OK, I’m not really about to become a grandad but one of my dogs is about to give birth so its nearly the same. Anyway, my question is this :
I have two dogs. A springer spaniel bitch (she’w the pregnant one) and a terrier dog. The spaniel is due to give birth in the next week. Is it safe to leave the male dog alone with the pups? Will he see them as a threat and attack them? FYI he has been ‘done’ i.e. he’s two veg short of his meat and two veg.
Anybody help me out here?
Well give us a little time to wake up and get some coffee first!
Two questions: how old is the terrier, and how well do the dogs normally get along?
I do not have any whelping animals in my vicinity, but the breeders I have known do keep male animals away from any breeding females: less stress on the female.
In a couple of cases, the owners had to keep other breeding females apart. A friend had two females ready to drop pups at the same time and noticed a lot of antagonism between the two. Basically he ended up seperating them to opposite ends of the house, divided by baby gates (I learned that stepping over a baby gate in a dress is very unladylike, and he had several throughout the house - I felt like I was doing the can-can). Much less stress on both the dogs and the house occupants - no fighting (one almost ripped out the others throat), no snarling, each dog felt comfortable in her area and no dead puppies this time (happened to another friend who kept the females together). After all the pups had weaned, the two adults were back together playing as usual like nothing had happened.
Now these may be isolated incidents and your dogs may get along just peachy fine. I’m sure there are people with more dog expertise on the boards, but at least you have a couple of scenarios to consider. Perhaps keep the terrier on a leash anywhere near the female’s birthing area, the easier to get him away should she feel threatened. Gate off the area so she feels more secure.
And now that I have had my coffee, your last line of the OP makes a lot more sense. And welcome to the boards.
The terrier is 3.5 years old. He was born on my birthday.
The pups are due on my girlfriends birthday. Anyway, they both get on really well normally even though we had him first and only got her a year ago. He wasnt threatened at all when we introduced her.
Sorry about the impatience. I forgot most of the people here are in a different time zone.
BUMP
I changed the title of this thread. Let’s see if that helps… If not, we may move it to “IMHO” - Jill
(I’m a sucker for dog threads.)
I’ll preface this by saying I do not allow any dog I own to breed, (I believe it’s unethical & cruel) so I have no direct experience. However, I know several serious breeders, & the puppies are NEVER around an adult male until 7-8 weeks old, at least.
What kind of terrier? Staff, Russell, Airedale, what? Terriers tend to be dog-aggressive. Springers are generally fairly soft dogs. Personally, I wouldn’t allow the male around the pups unsupervised.
[sub]why are you breeding if you have no experience? Or was this a “mistake?”[/sub]
First post on this site- I’ve been around dogs for 30 years and seen umpteen litters.
I’ve never known any of my male dogs pose any threat to puppies, but I do keep them apart for two reasons. Firstly it reduces the risk of the puppies being exposed to diseases (true- they have a degree of inherited immunity but I’d rather reduce the risk).
Secondly- for the the dog’s own protection. Sometimes the bitch can become very aggressive- even the most placid of bitches can be very scary when maternally enraged.
So my recommendation is to keep them apart even if your dog is a big softy.
Short answer: Don’t worry.
My first thought is that you ought to be worrying about whether “Uncle Bob” will be safe from the spaniel. Most bitches tend to be very protective of new puppies, and if Uncle Bob pokes his nose in where he’s not wanted, especially when they’re very young, he may get an unpleasant surprise.
Second, all dogs who have been normally socialized, that is, they didn’t grow up in complete laboratory-induced isolation, have very strong hard-wired instincts against harming puppies. Puppies themselves are hard-wired to fall into submissive postures at the drop of a hat, and I would say that 99% of adult dogs out there, whether male or female, “fixed” or not, will accept these submissive postures (roll over on the back, whine, pee) and will break off any “attack” instantly. Do some Google searches on “submissive posture puppy adult dog” and see what you get.
Third, dogs are not like lions or bears, where the cubs are at risk from the males. Dogs and wolves are social creatures, all members of the pack help to raise the young, and I think that Uncle Bob will turn out to be the most valued member of your team, in about 2 weeks, when it comes time for the puppies to stop being newborn infants and to start learning “how dogs act”. “Dogs do not poop in the house”, “Ask this person for food”, “We do not sit on the couch”, things like that.
Conversely, of course, Uncle Bob may be happy to teach them things like “All shoes are fair game for chewing”, and “This is how we get the gate open”. In that case, you’re on your own. 
You might also look and see which dog is Alpha dog. If the spaniel is Top Dog, look out for her definitely not being happy to have Uncle Bob around her newborn puppies, but after their eyes are opened and they’re big enough to gambol around the living room, she’ll probably allow him to help look after them. If Uncle Bob is Top Dog, I think the spaniel will still be protective of them, but rather than Uncle Bob wanting to kill them, like a lion or a bear, he’ll actually be secure enough that he won’t be threatened by them.
And as I said, he’s genetically hard-wired to accept their submission. The whole pack of them, adults and puppies together, won’t be up to any serious “battling for social status” for at least 4 months anyway, so don’t worry about dogfights.
Too bad my husband doesn’t post here, he’d snap that up for a sig.
Oh, and welcome to the SDMB!
Well, it was a mistake but not on my part. We put her in kennels for the weekend when we went away. She was just at the end of her season (we were going to get her done when her season was finished as thats the best time) but the kennel staff still let another dog near her. Bingo, she’s pregnant.
Since I posted she’s had her pups. The terrier is now on extended holiday in my mothers. She had nine pups in all. One was stillborn. Another died mysteriously yesterday afternoon. The vet thinks that she rolled over on top of the pup and crushed it. She is normally very clumsy. Anybody know if it is common for a mother to accidentally kill a pup in this way?
Hi Bryan…naughty kennel staff!
That is not unusual, for a dam to squish one of her puppies. I don’t breed dogs (heck, even my SO is neutered. 
) I know a couple of breeders (Rottweilers) though. They tend to have large litters & it seems that there are always one or two deaths with the little ones. I suppose it’s a Darwinian thing. Many serious breeders will not help or treat a “sickly” pup. The litter I got my last Rottie from had a very tiny female who had some heart problems. The breeder treated her & had her incubated & on meds. She died anyway at about 12 weeks old. 
Anyhow…to your question: No, not unusual. Happy puppy rearing!
Thanks for all the replies. As I said earlier I’ve sent the terrier away for an extended holiday. Lazarus was right about the bitch getting very aggressive about her pups. The SO’s brother was in the house at lunchtime and she went for him. Losing the second pup yesterday I think has made her even more defensive. She spent 30 minutes walking around the house looking for it after I took it away.
Anyway if one the mods culd push this over to MPSIMS I would appreciate it. I was thinking of turning this into a thread on the puppies progress if anybody is interested. Might even actually use the digital camera I got for christmas and post some pics up on the web. Maybe then somebody might be able to tell what breed the father was.