Looking for a male saint bernard

[redhen]

Maybe the mom just cant make enough milk for all those pups? I mean its a LOT of pups for one ***** to handle..

I thought that it was normal for breeders to supplement in large litters like that...

 

[FlaRocky]

Maybe the mom just cant make enough milk for all those pups? I mean its a LOT of pups for one ***** to handle..
I thought that it was normal for breeders to supplement in large litters like that...

When I have a litter I do supplement mom, BUT MOM IS STILL FEEDING THE PUPS MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY. With no coaching. I have had some very large litters from different breeds, Bloodhound, GSD, Rott. just to name a few. And welped some litters for rescue that were not in the best of health. If and when I get a ***** that is a not so great mother, not attentive, does not like to nurse and care for the pups. Then I Spay her I don't care how good she is at her job, or how many championships she has, I will not reproduce one that is a lackluster mother and chance passing on those genetics NO MATTER HOW MUCH I LOVE MY GIRL. It's just not worth it to me.

Maye

 

[redhen]

Its her first litter...shes probably overwhelmed..
That doesnt mean shes a bad mother... or should be spayed..
As redyre stated,,she even (in her champion blood lines) sometimes needs to MAKE the ***** lay and feed her pups sometimes..
It happens..

 

[arabianequine]

Well her teets are at times pretty red and warm. I can see some bruising even in areas no nipples are. They are not hard and she has no temp. Mom is acting normal other wise eating, drinking, active....etc. She might feed more then I know at night when we are sleeping. I started feeding at 2 1/2 weeks and they are 3 weeks today.

She will feed if I bring them out on the living room floor and do half at a time. I sit with her and pet her....she likes that and seems to stay a bit that way. I think she gets overwhelmed and nervous as to all the whining and then she starts to whine, there is not enough nipples for everyone at once.

Since I took out all the blankets and started putting newspaper down for them to potty on and just a small corner of blanket for sleeping in the whelping box mom does not like to lay in there.

She is very protective and attentive otherwise. Like I said I think she gets confused or not sure what all the noise is about or what to do about it.

 

[Redyre Rotties]

Its her first litter...shes probably overwhelmed..
That doesnt mean shes a bad mother... or should be spayed..
As redyre stated,,she even (in her champion blood lines) sometimes needs to MAKE the ***** lay and feed her pups sometimes..
It happens..

Let me be clear. I have never had a b.itch that I had to force to nurse puppies during the first 3 weeks. What I said was that I WOULD do this if it were necessary. It is NOT normal, and I am with FlaRocky, I would not use a b.itch again who was unable or unwilling to take care of her litter until 21 days. 11 puppies is not too much for a healthy b.itch to nurse until 21 days. Good that they are 3 weeks old already, they will be eating much better over the next week.

 

[redhen]

I don't think the op said the ***** was totally refusing the pups... I didn't get that from her at all.
Also..so its not normal at all for a first time mother with 11 pups to get sore and a little overwhelmed? And need a little help?
I'm sorry...I don't believe that at all..

 

[dainerra]

no, usually if a b..tch is going to have trouble adjusting it will be in the first couple of days. For her to be avoiding the pup already isn't a good sign. Now, by the time 5 weeks + rolls around the behavior she is describing would be normal because the female is starting to wean.

at this age the mother would still be spending most of her time with the pups and DEFINITELY feeding them whenever they are hungry.

 

[Redyre Rotties]

redhen, no, but what she is describing is NOT normal for a b.itch with puppies less than 21 days old. As Dainerra said, if you are going to have issues, it will be in the first week with sore breasts, etc. Up until at least 4 weeks, healthy normal b.itches nurse puppies whenever they demand it, and usually sleep at night in the box with the puppies. It is very unusual to have a b.itch not spending almost ALL of the time with the puppies until at least the end of the second week. Even with a large litter, normal b.itches feed puppies on demand AT LEAST until 3 weeks.

So one of two things are going on here:

Either this b.itch is just lacking in the natural drives to mother and raise her litter, or she has some health issue going on that is interfering with that.

 

[redhen]

Okay,.. i understand a bit better now. Thanks!

 

[arabianequine]

She did real well through 2 weeks this happened between 2-3 weeks and why I started feeding the puppies a little at 2 1/2 weeks. Like I said earlier she is with them all night when we are sleeping so maybe they got more then I thought. She would still sit and let them drink a little during the day but not for very long that we noticed. She is spoiled and obsessed with running the house and I would sometimes lock her up with the puppies. She wanted to see what we were doing and what was going on mostly in the kitchen with food. She would jump the half wall sometimes she wanted in there so bad. I had to sit with to get her to feed. She also liked just half and half on her better.....so I still do that. I think she got nervous and overwhelmed when they were all squealing and she did not know what else to do. They were cause there was not a nipple for them all at once. When this happened she would get back up and start whining herself and sniffing, licking, nudging them to see what is wrong.

She still seems healthy, active, eating normal, and no temp.

redhen, no, but what she is describing is NOT normal for a b.itch with puppies less than 21 days old. As Dainerra said, if you are going to have issues, it will be in the first week with sore breasts, etc. Up until at least 4 weeks, healthy normal b.itches nurse puppies whenever they demand it, and usually sleep at night in the box with the puppies. It is very unusual to have a b.itch not spending almost ALL of the time with the puppies until at least the end of the second week. Even with a large litter, normal b.itches feed puppies on demand AT LEAST until 3 weeks.

So one of two things are going on here:

Either this b.itch is just lacking in the natural drives to mother and raise her litter, or she has some health issue going on that is interfering with that.