Mothers learn to recognize and care for their puppies as they are born. They immediately begin to clean and nurse the pups. This bond sometimes is not as strong when the puppies are born by caesarean section. Such mothers can have difficulty in accepting their puppies for the first 48 hours. This is less likely to happen when some of the puppies are born before the surgery or when they are put to the nipples before the sedation wears off.
A novice mother often has difficulty coping with a litter of squirming puppies for the first few hours. This is understandable. With a little help, she can be shown how to nurse her puppies and keep from stepping on them.
Bitches, which have a great bond to humans, or those ‘spoilt’ female house pets (the ones who believe or have been made to believe that they are humans), sometimes will not