Mothers Behaviour Towards Puppies

Question
We have a one year black lab who had a litter of puppies.  They are 8 weeks old, given four away and kept two (cream colored lab and chocolate/mixed lab).  We have a fenced area where the puppies play during the day.  She has been a devoted attentive loving young mother.  However, we've tried to them out of the fenced area for a walk on our property, but the mother attacks the puppies biting them on the neck and legs, pushes on them as if herding them back.  They'll roll on their backs in submission. So they don't get hurt by mom, we swoop them up and bring them back to the fenced area.  How long do you think this will go on?

Answer
Hi Sharon,

Assuming these puppies are totally weaned, this could just be a case of a super-protective mother. By the time the pups are 6 weeks old, the mother SHOULD NOT be aggressive or overprotective of her young. A growling, overprotective mom is not a good role model for her impressionable youngsters. It could be a big help to enrol in a "puppy kindergarten" class to help with the socialization issues they can be developing through their mother.

Try keeping the mother dog in the house, away from the pups, so she can't see any of what's going on with her pups while you take the pups for their walk.

Best of luck,
Patti