behaviour of a bitch when weaning her pups

[canislupus]

can anyone tell me why a bitch would stop cleaning up the whelping box when she is weaning her pups?

[lankeela]

This happens as soon as you start to introduce food to the puppies. Up till then the bitch has been feeding them herself and cleans them up to stimulate them to go to the toilet. She then eats anything they pass, presumably this goes back to the wild so no other animals would smell them being there.

She will gradually stop cleaning/eating the poo as they start to eat solids. Given the chance, she will start to leave the puppies for short periods which will get longer, until she is away from them most of the time. They will run to her when she returns to the whelping box but the lack of milk and the sharp claws mean she will be less and less willing to let them climb on her. I presume that in the wild by now she would have to be away hunting for food.

[canislupus]

Thanks