Panic attack in a Yorkie first time mom

Question
I have a almost two year female Yorkie that had three puppies very early Sunday morning. This is her first litter. She did very well for the first thirty-six hours or so. This morning, on day 3 she had a major panic attack. She kept moving the babies around, and finally put them in my arm pit area, as I was still in bed. She kept trying to crawl into my arms and neck. and then would start digging at the covers and sheets on the bed. I had to keep taking the puppies away from her because she kept making them cry as she was carrying them around on the bed. I finally told her to leave them alone, and let me take care of them. She seemed to be the happiest with that. I was able to keep them warm and they slept better than they had most of the night. The last two nights she has been waking my husband and I up very hour with the pups crying. She normally sleeps with us, but we made her a whelping box, and put it beside the bed on my side. During they day we move the whelping box out to the family/kitchen room so that she is still with me all the time. She is now sleeping better than I think she did all last night. Is this type of behavior normal or should call the vet or what. I would appreciate any suggestions or thoughts on this. Thank you Christina

Answer
No, this really isn't normal.... Maybe the first day or so, but by the third day all those hormones should have kicked in and she should be totally keyed in on the babies. I suspect she has been too spoiled and thinks the only place she can sleep is in your bed, so the babies need to be there, too.

Did you have her sleeping in that whelping box at least a week (or two) before she delivered, or did you just throw her in there after she whelped? Bitches like to pick their own "den" for the babies, and they need to learn that area will be some sort of whelping box. Here I often put mine in a plastic crate, and cover it up with towels or a blanket, with one "vent" for excess heat to escape. Newborn puppies *must* be kept at 90 degrees so that they do not chill.

Your bitch really needs to be in a quiet, den-like setting, and not be moved around twice a day. When I do use a whelping box, I have an exercise pen around it and then I drape a sheet around it for privacy. I also have a heat lamp on the puppies when I use the whelping box. My puppies are always in the kitchen as that makes for the best early socialization here. Make sure you handle those babies every day!

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