hiya i know i cant mention breed...so this wont be easy! i have rescued a mum and 4 pups, possibly just coming up for 2 weeks old, ( they are pretty small and in the 'utility' group).
now then, ive had litters in the past, but only ever from my own girls, who know and trust me, and are larger breeds, so this is all new on me!
the mum is a mess, matted and had poo caked in her, i have luckily for me, a friend with a grooming salon who bathed her for me, and tomorrow now she is more settled she'll go in for an all over, well needed clip ( the matts are sooo bad the pups suckle them!!)

now obviously she is very protective of her babies, not only with my other dogs, i have made her up a pen away from them, but she can still hear them, she is also growling at us if we go too close, we can look from a safe distance, but if she is squashing one for example, we cant help out!!??

when out of the pups area she is fine with us, a bit quiet compared to the dog ive met before, i knew her before the owner was ill ( drink related illnesses) and her dogs were badly neglected, and 2 dogs are possible fathers to the pups! luckily her mum intervened and we have taken the pups on...

they are now wormed and warm, mum is clean and feeding well, although she didnt want anything earlier, i think i may be pushing her to eat too much as she is VERY thin

sorry i have waffled, we didnt sleep much last night!!!

my questions:
if a mum is so protective like this, how can i help her out?
she is very thin, was on bakers puppy for a week before i got her, ive been giving her chicken based meat foods ( n/diet & forthglade) anything else i can give to help build her up?

she isnt drinking much so im adding water to her food alot too,

Does she respond by coming to you when you call her out from the whelping box?

If so I would do this every time I needed to see to the pups, offer her a treat and take her out of the room if need be.

I helped at the whelping of a friends bitch who knew us, but she was a lot more protective (stiffening suspiciously if we touched pups in first few days) than one of my own would have been with us, but her owner she trusted implicitly as I would expect.

She will need a bit of time to fully trust you.  At two weeks I would think they are at less risk than newborns of being crushed.

maybe the over feeding is stoping her from wanting drinks? ...try to feed little and oftern ,glad you got her out of the neglect ...not sure about the rest sorry , but well done for helping this girl x

> e isnt drinking much so im adding water to her food alot too,

You might try evaporated milk and boiled water (lukewarm)

I hold the bowl under a bitches nose if she won't leave pups, and find that they drink gallons.  It certainly helps their milk production, and the pups will soon be reaching the age that they could easily drag her down with their demands.

Sounds like this poor bitch has had a lot happen to her in the last few weeks   well done you for stepping in and taking her on

Is her whelping pen covered?  She needs all the help she can get regarding feeling that her pups are safe.   Personally I'd be making sure that any cover came down in the front as well so that you can barely see in   this should help her feel like she has a 'proper den'

I would also get the other dogs right out of the house - if possible after all they are strangers to her    and it's not unknown for 'strange' dogs to kill pups.  You have no way of telling her that your dogs won't hurt the pups, the only thing you can do is help her feel her pups are safe   Once she feels safe you may find she trusts you more near her babies

I'm also a bit dubious about sending her out to the groomers - can't your friend come to the house?  this would mean less likely-hood of picking up something to pass on to the pups and the bitch wouldn't be away from her pups for so long   

morning all, thanks for the advice so far, it all helps!
i left her with lactol over night, she didnt seem interested when i put it in, but it was all gone this morning,  so she has definatley had a decent fluid intake over night.
she has a cage set up within a pen,  the cage is covered as much as possible, last night we had a little break through and she let me stroke her and tell her she was a good girl, without grumbling!

thats great!! she will soon be letting you touch pups at this rate

I wdn;'t be happy about her going to a grooming parlour whilst she has pups myself.

thanks again guys, i had a little go at taking out some of the matted fur last night, she is such a mess
she was a lot more relaxed last night and even came out of her pen with my two oldies also in the room, i think she has realised they arent interested, she went and said hello, then jumped on my lap!

so im really pleased with her progress, the pups im sure have 2 different dads, im trying to find new born pup pics of the breeds but not having a lot of joy!
pups all gained weight in 2 days and now all have their eyes open too!!!!

is there any sites anyone knows of with pics of newborns of various breeds??? maybe you can pm me with an address?

When new-born or very young, many breeds look very similar    EG. my own breed look like Lab pups when newborn and go through a few different 'lookalikes' until they start looking like Bedlingtons  

Re the clipping, can't your friend bring a clippers and a few tools round and get her clipped off?  If the mats are bad it would be better to clip first and bathe later as the mats tighten up when washed

hi all i thought id post an update, i hate to leave threads unfinished!

well the rescue pups thrived and left here after new year fat healthy little bundles, they were more shih tzu than anything and dad was determined to be a shih tzu cross tib spaniel the previous owners 2nd dog. It also thurned out they were only a week old when i picked them up the owner couldnt remember when they were born, but then rang me and said they did as she remembered the ambulance coming to pick her up ( she had drank too much and fallen down stairs)

the mum was clipped by a friend who came around with her clippers and we took off all that we could to make her more comfortable, and as time went on she allowed us to help look after her babies, was amazing to be able to gain her trust so well in such a short space of time.  She has now also found her forever home with a friend of said groomer, out of the area , meaning she wont run into the old owner at all, which all in all is for the best

thank you all for your input, advice and pm's!

Great end- Lovely to hear what happened

Thanks for the update, good news too.

It's great to hear the outcome - unfinished threads can be so frustrating can't they!!