What are some of the reasons a gyp will eat her puppies and what can you do to stop it.

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Some dogs have very high levels of hormones at whelping and are running on pure instinct which tells them to clean the pups, chew the umbilical cords and eat the afterbirth. They clean up until there is nothing left of the pups. What you can try to do is get the pups as soon as each one is born (be careful - high hormones also can make them quick to bite) and clean it yourself. Keep them away from her until she settles down a bit and recovers from whelping. Then try giving her a pup or 2 to see how she acts. Hopefully she'll settle into being a mom. Otherwise you may have to hold her for pup feeding and take them away again. A neighbor of ours had a dog that was so hormonal and instinct-driven she never could be left alone with her pups until they were about a month old or she'd start cleaning then chewing on them.

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