Why Does My Dog Bring Me Her Puppies? (8 Common Reasons)

If your female pooch brings her newborn pups to you then this is the cue that she is showing her trust, love, and affection towards you or simply she admires you as foreman of the house. It is also possible that she is ill or lacks maternal instincts so she is looking for someone to take care of her pups or she might be frightened and find a safe place for her pups.

Other reasons can be the proud momma wants attention, is excited, wants you to play, or trying to show off her pups.

Dogs are highly keen and smart creatures and as non-verbal they want to express and communicate their emotions to us. They can communicate by facial expressions, via licking or tail carriage, by offering you toys or treats and even your dam can bring her newborn pups to you, she might be trying to convey to you something with this particular action.

So, if you are a new pet owner, then don’t get confused or surprised, bringing you her pups is quite common behaviour of most canine mommas. If you want to learn more about this specific behaviour of dams then continue reading.

We’ll go into more details below, explore why this behavior is normal and address common related questions.

Reasons Why Your Dog Brings You Her Puppies 

Imagine when you come home from work and your new doggo mother shows strange behaviour, presenting you with her precious pups instead of her favourite toy. 

Meanwhile, as a new owner, you will go through some mixed emotions and you will be thinking about why she is doing so. There can be several reasons why your pet mother is bringing up her pups to you. Let’s have a look at some possible causes.

1. She Sees You As A Pack Leader

Dogs are great observers and they keep on looking at you as the alpha of the pack. Like wolves, dogs also appreciate and follow a pack leader in the house they consider you as the king of the pack.

So, this can be a very strong reason that your pooch is bringing her pups to you with full confidence that you are her problem solver and can provide ultimate protection to her fur babies from predators or any other danger. She looks towards you for directions, guidance, and support. Moreover in a way, she wants her pups to build a strong bond with you as well.

Being your dog’s leader you should never disappoint your canine rather you should make her calm and try to soothe her by showing that her little family is all safe and sound.

2. Attention Seeking Behavior

After giving birth to a bunch of litter, female dogs undergo so many behavioural changes. One of them is to divert its owner’s attention toward them or towards her puppies.

Most momma dogs get proud after giving birth to a litter of babies and they want to be praised by their owners for this wonderful act. So she will put her babies in front of you again and again just to show off her babies or simply she is seeking attention from you.

As their caretaker, try not to ignore your pooch at this moment, your negative reaction can make them aggressive. Try to applaud them and celebrate their puppy’s arrival.

3. Display Of Trust and Love

Your bitch not only obeys or follows you as a pack leader but under this leadership an immense love, trust, and respect lies for you. So putting forward her most valuable pups to you is their only way of showing their utmost likeness, affection, and warm regard towards you. 

To do this they are showing that they can do anything to make you happy, even if they can sacrifice their pups for you.

In a way, she might be thankful to you for owning her as a pet and taking care of her newly born family as well. If your dog is giving you such a cherished gift then they deserve an extremely joyful and encouraging response in return.

4. Playful Behaviour

Normally, when dogs want to play, they often jump in excitement while wagging their tail from side to side and in some cases, they may bring their favourite play item to you.

But what if she brings her newborn pups to you for fun or play? 

Yes, if you are watching the doggo momma bringing up her pups to you with a playful behaviour then she is communicating to you to let’s have a fun game today with pups. 

As an owner, you should accept this playful behaviour of your bitch and try your best to spend some quality time with her family. 

5. Trying To Keep Their Puppies Safe

Being too protective of her puppies is an instinct of mother dogs. Not every time your bitch is bringing up her pups to you as a demand of giving attention or for fun games. 

Sometimes she is distracted and comes up to you with aggression, continuous panting, and shaking. Be aware she might be frightened or feel unsafe of her surroundings; she might be looking for a secure area for her babies.

So putting her young ones next to you is a symbol that she blindly trusts you and can leave her lovely pups under your safe supervision. 

6. She is New To Motherhood Or Overexcited

After becoming a mother most of the dogs become crazy and emotionally sensitive to their young ones. Their aggressive behaviour is very natural as they are extremely protective of their fur babies. 

Dogs who are new to motherhood often become overwhelmed to see a lot of pups in a litter to take care of. She may be seen licking, sniffing, carrying and biting her young. This behaviour starts soon after giving birth to pups and lasts for a few weeks.

Also, when your mother pooch is bored, depressed or in anxiety. They tend to become overstimulated or overexcited. She can likely resort to mouth-carrying her baby to you just to air her frustration.

7. Lack Of Maternal Instincts 

Sometimes momma dogs are not ready to raise pups, and consequently, they do not nurse or care for their neonates at all, instead, they become negligent and pass the responsibility of looking after their litter to you. This is often as a result of some hormonal imbalance or or the dam being too young to handle her litter.

This can be a very obvious reason that your dog brings and places her puppies in front of you and expects you to perform all duties of feeding them and looking after them because you are the only one to whom she can ask for help.

As a pet owner, you should take your pooch to the vet to fix her hormonal issues which can boost her maternal instincts so she can love and nurse her pups in a normal way.

8. She’s ill or injured

Sometimes your mother dog is not feeling well. She might be sick or injured. Under such a situation, she will neither clean nor nurse the newborn. Bringing her puppies she comes to you with loud sounds and heavy panting, seeking help.

So, as the pack leader, you have to console your pooch and you should make a call to your vet for a proper checkup. You have to take care of her babies until she feels better and take charge of her family again.

Also Read: How Soon Can A Dog Get Pregnant After Giving Birth (Explained!)

Why do mother dogs mouth-carry their puppies?

After giving birth to a litter of pups, a mother dog is naturally aware of how to mouth- carry and take care of her young ones. Most times, this doesn’t not inflict any harm on the runt.

When a mother pooch gives birth to young ones, two hormones contribute to boosting her motherly behaviour. One is the “love hormone” also known as oxytocin which causes the mother dog to drag her pups closer to her, lick them, and wrap them around herself with love, so the new fur babies may develop a bond with their mother and feel warm and conformable during nursing. 

The other hormone is prolactin which is responsible for milk production but besides this hormone is in charge of her protective motherly nature. That’s why doggo mother remains aggressive and threatened during the early weeks after birth and she feels that she should remain more active and protect strongly to her young babies before they open up their eyes. 

Do Dogs Have A Favorite Puppy? 

There are a lot of different beliefs about the favouritism of a puppy by her mother dog. Most owners say that a mother dog always has one favourite puppy from the whole litter and she loves him/her more because he/she is a healthy and active baby.

Coming out of this myth a mother dog shows her bunch of love towards the whole litter because she is instinctive to this behaviour. She loves, nurses, and takes care of every pup she gives birth to. So, the idea that she loves any one of them more than others is unproven.

Will My Dog Reject Her Puppies If I Touch Them? 

The shortest answer to this is NO; this is a long-standing misconception by people that if you touch newborn puppies then a mother dog will reject or kill her puppies. This is no more than a myth. 

Instead, momma dogs want their owner or their favourite person to pick, cuddle and play with her newly born. They never mind, especially family pets who are so tolerant in this regard. So touching her babies won’t make her aggressive or reject her puppies. 

However, most veterinarians suggest not picking pups from a newborn litter as they are so fragile and tiny that you may hurt them or maybe they caught any diseases by random picking.  

My Dog Doesn’t Want To Stay With Her Puppies 

Despite her motherly instincts she can still ignore, reject, or even may kill her babies. Some common reasons why the dog doesn’t want to stay with their litter are discussed below.

1. Sometimes soon after giving birth to pups, bitches may feel stress or anxiety due to which they do not want to stay with their pups. She wants to get rid of them.
2. There is the possibility that the doggo mother is sick herself and she might be in a lot of pain, this can be one reason that she doesn’t want to see her pups.
3. Mother dogs can reject an abnormal or sick puppy, it’s instinctive to dogs; they may kill unhealthy puppies from the litter and focus only on active and healthy ones. 
4. If she is having her very first litter of pups, or there are too many pups in a litter then she can become overwhelmed and ultimately leave the litter.
5. If your lovely bitch has passed through the caesarean section as compared to normal delivery, then she might be suffering from less oxytocin level and she will remain deprived of this boost of hormones that will prompt her for maternal instincts.

Final Thoughts 

After giving birth to a litter of pups, female dogs display many behaviors that may seem particularly strange to new owners. Surprisingly, it’s not so uncommon for dogs to bring their pups to their owners and it’s not necessarily a bad behavior.

If a dam is carrying her puppies to you, she might be showing her utmost affection and trust for you or maybe she wants your attention. She might be protecting her pups from predators. It could also be that she is ill, overwhelmed or lacking maternal instincts.

As an owner, you must stay soft and humble towards your mother’s pooch and take care of her pups whenever she needs them until she gets back to her normal life and starts to take care of her babies.