Newfnut

I'm brand new to this forum and am excited to find a suitable place to discuss breeding issues.

I'm a new Newfoundland breeder with a black male and a landseer female, both of which have undergone extensive health screening to assure their suitability for breeding and they are now the proud parents of a new (2 days old) litter of blacks, landseers and a brown landseer.

My question has to do with the compulsion of the mom to move the litter out of the whelping box into various, less suitable locations. This started about 24 hours after whelping and followed mom's trip to the vet due to an elevated temp where she was given an injection of oxytocin and a round of antibiotics. Could this have initiated the behavior? I've read that oxytocin can cause agitation.

My reading suggests it's not an uncommon problem and recommends placing the pups back in the box and sitting with the mom until she settles, which I have been doing. But she continues to cycle between calmly sleeping with and nursing her litter, to periods of anxious agitation, roaming the house, and attempting to carry the pups to some other spot.

Any advice on this, to me, odd behavior? Thanks in advance.