Recently, a friend of mine proudly showed me his female dog, Becky and her eight beautiful, newly born, black and white German Shepherd pups. About five minutes after giving birth to the litter, Becky ate all of the pups! Hence my reason for creating the following topic:
"Why do some female dogs devour their puppies, after giving birth to them?"
Edited: Geenie on 7th May, 2007 - 7:22pm
I heard many "theories". Actually is not unique to dogs, I had cats who did this as well as I heard rabbits and other animals do it too.
Some people say the female dog perceives something is wrong with the puppies (they are sick and they won't live long) so that's why she eats them. I also heard (and this is the one I tend to believe) is that upon giving birth the female dog go through some type of mental confusion (giving birth is definitly traumatic for many) and in that state of confusion, she does that (notice they usually do it almost right away after giving birth and not after they have bonded with the puppies). It's a sad hormonal issue.
Name: Tom
Comments: They will eat the newborns if they feel threatened.