Caring for the Bitch?

Thus far little attention has been paid to the bitch in the process of weaning, but she must be considered as well as the puppies. By making the change from breast feeding to lapping very gradual, there is no trouble with the milk supply of the dam. However, should she decide to leave the puppies while her breasts still contain milk, she should be given a purgative dose of milk of magnesia every two or three days until it disappears.

If the breasts become swollen and hard, they should be massaged with camphorated oil twice daily. The oil is warmed, and the massage is given in a rotary motion, with the nipple as the center. It is sometimes a help to use warm vinegar fomentations. These are applied to the breast by soaking towels in a solution consisting of one ounce of vinegar to a pint of warm water, and covering the whole area for eight to ten minutes.

A dog or bitch can vomit at will, as may be readily seen when the bitch decides that her puppies may no longer worry her for milk. Then she will eat ravenously, and a short time later will vomit part of her meal in front of her young. This does not mean that she is sick. It is simply nature's way of supplying the young with partially digested food which they will be able to assimilate. The bitch does not know that the breeder has made all provisions for feeding her puppies, so she shares her solid food in this manner. This instinct goes back to other days. In the wild state, young puppies were much too inexperienced to catch game and would have starved to death had the dam not caught the food, partially digested it, and then shared it with her litter.

It is even on record that the male will sometimes share his food in the same manner, but this is rather unusual. However, I have seen it done. I have a dog and bitch that are inseparable. When this bitch has a litter, the dog will help to feed them. He even seems to take a certain pride in them, but will not lower his dignity sufficiently to have anything to do with them outside of regurgitating some of his food. I believe that he does it out of friendship for the bitch, and it is the only instance I have actually witnessed.

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