# Pls Help! Pyrenees lying on puppies!



## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

Cross-posted in Pet Forum.

Please don't flame me or blame me; I'm doing everything I know to do to help this litter survive.

Scenario: Two-year-old Great Pyrenees, first time mother. Litter of ten gorgeous pups born on March 29th. As of this afternoon, 4 PM, THREE PUPPIES are still alive! Mama just plunks herself down and smothers whoever is in the way of her bulk.

I've tried dividing up the litter, leaving half with her, and bringing half into the house, then switching every three hours or so. Mama has no problem with this. She feeds them and is very attentive to them, licking them and cleaning them well. She just isn't paying attention to where and how she lies down! PLUNK! Another dead pup!

I've been extremely vigilant, checking on her every three hours, round the clock, sometimes making a just-in-time rescue, and sometimes removing a suffocated DEAD pup.

Is there ANYTHING to help this situation? I have the remaining three 4-day-old pups in the house at the moment. Maybe I can just take them out to mama every few hours for feeding? Or might it be better to bottle-feed the remaining pups?

For what it's worth, mama has a clean, private location - a kidding pen within the goats' pen.

Any advice or help would be appreciated. Thanks.


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## westbrook (May 10, 2002)

no flaming.... we all have had our share of problems.

keep pups with you in the house.. bring her in, put her in a down stay... put pups with her to nurse.

she only needs to nurse them when her teats are really really full! usually about 3 times a day... less as they get older.

by now she is spending time away from the pups... close by but not with them.

I am sorry for your loss.


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## lamoncha lover (Mar 1, 2009)

oh march 29th. Pups are still pretty tiny. I would have her feed them much more then 3 times a day. I would every 3 hours and maybe every 4 at night.


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## bknthesdle (Mar 27, 2011)

I would put the puppies with her every 3-4 hours to let them nurse and allow her to clean them, then I would take them away. I would also not leave them alone with her unsupervised.

Wishing you the best!


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## Olivia67 (Mar 6, 2008)

Does anyone know if any of the pups survived? JW...I was following this thread and saying a quiet prayer that at least a couple of the pups survived-good news would brighten my day.


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

Olivia67 said:


> Does anyone know if any of the pups survived? JW...I was following this thread and saying a quiet prayer that at least a couple of the pups survived-good news would brighten my day.


Thank you for the prayers, Olivia. I'm grateful. The three remaining pups are a week old now, and I've been taking them to their mama for nursing, every 3 or 4 hours, round the clock. They are thriving. Thank you!


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## NorCalChicks (Dec 7, 2007)

nehimama said:


> The three remaining pups are a week old now, and I've been taking them to their mama for nursing, every 3 or 4 hours, round the clock. They are thriving. Thank you!


So glad to hear the three are doing well! 
We have a litter of Doberman pups, started out with 14! Sadly we ended up with 8 - she too kept stepping on them and lying on them, plus the pups were born several days early and we had a group of normal sized pups and another group of very much smaller babies. She had to have an emergency c-section for the last pup, and we chose to spay her at the same time. The vet said one of the horns was in extremely bad shape, so we think that most of the small ones must have come from that side. But the remainder kids are very healthy and look like little bulldozers! The mom was abandoned with us late in her pregnancy, along with 3 other adults. We've become a little Doberman ranch!
Hope you will have pics of your 3 soon! Puppy pics are so cute.


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## Olivia67 (Mar 6, 2008)

How wonderful that three of the pups are still alive! Thanks for the good news! NorCalChicks, I hope your pups do well-


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## therunbunch (Oct 5, 2009)

I am so extremely mortified for you. This would break my heart in all kinds of tiny shards!!! Man, I can't even imagine. I'm glad some of the others with experience can give you some advice. I hope your little sweeties grow up big and strong. Hopefully this will be mom's last litter??


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

therunbunch said:


> I am so extremely mortified for you. This would break my heart in all kinds of tiny shards!!! Man, I can't even imagine. I'm glad some of the others with experience can give you some advice. I hope your little sweeties grow up big and strong. Hopefully this will be mom's last litter??


Thank you. In a word, YES. This will be the last litter for her, and probably for this farm. I'm not cut out to get over losses like this very easily. Too soft-hearted.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

All I can say is.....


:grouphug:


It can be so heartbreaking to deal with such losses


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

nehimama said:


> Thank you. In a word, YES. This will be the last litter for her, and probably for this farm. I'm not cut out to get over losses like this very easily. Too soft-hearted.


Boy do I understand that well! We had two litters (10 + 11 pups) and lost one out of each and I lost all interest in breeding after that! Very glad that the ones that survived are doing well! :grouphug: <- thinking you might need another.


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## therunbunch (Oct 5, 2009)

We had a mama cat once (barncat) that didn't take care of her kittens either. I was a curious kid so I kept going out there to look at them when I wasn't supposed to.. and found them one freezing morning all motionless in the bed. I picked them all up and flew into the house with them. My dad was mortified but I had a lamp with the shade ripped off and towels.. trying to bring them back. I got all but one back (out of 5). It is hard to get over for sure


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