3 yr old Lab with NO maternal instinct

Question
We were given a 3 yr old Lab named Sissy in February.  She has a very, very sweet and loving temperament.  However, she has some extremely submissive behaviors so we think that she may have been mistreated in the past.  She is an outside dog and normally sleeps on our screened porch.  
Sissy gave birth to her first litter of puppies last night (06/27/08) but she appears to have no idea what is going on.  She had two puppies under my husband's truck.  One died, however we don't know if it was stillborn or if she didn't remove the sac in time.  She did not sever the umbilical cord on either of the two "truck" puppies.  Sissy then "disappeared" so we brought the living puppy in the house and took care of it.  
We found out this morning that when Sissy disappeared she had moved to the woods behind our home and had two more puppies.  Again, one died...we think from exposure.  We found the one live "woods" puppy covered with flies and ants and brought it in the house to take care of it also.  
Meanwhile, Sissy seemed more interested in playing fetch than taking care of her babies.  We brought her in the house to introduce and supervise them.  We had to make Sissy lay down to nurse the puppies because she didn't know what to do with them.  When they started nursing she seemed somewhat interested, but when we moved them all outside, she left the puppies and wanted to play fetch again.  We brought them all back inside and had to show her what to do all over again.  
Sissy is now taking care of the puppies, but she seems a little bewildered and (for some reason) won't eat or drink inside the house.
Is her lack of maternal instinct something that can be overcome?  Should we allow her to breed again?  And why would a dog in labor move in the middle of her delivery, basically abandoning a live puppy?  It all seems so strange!
I apologize for the length of my post, but I thought the information might be relevant.


Answer
Hi Libby! This is 'normal' behavior in a very young dog that is way too young to be having puppies. However, your girl is definitely not too young. There's no real answer to this. Some girls just don't make good mothers.:-) My advice would be to keep trying to get her to care for her puppies. As long as she's not aggressive towards them, keep trying. I would get some puppy formula and a few bottles just in case she refuses. I would also get her a whelping box made, and put her in a secure spot. That may be why she left the puppy. Dogs need a safe, warm spot to keep their puppies, and feel safe. If you do this, this may help her behavior. Also, think of this...when a woman has her first baby, she usually needs someone to show her what she needs to do. Some dogs are the same way. You can try to encourage her eating inside of the house by putting beef broth on her food. If she still refuses to eat, you'll just have to feed her outside. As for breeding her again, give her some time to see what kind of a mother she is. She may shape up now that she knows what's expected of her. If she does, then she may be ok to be bred again. I would definitely make sure she has her box and safe spot where she can't run around next time. :-) A week before she goes into labor, get her box ready and keep her in her spot. One more thing, many people don't think that dogs think of pregnancy like we do. We know when we're pregnant, what's going to happen. Dogs may not. One minute they're happily playing, the next something squirmy and crying comes from their body, and she may simply not be sure of what it is. Keep doing what you guys are doing, make her a safe place to keep her puppies, and see if she comes around. if I can help with anything else, let me know!