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Bonding with a first time mother or a nervous mother is a difficult task. She is very confused at this time and any presence be it known or otherwise is more often met with fear or anxiousness. Here are a few tips that I advise only if you have a bond or wish to establish a bond with your mother. It is always best to seek the advice of a professional in any dog training behavioral training. I myself am not a professional trainer but have a deep bond with my chihuahuas and show this for education purposes only.
All dogs be it the tiny chihuahua or the giant great dane have evolved from wolves. The pack mentality and mannerisms are still strong within their brains. To develop trust I recommend the "Den Mother" exercise. In a wolf pack a female wolf will offer food to the mother and her cubs to show her that she can be trusted around them. This will allow the mother to relax and to trust you even though she already knows you. Motherhood does strange things to us as humans, and even as animals. She may nip or bite at you while laying with or feeding her puppies. This exercise helps alleviate that and to build trust and show her you're there to help her and care for her puppies in a language she can understand easily.
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I personally use jerky for this exercise. I make my own so I know it has no preservatives or any junk I dont want my dogs to have. I like to use venison to make my jerky because its natural, unlike beef which has been bulked up with steroids and antibiotics. You can use beef or chicken as well. I do not recommend lunch meat or cheese because of the preservatives or substitutes. As natural as you can go the better. You can also make your own jerky by slicing meat thinly and placing it on a sheet of tinfoil stretched tightly over a cookie sheet. Poke holes in the foil to let the drippings pass though. Place them in an oven at 160F for 6-8 hours.
Chew the jerky slightly to make it malaible. Wolves in the wild regurgitate food for pups showing trust and their ability to care for and provide to the pups and mother. By providing food you are showing them you are a care giver and not a threat to her or her pups and she will be more receptive to your presence. We arent going to regurgitate but they think you will. This is playing off of the inlaid instinct in their brains. If the mother takes food from you she has accepted you into her "circle" to allow you to assist and "feed" her puppies.
Whimper to your mother "owww owww owww" and place the food between your teeth but behind your closed lips. She will either lick your face or sniff at you. If she licks you hold the food between your teeth and offer it to her. If she sniffs part your lips slightly and breathe out through your mouth.
Avert your eyes away from hers to show her that you come in a giving manner and not in an attack mode. If she accepts the food CONGRATULATIONS! She has accepted you as her "Den Mother". Keep up this exercise and trust will grow. While she is taking the food continue to talk to her "owww owww owww" and after she has eaten it then pet her and in YOUR language praise her. This will correlate both the acceptable behavior to you with the acceptable pack behavior with her and the bond has been made.
Offer her more over the next few days about 4 times a day. This will reinforce the training and make her more accepting of your presence during the birth and rearing of the puppies. This is crucial because you need to be able to tell if mom or pups are in distress, "adopt" a puppy if she rejects feeding instead of her outright killing it and to monitor the growth and development of the puppies over the next coming weeks.
