New born pups

Question
My shih Tsu just had 6 pups.  She keeps moving them around.  I have had to handle the puppies quite a lot..and she doesn't seem to mind.  However, she now is picking up pups and changing them to a new location.  Then she changes them back.  I have had to retrieve new location because it was dangerous for pups.  She seems so unhappy.  Should I just let her move the pups to where ever she wants as long as I supervise so they wouldn't get heard.  I feel funny handling them so much..I don't want her to reject them.

Answer

Hi Maria,

A mother dog can be very protective of her pups and may show signs of anxiety when people come around the puppies. Some dogs will move the puppies from place to place in an effort to hide them from predators (which of course you're not!), but your dog is being stressed by the level of activity around her pups. This is instinctive behavior.

The area where the puppies are kept should be in a warm spot that's in a quiet part of your home, not anyplace that's the center of activity. Maybe move the whatever puppy containment system you're using to the area where your dog keeps moving her pups to, so that the puppies will be safely contained, in the new "safe" location.  Put the pups and their bedding in the containment area, and try not to disturb it.

If you aren't using a containment area, such as a whelping box, you can make one. It needs 4 sides that are high enough to keep 3 week old puppies from climbing out, but low enough that your dog can jump out easily when she needs to. Having the sides about 10- 12" high is a good height. It helps to have a washable surface, so once the box is assembled it's handy to apply contact paper to the inside of the box. Many people make whelping boxes out of plywood, but you could use any rigid, strong material you can find at your local hardware store. You could also use a small plastic kiddie pool as a containment area for the pups. For a litter of Shih Tsu's, you wouldn't need a very big kiddie pool!

I hope that helps.

Best of luck,
Patti