn't really done for about 3 weeks) and just being very depressed like. I'm starting to wonder if she knows that they are going to leave. Any advice?? Thanks in advance!

DiggityDogs · 06-27-2006, 02:31 PM

In my experience, it's always best just to go back to the dog's normal routines and habits, and not spend too much time worrying about how she feels about missing her pups- she will certainly think something's wrong if you start paying extra attention to her, and by acting like everything's back to normal she'll likely recover from that pretty quickly. I don't know if there's anything special any of the breeders on here do for their girls, but if it were me, it would be life as usual.

Patch O' Pits · 06-27-2006, 05:04 PM

Also I'd get her a check up at the vet to make sure she is physically Ok. Most likely right now she is just exhausted from the pups, but better to be safe

06-27-2006, 06:50 AM	#1
blklabgrl Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5	How to Help My Dog Cope w/ Loss of Puppies Hi Everyone, I wanted to get some advice on how to help my dog cope after her puppies have been adopted out to new homes. They are eight weeks old now and will be finding new homes within the next week and I want to know how my dog will react once her babies are gone and how I can help her. She has been very attached to her pups since birth - always protecting them and watching them when as I cared for them (i.e feeding, bathing, playing) - she ALWAYS wants to be involved. It took her about a week after they were born before she was comfortable w/ me picking them up, but was still VERY hesitant to let me be involved. She has even let them nurse (once a day) up until three days ago (as I said, they are 8 weeks old) - even though she has stopped producing milk. For the past 3 weeks or so, I have taken all the pups one by one on -what I call - "big adventures" by themselves w/out mom to get her use to the idea of them being gone - and them use to not being around her or their brothers/sisters. However, the last couple of days or so - I've noticed that my dog just kinda mopes around their area - laying in their box or on their pillow (which she hasn't really done for about 3 weeks) and just being very depressed like. I'm starting to wonder if she knows that they are going to leave. Any advice?? Thanks in advance!

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

06-27-2006, 02:31 PM	#2
DiggityDogs Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: ....... Posts: 682	In my experience, it's always best just to go back to the dog's normal routines and habits, and not spend too much time worrying about how she feels about missing her pups- she will certainly think something's wrong if you start paying extra attention to her, and by acting like everything's back to normal she'll likely recover from that pretty quickly. I don't know if there's anything special any of the breeders on here do for their girls, but if it were me, it would be life as usual.

06-27-2006, 05:04 PM	#3
Patch O' Pits Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 714	Also I'd get her a check up at the vet to make sure she is physically Ok. Most likely right now she is just exhausted from the pups, but better to be safe