Mother dog abandons her maternal instincts

Dear Dog Talk: I have a question concerning a mother dog's behavior. My daughter got a puppy from a humane society near us. The mother dog had given birth to eight puppies, and the owner had dumped the mother and puppies off.

My daughter felt very badly about leaving the mother, who is only about 18 months old. She is a beautiful, champagne colored half-golden retriever. She is very gentle and sweet, and we were able to find her a home with my neighbor.

The mother dog had been upset when her puppies left, so we took my daughter's puppy over to see her. They had been separated for three weeks. We thought the mother would be very glad to see her puppy. However, when we set the puppy down, the mother jumped on him, snarled and tried to bite him. We had to pull her off him!

The mother dog lives with a cat and a small child and is very gentle with them. She is a real treasure, except the motherly love is gone.

We know mother dogs lose interest in their puppies once it's time for them to separate, but we were very surprised at her behavior. Could it have reminded her of the pound• She was in a room there with several other dogs and had no problems. Can you explain her behavior•

Dear Puzzled About the Puppy: Without actually being there and seeing what happened, I can only speculate on what is going on. Did the puppy attempt to nurse• Was he climbing all over mother dog and play-biting on her• From your letter, it sounds as if the minute you put him on the ground, mother dog took one look at him and attacked.

If that is the case, it is indeed unusual behavior. But it's also true that some adult dogs (including females) just do not like puppies. Was mother dog truly trying to hurt the puppy or just giving him a stern rebuke• To the inexperienced eye it can be hard to distinguish.

My guess is that in the three weeks the mother dog had been separated from her puppies, her milk dried up - and so did her maternal instincts. It's likely she was having some hormonal changes after just raising a litter and then experiencing separation from her pups.

Also, you are right when you said that there comes a time when puppies get to an age where mother dog will naturally lose interest in them.

In fact, driving off an older pup when it gets too near could even be interpreted as a continuation of her maternal role. It's her way of saying, 'Time to grow up! You're not a dependent infant any more. My job is done - now back off!'

Dogs certainly have the ability to use scent to identify individuals that they have not seen in a long while. However, I question how much awareness a dog has about his or her direct canine relatives. While it is true that most mother dogs are extremely attentive to and fiercely protective of their puppies, I believe it is all a product of instinct. After weeks of separation, I do not know whether the puppy's mother can understand the concept that this little fur-ball is her son. Maybe she does and just does not care.

Canines instinctively do what is necessary for the best interests of their packs. Puppy survival is imperative for the pack to thrive. But once an individual is separated from the pack and joins a new group, the dynamics change. In all likelihood the mother dog's major concern now is the welfare of her new pack (your neighbor and her family). The visiting puppy even could have seemed like some kind of threat to the mother dog's territory, especially if the pup acted a bit wild, jumping on or nipping its mother.

If the mother dog generally gets along well with other dogs - but just does not care for young puppies - it's likely that several months from now you will be able to get them together to play. In the meantime, supervise very closely if you get them together while the puppy is still young. A good location for a visit would be away from the mother dog's house or yard - perhaps in a fenced field or park, which is 'neutral' territory.

Finally, keep in mind that these theories that I have about a mother dog's awareness of her family are based on a lifetime of working with, observing and reading about dogs. However, the fact of the matter is that I will not truly know what is really going on in a dog's head until I die and come back as a dog!

John Ross writes the Dog Talk column for the Tribune-Review. He has been training dogs professionally for more than 25 years. He is the author of 'Puppy Preschool: Raising Your Puppy Right - Right from the Start!,' 'Dog Talk: Training Your Dog Through a Canine Point of View,' and 'Why Does My Dog Drink Out of the Toilet• - Answers and Advice for All Kinds of Dog Dilemmas,' all published by St. Martin's Press. The books are available in all major bookstores. You can mail your questions to John Ross at P.O. Box 1062, Norwich, VT 05055 or e-mail John at dogtalk@nantucket.net .