Why is my dog mom pushing her smallest puppy away from the litter?

Sometimes mamas will separate a puppy that is not doing well, so if this puppy seems smaller than the others or isn’t eating as well I’d recommend having it examined by your vet. It could also be a behavior quirk of hers, sonif the puppy seems normal otherwise I wouldn’t worry too much.

I think that the puppy would likely be best left with mom - unless she is actively rejecting him away from her, or showing any agression when he tries to nurse. Give him the best chance by helping him get attached to the nipple to nurse. You can supplement with a bottle, but he will grow best from his moms milk. Also make sure she has a calm quiet place to nurse and care for her pups - if she feels threatened or you are interferring too much she is more likely to reject the puppies. Using pheromones like ADAPTIL can help calm her and the pups and make nursing more successful. Very rarely and for reasons we dont always understand, some bitches will attack their pups. This can be hard to predict or prevent. Be guided by her interactions with the puppy and intervene if she seems cold or aggressive when the pup tries to nurse from her. Best of luck with your litter.

Hello. There always seems to be one puppy that just seems to struggle, but this does not mean anything is wrong. As long as you see the mother dog nursing her, cleaning her, & not ignoring or pushing this puppy to the side, then she will be fine. Often these slow starters will easily catch up to their littermates in time. Just keep a close eye on everyone. Buying a small digital kitchen scale & taking weights 2 times a week will make sure everyone is growing. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Yes! You absolutely must booster the runt a bit as it is likely getting much less nutrition than the others in the litter. Mom will neither reject the pup nor will the pup reject mom if you add additional nutritional support. This is very commonly done by breeders with smaller pups.

It sounds like Pixie may be rejecting this puppy for some reason, and for the puppy's safety and health, I would plan on bottle feeding. Try again tomorrow, but if she acts the same way again, continue to bottle feed only. I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Sometimes the behavior of the mother is hard to understand and honestly, I can’t explain what Soska is doing. But what’s important is that she will still feed and care for this pup. I would advise you continue to keep putting her back in the box with Soska as much as you can. Hang in there and in about a week, it will be time to start offering canned puppy food anyways and they will be better able to regulate their own temperature. Best of luck to you, Soska, and the pups!

Runts of the litter are definitely common and often have a hereditary problem, or illness causing them to not grow as well as the others. However, they can simply be outcompeted by the others, so making sure it gets mom's milk (the best option), or formula may be helpful. It's also good to have a vet check her to see if anything is causing her to remain smaller than the other pups. I hope that helps and all is well with the pups.