do spayed females that have never had a litter

[sumbirdy]

I think females can respond to that high pitched sound puppies make more than just because it's high pitched - all female dogs have a maternal instinct - just like humans.

Well, not all female dogs have maternal instincts. Lacy, Heavon, and Sprinkles absoulutely HATE puppies.

[BC_MoM]

Maybe Molly has hers because she was incompletely spayed and goes through false pregnancies every 6 months then.

I guess it depends on the dog though.

[M&M's Mommy]

Missy reacts to the new pup (Muffin) in a much different way than Mocha does. She pays attention to Muffin's every noises, and moves, and she lets Muffin chew on her ears while she licks Muffin & cleans her ears in return. She also stays in the bed with Muffin at nite for a while before going to her own bed, as if to keep her warm, or at least to provide company, while Mocha doesn't seem to want to interact that much with Muffin. Mocha is also very sweet toward Muffin & will play with Muffin, but not in the way Missy does, almost like there is a teaching thing going on...

I'm not sure if it's just a coincidence, or there is indeed a difference between the way male & female dog reacts to the new puppy. To me, I think Missy's maternal instinct has kicked in somehow, even though she was spayed very young, and had never had any litter of her own.