 Barked: Sat Jan 21, '12 1:07pm PST |
 | |  | | Yikes! I'm inclined to agree about her poor litter's situation - is there any way you could talk their owner into surrendering them to a rescue?
It is a bad idea to attempt to play "mother dog." Typically those sorces are 20+ years out of date. You're right, it can severely damage your relationship with your dog.
The ideal situation would be to get her with a foster litter. You could try contacting vets, rescues or breeders in the area to see if they have or know of any healthy litters about her age. That way she also gets the benefit of real dog's milk.
Otherwise the best thing you can do is get her socializing with other puppies again as soon as it's safe. Typically 10 weeks is fine. Speak with your vet about it. Look for puppy kindergarten classes or puppy socials from reputable trainers and see what they require. Although she misses out until then, 10 weeks is still young enough to absorb quite a bit.
On your end, always end play if she nips too hard. Just get up and ignore her. Right from the start, getting rough means the fun ends. You could try giving a sharp "ouch!" to indicate you're hurt... It's a very popular method, but I find it's only about 30% effective. The other 60+% either don't care or become more excited by the noise.
And remember... Yeah, it really is best if a puppy is with their litter for 8 - 12 weeks. But it's not a sentance of doom if they aren't. You're aware of what can happen and you're going to do best by her. That's what really matters. |  |  | |  |
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