infant feeding

Question
My pit just gave birth to a small litter of puppies. Only 2 that I have seen. Is this normal?
Also, what can i do to them as far as feeding them and/or bathing them. The mother wants to dominate them and not let me or the wife near them (understandable) every now and then, we are allowed to look,pickup and cuddle them, but 10-20 sec and she is grabbing them out of our hands. We now keep them in the house in the storage since she gave birth, but she was an outside pet nad growing up she was potty trained, but she has forgotton the routine. I feel bad about puninshing he since she is not very up to 100% i think, but i need to do something, before she thinks she can do what she wants. My main concern is taking care of the infants, what can we do to ensure they are healthy and they will grow up healthy

Answer
Hi Tony;
Do nothing as long as the mother is taking care of them.
She is a first time mommy, and she wants you to keep your mitts off her kids.
If her milk is enough for them, and she has been on a good diet for an expectant mother, she should have enough milk for them and it should be rich enough.
DO NOT bathe them. Mom will do that.
Some dogs have a small litter their first time.
A German shepherd litter is considered a big litter if they have 4 the first time. Hounds have a box full.
Some dogs just have larger litters than others, and there is nothing wrong with that, it is just a charistic of some breeds.
Best to sit by her and her babies, and tell her how beautiful they are. Handle them as little as possible at first.
Too much handling makes them sore, and makes momma nervous.
Just keep her pads in the bed clean as possible by changing at least once a day, maybe twice if there is quite a bit iof soiling.
Mother will clean up the babies' poop.
Sounds disgusting to us, but to them it is perfectly natural.
She probably is reluctant to go outside to do her business, because she thinks you will grab her babies while she is gone.
She is a little posasive of them, sure. That is a mother's natural way.
When she knows you are going to follow a few of her rules, where her babies are concerned, she will relax more, and let you cuddle them more.
When we have had a litter to take care of, the kids and I lay on the floor by the nursery ( dog carrier with the door open), and just reached out head in and cuddled and nudged them, while momma was in there with them. We didn't pick them up much. We gave mom some lovings and told her what beautiful babies she had, and nuzzled her and the puppies. the mother always got very relaxed with us being right by her puppies.
The main thing is to ease her fears that you are going to drop them, or hold them too much.
In the case of her puppies, she should be allowed to be a bit of the alpha.
Call your Veterinarian, and see when you are supposed to bring the puppies in for a checkup, and to start their shots.
If they are nursing a good while, and seem satisfied after they nurse, and not crying and still hungry, then her milk is fine for them.
Keep an eye on her teats to make sure they are not swelling, and feeling feverish. If you sense that, get her in to see her Vet right away.
Milk fever is rare, but when they get it, it is serious.
Here are some good information sites, on Pit Bulls.

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/breedinfo.php

This site looks to me to be one that you could email and get some very good information to help you handle that litter best. They breed them, so they should know how to take care of the babies and the mother while she is nursing thm.

http://www.angelfire.com/ego/pitbull_terrier/index.html
Good luck, and when she lets you hold those babies, give them a snuggle for me
]Charlotte