introducing dad to new puppies

Question
my shih-tzu had puppies 5 days ago, everything is going fine, but should the father shih-tzu be in the house at this point. We introduced him today, but am i pushing it by having him in the house full-time again, is it too soon?

Answer
Hi Stacey,

Five days old is much too soon to introduce other dogs, even though this other dog is the father of the litter. Introducing the male dog can cause undue stress to the mother which can result in disaster.

When the pups are about 4 weeks of age, try and see how the mom reacts to the the male dog being around her pups. If she's ok with it, then so be it. If she's not, then wait another week, and see how it goes then.

Best of luck,
Patti