Why did my dachshund kill a couple of her puppies?

Question

My dachshund gave birth to 7 puppies but killed 2 of them. She was left with a friend because we were heading to a family reunion. We received a call from our friend and she told us that our dachshund is unable to give birth because either the puppies were too big or too many. Our pet was sent to the emergency room because she was dehydrated and having a difficult time. She did not give natural birth and was given a C-section. She's biting the puppies on the head, and refuses to nurse them. My wife had to put a make-shift muzzle and then our dachshund allowed the puppies to nurse. We are puzzled by her action since she is such a good natured family pet.

Answer 1

I agree with oregano,  a mom knows when there is an issue with one of her babies, and will even eat it.  gross, but natural....

Answer 2

This can happen after a csection- often times when the mother wakes up she has no idea what happened and does not see the puppies as hers.  Try to rub the puppies against mom to pick up her scent-

you may need to pick up some puppy nursing milk and bottles just in case

Answer 3

sometimes if dogs feel that somthing is wrong with the puppy they will just discard it..either refuse to nurse it or kill it. she's probably in a lot of pain in her tummy from the surgery and having all those babies nursing on her probably hurts...that could be why she's biting them. the puppies do need to nurse but if she's unable or unwilling you can get formula at a petstore or even walmart as well as the feeding bottles for them good luck  

Answer 4

If the mother feels the puppies are in danger or if there is too much light, she may become anxious.  Some dogs, especially first-time mothers, are more anxious than others. Such dogs may attempt to hide their young, even from her guardian. Moving from place to place may continue and will endanger the puppies if they are placed in a cold or drafty location. Dogs with this behavior should be caged in a secluded area. This type of mother has also been known to kill her puppies as a means of protecting them from danger.

Or being too stressed from being left and feeling abandoned at your friends house, while you attended the reunion, she might have been too anxious.

Also, some dogs can detect something wrong w/ their litter when they're born, and try to get rid of them. She probably didn't feel like they were natural to her or even hers.

Answer 5

I love the personality of a dachshund. They are so sweet.

Answer 6

Sometimes the dog thinks she cannot provide enough food for all puppies so she rids herself of the ones she thinks will not survive.

Answer 7

She should have stayed a family pet, and been spayed.

There are several possible reasons why she's behaving this way:

1. She is too young to be whelping a litter, and doesn't know how to deal with it.

2. B*tches who've had c-sections sometimes wake up from the anesthesia without their mothering instinct -- they didn't give birth to the puppies, and they don't realize what they are.

3. She is genetically unfit for motherhood.

4. She sensed congenital defects in the puppies she killed, which is why she killed them.

5. She was in a strange place without her family during whelping, and is too distraught to properly care for her puppies.

There are so many things wrong with this situation, I don't know where to begin. But the bottom line is that you are going to have to hold her down and force her to nurse those puppies, or commit to bottle-feeding them.

Just because a dog is a good pet, it does not mean it should be bred. Please do not breed this female again.

Answer 8

Age?  First litter?  If she is young and this is her first litter, it's likely that she is not emotionally mature enough to raise a litter of puppies.  Alternately, the puppies may have some sort of genetic defect, or she may not have adequately bonded to the pups at birth because of the C-section process.  Either way, I would never breed her again since she's shown an inclination to kill her pups.  Please have her spayed once she is done nursing these, if it was not already done as part of the C-section.  

Answer 9

She either killed them because she knew that there was something wrong with them or is to young and does not have the instinct to take care of them.

Dogs will kill the weak ones so the stronger one will have a better chance of survival.

If she was breed before her 2 year old mark, she is not fully mature herself.

I would not breed this dog again if you have to put a muzzle on her just to get the pups some milk.

You are doing nothing but making the situation worse and teaching her that having pups is a bad experience.

I would take the pups away and bottle feed them yourself and get this dog fixed.