Do they kill on purpose??

This has got me wondering. I had one pup in a litter several years ago where the momma, being inexperienced, pulled on her pup's umbilical cord too hard & inadvertently pulled the pup's intestines out. I turned around to get medical supplies to try to put the pup back together (yes, I know the pup likely would have developed peritonitis & died, but I always try) but by the time I turned back around she had killed & completely eaten the pup!

This current litter, we had one pup who was weak & unthrifty. Bendi kept pushing him away from the litter, but I always put him back. I noticed he was alway cool to the touch & had a weak nursing response. I figured he was cool b/c Bendi kept pushing him away from the warmth of the litter & his nursing response was poor due to his resulting cool body temp. Yesterday we began supplimenting him with tube feedings & then putting him back with mom. He seemed to pick up some, but this morning I found Bendi had not only pushed him away again, but laid on him, crushing him to death!

So my question is - can or do mother dogs kill their whelps on purpose? Her other pups she seems fine with, but this pup Bendi seemed determined to be rid of. Am I reading more into this than there is, or could mother dogs really be cold blooded killers who destroy whelps on pupose?

 

I don't know if the dog you have meant to,I doubt it being she laid on the pup instead of eating it.I've had one dog I'm positive meant to kill her's because she seemed determined to eat her pups no matter what I did.But I only had one like that.Probably something we'll never know for sure though.

 

I have been told that some times mothers can sence when something isn't right with a pup or a litter and they kill them or won't feed them off the break.... Not speaking from personal experence but this is what i have been told.


Vic

 

In the 1st instance where the pup had it's insides out I could see why she ate it, I would assume it would be to keep the "den" from smelling of blood & to perhaps silence any pitiful cries or cries of pain that might draw attention.

But in the second instance I am baffled b/c Bendi always lays in the back of the kennel, not out in the middle where I found him. Maybe it was just a mistake, but it seemed almost deliberate effort, esp. since we had started to try to keep the little guy going.

My mother had always told me that a dam sometimes "knows" if something is not right with a whelp & will push it away to let it die of the elements, kind of a survival of the fittest thing. But I have never known a dam to deliberately do something (i.e. smother it, eat it, etc.) to her own whelps to get rid of them. I guess maybe she was self-culling! But as you say, we will never know for sure.

BTW gh, how's your litter going? I hope everything is well!

 

The dog I had that wanted to eat her's has been quite awhile ago,hope I never have that happen again,she killed them all.Good luck on your pups,hope the rest of them do good.

 

I had a puppy killer years ago, but she killed any ole puppy she came across out of just plain hatefulness. I called the guy I got her from & told him what had happened after she we out of her way to tear open a pet porter to kill one of my beagle pups. But this bitch wouldn't eat them, just kill them. He then admitted she would kill her own pups too. She was culled out of my program!

As for these guys, thank you for your positive thoughts. I will be hoping & praying for the best!

 

Good luck.

Vic

 

Pretty much any mother animal is known to kill its offspring if it is weak, and concentrate on the healthy ones. Sometimes we may not know something is wrong with a particular pup, but she does. If there is one she is pushing away, there is probably something wrong with it.

 

Survival of the fittest, at least concerning that puppy. She knew something you didn't, no doubt about that. Dogs are used as diabetic seizure prevention dogs, so they can sense some stuff we are clueless about.

If I had a bitch that killed all her pups, I think I would kill her too. I don't want a dog that would do that, that shows me her instincts are fucked up and I would assume it was from too much inbreeding. Either way, that's a line I don't want a dog to cross.

 

A dog near me just had pups back in the winter, 12 of them. One male kept getting pushed aside and didn't get to eat much. He got weeker, but they kept putting him with her and letting him eat by taking other, healthier pups away. I just think in this case, he wasn't strong enough to push toward the front against the healthier pups and that nothing was wrong with him except being week. He's doing fine now and was the pup that they kept. Meet Tyson...

 

ive been through this and seen it. some might not like to hear it, but i let nature take its course. there is a reason for everything. if you interfere, you are mess'n with nature. born of the wild, like the wild. servival of the fittest etc. unfortunatly it is human nature to atleast think they are doing the right thing, but are they???? it is like some women may not be able to have children, i feel for those who can't, but i believe there was a reason for it etc.. the human race is comming undone because of its medling and altering natures course. dont believe me?, take a look around:p
sometimes it is just better to leave alone, like i said, there proberly be a few that disagree, but before jump'n me, atleast have a good non biased think about it.
respectfully, D'S.........

 

abk-you culled a bulldog because it killed another dog? thats like culling a lab for fetching something just because you didnt ask it to.

 

I guess it depends on the reason. The pup I was talking about was just smaller than the rest and couldn't fight. He just needed a little help.
And sometimes it's best to not interfere, you just don't know. I knew of a litter of spaniels one time the mother kept pushing 2 away. Come to find out when they were about 8 weeks old, both started having seizures. Sometimes mom knows best.

 

"I guess it depends on the reason. The pup I was talking about was just smaller than the rest and couldn't fight. He just needed a little help."

or did he?.......

 

Kinda heavy but i agree With you D's..... if he wasn't strong enough maybe he just wasn't ment to be here. Everything happens for a reason right? Just like if it were the other way around and that pup was against all odds and some how made it. or with people. i had someone in my family have a baby but the doc told her she would never ever ever have kids. but she did..... I feel ya D's.


Vic

 

i had a pit that always killed the runt... maybe the same type of thing

 

yes i gues that happens, killing the pups on purpose, it happened with a friend's bitch. she just killed every one of them on her first litter (second one went ok).

but she didnt sit on them accidentaly or anything like that. she bit them to death and i think she did it within a few hours.


one thing i was told but not sure if it holds true, you should avoid getting ppl to see the pups etc. it causes stress sometimes to the mother and she may behave strange. though i dont know if this is related, but avoid it anyway.

 

YES they do kill on purpose! Most have a reason , They know somethings wrong or they know they cant feed that amount. But remember some are just shity moms that Can throw bulldogs. I have had bitches I raised the pups just so I could get pups off her. Its all in what you are willing to go threw.

 

So it would be your practice to kill all runts cause that is what this little on was. Just curious cause a lot of nice dogs started out that way.

 

In my experience, this is not uncommon. However, I don't think that its up to us to try and stop it. Bitches do this for a reason, although the reason may be beyond our understanding.