This was Brooklyn's first litter of pups. There were 4 girls and 2 boys. One of the girls was very small and despite all our efforts she was not meant to stay with us past the first week. Brooklyn has been a perfect mother since the first day. She was protective and cautious with strangers, but never aggressive towards them. She still interacted and played with the other dogs as usual but would not allow them into my bedroom where the pups were until they were 4 weeks of age and she had begun the weening process. By then she welcomed the babysitter. She was very attentive and cautious with the pups, careful not to step on them or smother anyone when she would lay down. We decided to keep 2 pups from this litter and she still treats them as her pups sharing both discipline and love just as she did when they were small. Her habit of "nursing" on her stuffed toys was only put on hold for 3 weeks after the pups were born. Although we thought she would loose this habit after having pups of her own we were not surprised that she went back to it and still grabs toys to suck on them when she is either excited or sleepy before bed. She never tires of playing with her pups and enjoys wrestling and playing with them all day and snuggling up with them at night. It's hard to imaging a better Mama Dogue, we can only hope that Bridget will pick up her mothers perfect maternal instincts when she has her first litter.