Dixie has tried everything. I have changed her food, added minor supplements, fed her till she refused food. The pups, and this is no lie, nursing, had her looking near death. Her spine was visible. She looked horrible!
As I said, this was last resort. The vet agreed, he said he had rarely ever seen a nursing bitch have such a toll taken on her body.
The pups have been weaned for a long time. No milk at all. However, having said this, they still need to socialize with their mother. She has been apart from them for weeks now. To the point she would lay next to them in their pen, and play withthem through the bars. She'd lick and try to clean them through the bars. They needed to play and be together again.
The pups, as the vet indicated, look as if they are 8 to 10 weeks old. They are actual monsters.(Hehe, have been from the beginning really!!!)These past few days they had just started playing together again. Dixie keeps them on the move as they chase her to try to nurse. She has put on quite a bit of her weight back, and is looking good, all her hair is back as well. It becomes sort of a game w/ her and them, as they rarely latch on, when she tuckers out, maybe one or two will still try, the others just climb all over her face and chew on her.
She may have not been too good a mom in the beginning, but you should see her now! You'd be soooooooo proud. She is so gentle and plays so well. She is hilarious with them.
Thanks