Can a mother dog with 23-day-old puppies go out for 3 hours?
Expert Answer
It is generally not recommended to take a mother dog out during lactation. First, after becoming a mother, even when out she will worry about her babies and may feel anxious, with unstable temperament and a tendency to attack people or other animals.
Also, the mother dog’s immunity is low right after giving birth, so going out risks illness from cold or infection. Moreover, the puppies are not yet a month old and their vital signs are unstable; without the mother’s body warmth their condition may suffer.
Finally, newborn puppies need feeding and cleaning every two hours, and without the mother they may go hungry. Of course, if the owner prepares protection for the mother, arranges artificial feeding and warmth for the pups, and sets up monitoring during the three-hour outing, taking the mother dog out can be done with more peace of mind.