3 week old puppies

carefulnow100

Our dog recently had puppies and in the past few days they dont seem to be feeding, now i know the the mother will not be with them as much as she was when the were born but does anyone know when we should start feeding them? and what to feed them? iv looked on the internet but it seems everyone has different times of when to start feeding them
The still feed off the mother but not as much in the past few days and she wont sit with the pups. any help would be appriciated.

Cherry Blossom

I would try weighing them every day on a set of electronic baking scales. If they need extra feeding you can give them puppy milk you can get from your vet. I'd ask the vets advice anyway. Are you feeding the mother a good quality puppy food? I've never had pups so someone else I'm sure will be along with better advice for you!

carefulnow100

were feeding the mother the same as we always fed her but just a little extra. Im just wondering if its kind of an emergency if you get me?? like will the pups be ok and will the mother feed them when she needs to or should i try to feed them something now? and iv no transport so i will have to be feeding them something around the house if you get me ha. I was petting them earlier and 2 seemd to be licking the tip of my finger. Would that mean there hungry or am i over reacting to this. should i just leave them be?

mymo

Puppies aren't ready for real food until at least 4 weeks, if you're really worried you can give them a little of water so they don't get dehydrated and call your vet if the mother is still not feeding them. Ask the vet about the puppy milk supplement(can't remember name), and see can you get a friend or neighbour to pick it up or give you a lift.
When you start them on solids there are specific foods for weaning puppies, you vet can advise. If nuts soften first with warm water.
First of all try to get the bitch to lie down and feed them, even one at a time. Does she seem ok? she could be sick.

carefulnow100

no im pretty sure shes ok she is jumping up and flying around the house and when i called her she rolled over for a rub of her belly. I put her in with he pups and im pretty sure shes feeding. I feel bad closing her in but im pretty sure she wasnt feeding them before. If we have to keep her in with them to feed how many times a day should we put her in?

mymo

Weigh each pup and keep a record of the weight before and after each feed(at least during the day, I know she's probably feeding during the night too).
I'd say every 3-4 hours at that age but not sure, maybe someone else can advise. If they aren't gaining weight, more often. Also weighing them means you can see if they are all getting a share, sometimes one can be a bit slower and doesn't get enough.
If you can't tell them apart tie a different colour length of wool around each neck. (or ribbon etc)

here's a link might help, http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2109&aid=916
it says start solids at 3 weeks but I was always told 4 weeks.

andreac

Is the bitch producing enough milk for all the pups? If you squeeze her teats a little the milk will come out.

The mother should have been on puppy food before she had the pups to give her extra energy to help produce lots of milk and give her the extra nutrition she needs for whelping. Feeding her just what she was already on is not enough and you should have researched how to prepare a bitch for a litter as it seems you are not very prepapred or experienced.

Are the pups sucking and trying to feed? You will have to try and hlep them feed and get them on to the teats and encourage them. If they get weak they wont have the energy to feed so will go downhill very quick so you really need to act fast as if pups get dehydrated they can get very sick and can be very serious, even fatal.

I would ring the vets and ask their advice. You will really need to get some lactol or something and bottle feed the pups asap if they arent getting enough milk from the mother.

You need to move quickly now with these pups or you could end up losing them. You say you have no transport but you need to sort it somehow to get special milk from the vets for these puppies as if they have stopped feeding from the mother they need a substitute or they will get sick.

Also you will need to get special puppy food for them when they start weaning onto proper dog food and "stuff around the house" is certainly not going to be enough for these pups so please try and organise something soon.

Knine

Hya

Firstly you need to check your bitches teats, to make sure the are not sore from puppies nails, they can get quite sharp. Also look for any sign of redness, lumps or pus discharge as these could be signs of mastitis which would make her reluctant to feed her pups. Also check that she actully has milk.

Observe the puppies, are they calm and content or are they starting to scream for food? Happy well fed puppies will sleep quietly in a big heap. Hungry puppies tend to whimper and not settle. Grasp a piece of their skin on their neck between your thumb and finger, sort of like a pinch but not hard, If the skin does not bounce back, its an indication of dyhydration which is an emergency.

Puppies can do downhill very fast so you need to intervene if you think something is amiss. As they are not eating solids yet, they need to be getting fed from their mother, even at 4 weeks when they are starting on solids, they still need their mothers milk.

Anyone breeding a bitch should always have puppy milk replacement such as Lactol or Welpi for emergency situations that may arise. You can usually get these in your Vet or Petshop. Eye droppers or small bottles are better than syringes for feeding.

carefulnow100

Firstly I never said I was experienced in this matter, I did alot of research and yes I read that the food should be changed but as we have had pups before with other dogs in the past without changing we didnt see the need to. we are not breeding these dogs , its just by chance that she had them. In my post I also asked if it was normal for the dog to leave the pups as thats all i was concerned about at the time. The point I was trying to make was that te dog wasnt staying with the pups for too long, She was producing milk. sorry I didnt make these points clear in my op.
Some of you may think I sound like an idiot but I am not and of course when I realised she wasnt sitting with them I did give them some water. After that I just wanted to know if they needed some food aswell FOR TODAY. I realise that I will need to get some puppy food but when i said I have no trasnport, I mean I have NO TRANSPORT for today, as I posted earlier I needed to know if this was an emeergency case that is why I asked if I had to feed them is there anything around the house I could give them.

Thank you for all your very helpful replies.

Cherry Blossom

I wouldn't advise feeding them anything other than a puppy milk replacement at this stage and if you are going to feed puppy food to the mother give her a very small amount of it to start with and gradually increase it, make up the rest of her feed with what you were already feeding her. To be honest OP everything posted is correct and people have given you nothing but helpful advice. No-one has been rude or called you an idiot, everyone has just posted the facts so please don't be offended and take all the advice on board as it is very good advice

carefulnow100

Apologies to all for my earlier post I looked into some replies to much and feel likean idiot now.
I would like to thank you all for all your replies the helped me alot.

Thanks again!