Newborn puppy care?

My neighbors dog just had puppies. She’s only a year old. They went into get her spayed, and found out she was already pregnant. She is a mutt about the size of small australian sheaprd. They took her to the vet once during her pregnancy, and everything looked normal. We expected 4-6 pup we could find homes for after a few weeks with mom. But she gave birth yesterday to 17 puppies! She’s only a year old herself and the vet said she could only care for 3 or 4. The vet has her on vitiamins since the pregnancy was so draining. My question is should I take a few of the puppies and bottle feed them or should I leave them with the mom and bottle feed at them my neighbors a few times a day. My neighbor dosent have that much room and says she’ll help pay for the formula. What are our options? (I know it isnt my dog but I reall want to help out)

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Answer #1

Ok this is a good sign. Do you know what you are building in a puppy box and where you are going to put it? I would also have a light on them. I use to use a heat lamp but figured out that a desk lamp with a light bulb can work. Like a goose neck. Your box should be 4x4 for a dog that size with even those puppies because I am sure they are pretty small. I will post a picture that shows Boston Terriers that are 5 weeks old looking over the sides. This will give you an idea of what you are looking at.

You can also search on line and find information on raising a litter. This search had lots of information “Caring for a large litter of newborn pups”.

Go to the library and there are books on raising a prefect litter etc. Whelping a prefect litter (whelping is birthing for dogs) but the newborn puppy information is going to come under this title or kind of book.

If Mom and Dad are on board this is good because you are going to need help nursing these puppies, because for about 3 weeks you are talking about almost non-stop puppy bottle feeding.

Normally you would not think about weaning puppies too early if you have a healthy Mom, but in this case you will have to look at starting to make a meal of ground up Purina Puppy Chow, can milk and water. I know the vet will say well you should keep them on the puppy formula till they are weaned but, when we were poor and dumb and couldn’t afford an expensive vet and had Hunting Hounds and had to make do. Puppy Chow soaked in can milk and water until soft and than squished up so the puppies could eat it and not choke (no blender in those days either) worked fine and raised many a fine purebred hound pup.

Use Purina Puppy Chow when you get to the point we going to wean. Grind it up dry and then add the can milk and water and make a mash.

Right now you have to find these puppies that are not getting fed and you are going to get confused. So get you a notebook and start taking notes. Those puppies have to eat every two hours on the hour. The puppies that are eating and nursing and mom is taking care of let her. If she can handle the pups let her, but she won’t be able to after a few hours or a day or two, but for right now if she is trying to she needs to give those puppies the first milk. She will rotate them. It doesn’t matter how old she is, if she gave birth to them all she knows what she is doing.

Australian Shepards are extremely good Moms and are know for having large litters. I have a friend that has two females and both of them had 11 puppies each within hours of each other. They lived in the back yard in dog houses and both dogs took good care of the puppies and all lived and all where beautiful and they never mixed them up. One of the Moms tired to take some of the puppies one day and the other just went over to that ones dog house and got her puppies back. OBTW they had them in the late winter in Missouri. My daughter took one of those puppies home and Sally had 9 puppies her first litter. DId a wonderful job raising all of them.

So my point in some of the above is your first 2-3 weeks are the most important. Your first few days are going to be critical, but don’t get in to much hurry and take too much away from the Mom. I may have lost a couple of pups in my early litters of breeding, over helping a Mom. Yes you are going to have to supplement but do so wisely because once you start you are on a around the clock watch.

Yes Mom needs to be eating Purina Puppy Chow now and should already have been on it.

Be careful of the formula? Which on are you using?

Those pups can all be weaned at 3 to 4 weeks in this case. The runts (must be a lot of those) can still nurse till 6 - 8 weeks. Now I will get blasted for this but in an emergency such as this, those pups can come off the Mom early. It is done all the time in the PM’s (for all the wrong reasons) but manly not to pull the mother down. Better to wean them early then do serious damage to a young mother and as long as you are handling those puppies and socializing them properly and feeding them correctly they will do ok.

Take them to the Vet’s office at 3 days old for a check up. The Vet should give you a litter discount, check on this ahead of time, if not call another Vet. Don’t let them sale you expensive formula, you can get the same puppy formula at Walmart or Atwoods. Only if the Vet is going to give you a discount buy it from him or if is cheaper. Check your prices. Do not break your pocket book when you don’t have to, the litter will cost you enough if you take care of it properly.

Those pups most likely need their tails docked and that has to be done at 3 days old. Vet’s are very strict about this. Litter discount! Remember the magic words, be a smart Puppy Mom, learn discount and coupons now.

Go online and look for coupons for your formula and puppy chow. Go to the sites name for example Purinapuppychow.com or Newborn kitty and puppy formula and look for coupons.

Worming at 2 , 4, 6 8 weeks and puppy shots at 6 weeks remember “LITTER DISCOUNT”

But for right now keep tract of which puppies ate when and how much and rotate them. Write down how much they drink and you have to weigh them to see if the are losing weight, if they are losing weight you have a problem too. Keep your puppy warm when feeding it. Take a warm wet wash cloth and wipe the puppies privates after it eats (it will poop and pee) and put it under the light in a separate box so that you can keep take of which pups you have fed.

Count on NO Dates or Sleep for the next couple of weeks, you just grew up and are learning what it is like to became a Mom. Summer is over. Oh and keep your friends away from the puppies, this will upset the mom and she is most likely already upset enough from being moved. NO visitor’s. NO extra Family. Those that are helping and that is it. Wash hands, keep puppies clean Box clean, newspapers and rags clean (rags are not a good idea, you can loose a puppy in them or blankets) I like Newspaper. In the first days to keep everything clean. Keep Mom clean.

Good luck, keep me posted please

Answer #2

WELL you SHOULD PROBABLY HELP BOTTLE FEED THEM AT THERE HOUSE SO THEY CAN BE WITH THRER MOTHER

Answer #3

GOOD FOR YOU!!! Good for Mom!!! Yeah!!! I have been wondering how you have been doing. You should be coming out of the woods and getting a routine down now. The pups aren’t out of the woods yet but if you were going to lose any weak puppies you will normally lose the in the first to 3rd day.

Keep us posted

Answer #4

“ She is a mutt about the size of small australian sheaprd.”

magic…the pups are mutts…they just happen to be the “size” of an Aussie…so

DON’T DOCK ANY TAILS!!! These pups have enough hurdles to get over.

Everything else, magichalo says…go for it! She’s the pro on new babies!

Answer #5

Here is a bottle baby of mine. Oh yeah I have been there and done this but not this many puppies but I have had to save some that had actually stopped breathing and they became healthy puppies but I was right there when they did and knew what to do.

Answer #6

I decided not to dock the tails. But power has been out in my area for a few hours, and my house is almost 90 degrees. I don’t know what to do. The heat really seems to stress them out. They go for their first vet check up tonight. I still havent lost any.

Answer #7

Watch the puppy with the rattle of breathing. Mom is nervous because you moved her and you are handling her puppies. She is trying to tell you to be careful with her babies. She may also not want you to take over, be careful not to take over any more than you have to. I have never had a Mom quit a litter, but I hear of it. So let her do all she can. This is important.

(following you and crying)

She is a good Mom and wants to take care of her puppies her self, of course. She wouldl die to care for them. As any good Mom would.

Sounds like you may have a good Vet to work with. If so Call the office whenever you need help, they will advice you over the phone and tell you if it is time to come in or not to worry.

Great on the nose suction thingee I forgot to mention that to you. I am glad someone told you about it. Or you looked it up.

On the tails. Phrannie may be right. check with your Vet on this? I was thinking on the lines of being in their benefit, but Phrannie has a very good point.

Answer #8

She’s a new mom, and nervous about her pups…nervous because she’s in a new place, but yes, she will get over it. The first few days all new doggie mom’s are nervous. It sounds like she’s a smart dog, and knows you’re helping her, tho…so that’s GOOD! :)

You’re going to be one tired cookie when this is done, but oh how rewarding!!

magichalo…What about Gerber’s baby mush for these little guys, too? Like the kittens??

Answer #9

Well I set up a cot last night next to the puppy box, and woke up about every two and a half hours helped feed them. The second time I did this one of the puppies was breathing really funny, there was like a sound. So I used one of those blue things(I cant think of what they are called) and tried to clear his nose and throat, and to my surprise it actually worked. Mom seems to be getting really scared, she’ll follows me and cries a lot, will she get over this?

Answer #10

Oh your Mom need all the Purina Puppy Chow, food and fresh water she can drink. Also you can give her Gator Aid right now. She will drink it until she no longer needs it.

She may not be hungry right away (she ate a lot of afterbirth) so don’t worry about her if she doesn’t eat for a day or so, she will soon enough.

Do not have her on carpet, she will have plenty of loose blackish green stools (afterbirth). In the puppy box use a piece of linoleum or an office chair plastic matter, fits great.

Answer #11

Thanks, I looked up the measurement and all that jazz for a puppy box, and I just finished it. I have’t moved them to it yet though. I found a really nice vet who said she would look them over no charge, and help me find homes later. I got my puppy milk at wal mart and the vet said she would give me some when I need more. I think there are 3 runts(is this possible?). One guy I called(I think it was one of the shelters) said to paint the back nails of each puppy with a different color nail polish and keep track of them that way. It this safe?

Answer #12

Thanks for your advice, dont worry I don’t take any of it personally. I want to do everything I can. I called 2 local shelters and 3 vets, and none of them have foster moms avaliable. I got some high grade formula, and all of the puppies are on it right now because the vet said mom probably shouldn’t nurse much after what her body has been through.My neighbor works during the day, so I convinced her to let me keep the dog at my house. I’m working on a box right now, since my neighbor didn’t have one. One of the vets said to feed the mother puppy chow because its higher in fat, is this true? None of them have died yet, so thats a good sign. I’m 17 and go back to school in 5-6 weeks, will I be okay to leave them at home a few hours by then then? They are basically my dogs now, but my parents said they’ll buy anything nessary so I feel a little realieved I can keep an eye on them.

Answer #13

Wow thats a lot of dogs I think you should leave them with there mom. There mom can teach them things you cant and even though shes not feeding them they can learn from her. I hope I helped a little and good luck with all thoose dogs. GOD BLESS:)

Answer #14

I knew we would have to bottle feed them, but should I leave them with the mom and bottle feed them a few times a day, or should I take a few home(right next door) with me so I can give them constant attention and bring them to see their mom a few times a week?

Answer #15

That is a LOT of puppies!!! I think you SHOULD bottle-feed them, just to give the mother a chance to recover. You may end up having to wean them off of the bottle an back to the mother, though.

Answer #16

Have you all called the Vet on what to do? I mean that is a lot of puppies. And they are newborns. The Vet may have a surrogate mother they know of or even the animal shelter may. Sometime another animal will nurse other animals. We are talking every hour or two to feed the puppies around the clock. And you have to keep them warm. I mean they are so fragile at this stage. You can’t just take them home and think you can start bottle feeding them here and there.

You wrap them in a cloth and when they are done nursing you need to take a warm cloth and wrap their little privates so that they pee and poop. They won’t know to do this unless the mom licks them at first.

Puppies need that first milk, colostrum from the Mom and if they don’t get it they will not make it.

I would not take the puppies from the Mom yet. I would leave them with the Mom and take turns feeding them. The strongest puppies are going to push the weakest away. Watch for this. Don’t take the newborns away for the Mom yet! But someone is going to have to watch those puppies around the clock.

If you take the puppies now, they may not make it. I would almost bet they will die within hours and days. Your Vet needs to help on this because your all do not seem to know enough to handle all this.

I am not being mean, I am pointing out that I raise and bred dogs and a litter of 17 puppies would have me very very concerned, but I would be sleeping in the puppy box with the Mom with an alarm clock helping her feed puppies. That is the only way you truly are in tune with what is going on.

Good luck. keep us posted.

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