# Help please!



## Ashley Hersey (Dec 16, 2011)

I have a few questions and really can't seem to find the answers I seek for. A little background for those that can help me. My bitch had a litter of 7 pups on 11-6-11, 2 girls and 5 boys. I was already told that for some reason they are more advance then they should be, 2 days before turning 3 weeks the bitch stop feeding them all together due to them having all their front and back teeth in. Called the vet they said sounds like they can go on puppy food but something inside told me they still needed moms milk. I took it upon myself to milk my bich and feed by bottle and also giving puppy food. When I first started to milk her I was getting 6oz, then started getting 12ozs, then lucky to get 3oz. Vet told me the more milk I took for from her that her body would make more but I found that not to be true due to the fact they are 4 weeks and 2 days old and I get no milk. The bitch is also returning to her normal look, also tryed milk replacer by itself and mixed with food, needless to say they want touch it by itself nor will they touch the food when the milk is in it. Here are a few questions I ike to get help on, at this point vet not much help!

How many cups of food do I give them and how often?
When can I stop watching over them while they eat/drink?
When can you go from training them on a pee pad to outside?
How old should be for their first vet check?
How old shold they be when they get their shots and meds?
Would they be born with worms if they bitch has no worms?
How old can you start command training with them?

For those questions here is what I have done so far. The food I would put into a blender then mix with water. I am feeding them 2 tablespoons 8 times a day and giing them fresh spring water. Tryed food without mixing it with water and they were chocking then tryed with mixing it and same thing. Which leading me to blending it. Water is a nightmare, some does just fine, some try to drain each other and some don't even want to try. Always finding myself needing to watch them. I took 4 out of the 7 outside when it was warm, one did just fine would follow me wherever I went, another one did do a littl walking the other two just stood and cryed. I do live in northern maine and we have snow so not sure how to replace the pee pads for outside. For the vet what i know is 8 weeks for shots and 6 months for fixing but then I was reading online that they should of already had a worm treatment. Don't know if they need it do to the bitch has been wormed way before the litter came and I have not seen none. I started doing a little training with them now but not sure if their to young, they will be 5 weeks 12-21-11. For so young they already seem to want very very little to do with mom, not to much with litter mates. They will play but a few perfer human contact, they are also very aware and alert with everything and starting to come when you call them by name. With all that said:

Are they where they should be or are they advanced more then they should be like I was told?

Thanks for any help anyone can give. I have a feeling I will have more then a handful with these pups. God help me. :wave:


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Disclaimer: I have never raised puppies, only kittens. Mostly orphans, some with their mothers. But puppies can't be too different, right? 

When their teeth are just starting to poke through, I start trying them on solid food. I begin with a bit of turkey baby food mixed into their formula, just so they can get a taste of meat. Then I cut a bigger hole in the nipple and start adding some canned food to their formula. Then I start offering it in a dish. I gradually cut back on how much formula until they're getting mostly canned food (I still add some formula for the vitamins). I always have a bowl of kibble out, but since puppies are somewhat more likely to choke themselves on kibble that may not be the best idea.

Babies should be given as much as they'll eat in a sitting. They should be fed at least 4 times a day at that age. It's fairly normal for the mother to wean them that young, but they still need to be with her and their littermates until at least 8 weeks or their dog socialization skills will suffer. The mother might ignore them most of the time, though. Of course they also need to be handled daily and experience a lot of different human interaction so their human social skills won't suffer.

You can stop watching them eat/drink when they stop trying to drown each other . Might be 6-8 weeks or so. I don't have any experience with potty-training at that age (kittens are much easier!), but I have seen some good programs for starting puppies on pellets so that training them to go outside later is easier. Command training. . .using positive methods, it's never too early, but don't expect much for a few months! You can probably teach them to sit pretty easily, but anything else is most likely over their heads.

De-worming usually starts at 3 weeks, and they should be dosed every 2-3 weeks after that. Ask your vet to give you a safe de-wormer. Shots usually start at 6 weeks but this is highly variable. . .best to ask your vet for recommendations. Also about when to bring them in for a checkup. 

What breed are they? Are you planning to keep them all?


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## Ashley Hersey (Dec 16, 2011)

Thank You for posting. I have also done kittens but the ones I have done in my life were ones that mother cats would have nothing to do with from birth. Took a lot of time and work cause I had to take the roll od mommy cat, feeding 2-3 hours, peeing and pooping them, teaching them how to wash and so one. But even tho with all that said I'm not sure how far to take a vat cause the last kitten I hand raised was just born and I had everyone even the vet saying it was not going to make it cause of such young age they need mommy. Needless to say 8 years later she is old enough to be on her own and doing fine with the excepting she was born with asthma. To this day can't seem to find why the mother just drop the whole litter and not sure what happen to the rest of the litter to do where I lived I could only save the one. I can only hope they had a good outcome.

For the puppies, I am very animal tooned. I know much about them for health and what to do for cleaning teeth, ears and eyes.. Even what to do if they get mites or cold in the eyes. Needless to say I have been to the vet so much in my life that I started to learn an pick up on things. To this day I can pretty much to what the vet can and only go to vet when it comes to things that are out of my control. Ex...Getting meds and fixing. They will be 5 weeks tomorrow and they get no milk or replacment it is now all puppy food. Which needless to say so far I blend it and feed them 1/4 cup 3 times a day and right now they seem to be doing good, their quite on the porky side.

I have called the vet and that's why I wrote a post here cause I wanted to hear what others thoughts where. For the vet they told me that they normally don't do anyhing for shot or meds till they are 8 weeks old unless something happens that is a vet problem. Also if you or anyone else knows of programs that help fix pets that be great, our vets here don't have no billing or credit methods. Even if you have been a member with them for many years.

As far as keeping them all we are thinking about it, were still not sure. My biggest problem is not knowing if they will in fact get a good loving home. Now a days people can put on a act and next thing you know when you check up on your baby they give you the bad news that they died or had to be put done do to them beating them or not feeding them. Where I do live in northern maine I have a fear that people would keep them out 24/7 and not really pay attention to them like they need it.

For the breed, they are not full breed, their mutts but very lovable ones at that. they have 4 breed in them and they are boxer, doberman, shephard and husky. Can't wait to see who they take more after, their mother which is the boxer/doby or their father which is the shep/husky. I will also try to post pictures when and if I can.

Thank You!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I agree that it will be VERY hard to find responsible homes for large mixed-breed puppies (they are just so overpopulated), but there are also risks in keeping more than one (Google "littermate syndrome"). You would have to find a way to train them all separately. I'm sure you can find good homes for them if you try hard enough, but you have to screen prospective adopters very carefully, make them fill out an application and pay a small fee, call their vets and their landlords and find out what happened to their previous pets. If you make a thread in the general forum I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice about how to re-home puppies. But of course not for at least 3 more weeks!

Glad to hear they're eating well and growing up healthy. They should be de-wormed at this point; your vet should be willing to sell you some puppy de-wormer without having you bring the puppies in. If they have worms (and most puppies do) their growth could be stunted.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Oh, yeah, to find a low-cost spay/neuter place, Google your state + "low-cost spay clinic". Most states have at least some kind of program, although you may have to drive to a larger city. It could be worth it if you have that many to get done. If you can't find a low-cost program and can't afford to have them all done at once at full price, there are ways to work around that. Have the females done first; males can't get pregnant. It does cost more to have females spayed, but if you have unspayed females, if even one male is intact he can get them all pregnant. And even if all your males are done, a strange male could get in and impregnate all your females who are in heat at the time. So, ladies first. 

Have the mother dog spayed first, as it'll be quite a few months before the puppies are old enough to go into heat (at their size, probably around 9-10 months old). If you can afford to have one female spayed a month, starting at 5 months, you should be able to have them all done before they go into heat (depending how many females are in the litter). Then you can start in on the males. If a female does go into heat before you can get her spayed, keep her locked away from the males for a full month from when you first see bleeding (or other signs of estrus). Try to keep 2 closed doors between them at all times (so that if they get through one door nothing happens).


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