# Raising newborn puppy questions



## kirsten (Aug 29, 2005)

We had BC/Australian shepherd puppies 19 days ago.
And they are already eating puppy chow! Which surprised me. I saw them digging in mom's bowl so I bought them their own food. Which leads me to the question of how soon these puppies will wean? Should I actually wean them? I was kind of thinking the weaning process might happen as I sold them but who knows? They could all go right away. We might keep one and then I suppose I would have to wean that one, huh? Our cat had kittens and the one we kept nursed for 15 weeks.

I have them in our mudroom with a tile floor on an old carpet. I guess there is no remedy for stink? How did you guys set up your ***** and puppies? 

They are just starting to walk around fairly well.
The ***** is a good mom but she does not like to spend all her time with the puppies. She really doesn't even like to sleep with them. The father dog and the cat take care of the puppies too. Do the puppies need water? They haven't had any water yet. I am trying to think what kind of bowl becuase I know they will spill it and I don't want them to drown either.

thanks kirsten


----------



## jen74145 (Oct 31, 2006)

I doubt they're ready to wean... it's been a long time since I was around a litter of puppies, but they start nibbling well before they and their mama are ready to wean. We had water available to them from the time they were three weeks on, and I found a glass cake pan worked great; too shallow to get stuck and drown, heavy enough it didn't get tipped 847 times a day. We let mama wean, and she was pretty much done with it at eight weeks... I've seen mamas with big litters start discouraging them from nursing at six or seven weeks, but a sudden human-led wean would be painful for mama and traumatic all around.

The mutt puppies we got a couple years ago were from a litter of nine and mama was tired of it. She would let her babies nurse for a minute or two, then move on and shove any hangers-on away. The family kept two puppies and she had them totally weaned by eleven weeks, I think it was.


----------



## Skykomish (May 28, 2008)

They should be offered water from the time their eyes open. They probably won't drink too much at first though. You can start weaning them at about 4 weeks, but most likely mom will do it for you. When the teeth break through the gums she won't want them to nurse any more! At this age, free feed the puppies. You don't want to place them until they are at least 7 weeks old, but week 8 is the fear imprinting period so either place them during week 7 or wait until week 9. (better to wait) The only remedy for the smell is keeping up with their messiness. Put down fresh newspaper very frequently. You could also "bathe" the puppies with baby wipes. Be sure to handle the puppies daily and as they get older begin playing with all parts of their bodies. (especially the feet, ears and tail) Put them on their backs daily so they understand that humans are dominant. Play with them with toys. They should be wormed every two weeks from birth to 8 weeks old. They need their first vaccinations at 8 weeks of age. If you give them before that the mothers antibodies will be stimulated to protect the puppy from the vaccine and the first effective vaccine will be postponed. Don't take the puppies around any strange dogs (or places they may have gone) until a week after they have their first vaccine.


----------



## huck (Feb 11, 2008)

Congratulations!!!!!!!!! 

You've already been offered some great advice. 

When raising puppies it is a great idea to have a whelping box for the mom and pups. This ensures that the pups are enclosed in a safe / secure area and the mom has the ability to leave the puppies there and take a break from them. [This is really important. The female needs to be able to get away from the puppies if she wants to].

As for the smell factor, as said earlier, staying on top of it is the only way to keep the smell down. Typically a whelping box ought to be cleaned / disinfected [the key] atleast three times a day. Depending upon litter size, you may need to do it more often. Try and use a product like KennelSol or other canid disinfectant that is meant to eliminate the germs / viruses that your puppies are susceptible to specifically.

Cheers,
Huck


----------



## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Trimming nails on pups helps greatly in mom's comfort zone.....


----------



## onthespot (Oct 7, 2007)

i hang watering bottles above the water dishes to get the puppies onto drinking from licker bottles asap also. keeps the mess and smell WAY down that way. Most learn it pretty quickly at three or four weeks old. Just touch their noses to it and when they feel a drop of water they lick their noses. Keep doing all of them for a few days until you see them all drinking from it. If you have a large litter or large puppies, hang three or four individual liter bottles in easy reach. If it is too low they won't use it. Try to keep it up where they have to put their heads higher than their shoulders a little.


----------



## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

They are way to young to wean. I start offering puppies raw ground meat at 4 weeks. Make sure mom is getting plenty to eat...it takes a lot of food for her to produce milk for a litter...by the time they are 3-4 weeks she should be eating 3-4 times her normal ration, depending on litter size. If only 1-4 pups, 2-3 times the amount is fine. They should be in a box or wading pool, high enough sides to keep them contained. Use fresh bedding on the bottom, or if you want you can use fresh carpet...just be sure to have several peices so you can be washing and letting one dry while the other is in use (plus a back up as it will take hours for the other to dry). They should have water now. I use stainless steel 1 qt buckets and hang them and clip them on the side of a puppy pen (whih surrounds the whelping box). Keep thier nails trimmed...use small human nail clippers. They will not be ready for thier new homes until 9-10 weeks old (I start letting mine go at 10-12 weeks). They will also need wormed and vaccinated. They should be wormed now, then next week then every 2 weeks until 15-16 weeks old. Mom should be wormed at the same time until pups are completely weaned (she will be reinfected by cleaning up after them).


----------



## kirsten (Aug 29, 2005)

Their whelping box has been whole rooms. First the sunroom and now the mudroom. I have a tipped bench blocking access to the rest of the house but these are not small pups but big dog puppies and so trying to contain them in a small area is not possible. Plus, even a little swimming pool or whelping box would not keep them in- they would just climb out. They are already 6-7 inches long at 19 days.

I will do the glass cake pan idea and I was thinking about the little claws too so I will also clip them.
I can probably hold them 9 weeks, although I may go 7. I think my dog will be happier when her pups leave though. I think she will wean them quickly. I can see that her whole life is not puppies which is fine becuase my whole life isn't children either so I can understand her because that is boring. She is content that they are doing well and not possessive at all! She lets my friends and all cats and dogs play with her puppies. She doesn't care. At first she did a little but then she thought, "well, heck, you watch them for me!" A dog after my own heart. LOL.

So, I love the puppies but we don't mind ending this chapter. It was a fantastic chapter and I am so glad that i get to have puppies for 4-5 more weeks but my dog does not want to do this forever.

My husband watched a show on tv once where a ***** became so utterly depressed when her puppies left. He was so afraid that our *****, cheyenne would become depressed too and that she wouldn't take it well at all and so he didn't want her bred. It was an oopsie but I am glad after all that my dog is not the overly motherly type. She never looks happy about her puppies, never has a happy face on her. She does all the right things but she doesn't look as happy with them as she does herding sheep.


kirsten


----------



## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

That's because she's a border collie and they are OCD about herding. Not necessarily a good thing, lol. Most dog mothers don't want their pups after 4 weeks. Mine didn't but once she got the point across to the pups that they didn't have a free snack bar...she was much happier and started to housebreak the pups herself! She also played with them teaching them appropriate behavioral skills. She was a registered pit bull.


----------



## kirsten (Aug 29, 2005)

OKay thanks.
I was beginning to think my dog was a little weird or not such a good mother but I guess the process goes faster for them than we would think it does.


----------

