Hi all,

I took my LO to my childminder today and was greeted by 2 pups, which is a shock as she was only possibly, maybe, thinking of getting a dog for her son!
So the story is,
Her oldest daughter was driving and stuck at traffic lights when she saw a dog on its own sniffing/ showing interest in a plastic carrier bag then she saw a paw come out of the bag, she pulled the car over and went to see and in the bag were 10 pups, sadly 8 had passed away leaving the 2!

So my childminder is looking after them, she took them to the vet and they had worms and were about 3 weeks old, but otherwise are in ok health.
When I look at them the 3 breeds that come to mind are Chihuahua as they are small and have very domed heads, Jack russel and Staffy, the little girl is white with a black nose and the boy is dark brindle with a white neck legs and tip of tail. they have very dainty bones but are obviously very small still, (they both sleep in a shoe box with an old cushion) Its only the brindle that makes me think Staff.
So can anyone tell me what she should and shouldnt be doing with them, She knows about not letting them out etc but they are far to young to be away from mum (poor thing) what can my CM do to limit any future problems?
I have given her some advice already but have obviously never had a dog younger than 8 weeks old.

Thanks in advance
Claire

Oh my they will need very frequent feeds.  Four meals a day of soaked puppy food mixed to a porridge and also several milk meals of proper puppy milk.

Probably at least 6 or 7 meals all told, this is a full time job.

There was a couple on here who hand reared a very young litter of this age recently, but they were a cross of two large breeds.

If these are toy breed pups there is a high risk of Hypoglycemia if they are nto fed often enough, and they also need to be kept warm.

they will probably be pooing unaided, but still should have their bottoms wiped to encourage evacuation.

They will need worming now and again in two weeks and again at 8 etc, depending on veterinary product used.

Thanks for that I will let her know,
I know they have bought some treats and give them treats when they wee on the puppy mats,

Hopefully they can make it to be big and strong!!!

they need good food and still need milk, not treats, which at best will fill them up. 

It's like giving a human 9 month old sweets instead of milk and proper food.

My toy breeds are not allowed treats!   Tiny tummies need the proper nutrition inside them, for strong, healthy growth.

My pups are weeing on paper by the time they leave home, and get a whole lot of excited praise, not treats.  Sorry to be such a rotten owner, but there is not much room in those tums for treats.

My toy breed certainly wouldn't be getting treats at only about 3 weeks old, far to young either for treats or worrying about where they are toileting. Just milk replacement formula and the start of weaning foods, if I was in that position.

Thanks guys,
I have passed the info on, but it would appear there is no educating some people, the male has gone to live with its new family already and the son is taking the other pup out in his jacket??
I told her he shouldnt be doing this and they would have been better kept together but it's like talking to a brick wall, she isnt unpleasent but I can only try so hard, I am also gonna have to leave it cause I dont want the situation to spoil my relationship with my childminder.

Like I said Thanks for all your help.

>it's like talking to a brick wall, she isnt unpleasent but I can only try so hard, I am also gonna have to leave it cause I dont want the situation to spoil my relationship with my childminder.

Poor pups.  I know one cannot generalise but I'd have thought that a registered childminder would would have a bit more sense.  In your shoes I might be questioning her ability to look after my child...

> In your shoes I might be questioning her ability to look after my child...

Ahh come on i think thas a bit unfair....

My dads a wonderful carpenter and can make the most wonderful things with his tools and shaping,but i asked him to build me a dog kennel from scratch and told him i wanted it a certain hight a window(double glazed)and insulation.He couldnt see why it had to have a door or why i wanted a window or why i wanted a nice door that wont allow drafts or carpet.....now dads a HUGE dog lover he just doesnt understand the canine world as most of us do....

The childminder is probably very good with kids but a very huge amount of people wouldnt know whats best in this situation.....

i just think it unfair to say shes not a gamble in so many words at HER profession.

I'm sorry but I don't agree that because she is clueless in how to raise pups, she couldn't be a wonderful carer of children.

Not everyone can be "doggy people". My parents never allowed us to have a dog whilst we were growing up (I am the oldest of 6 children), and I had to wait until I was married etc until I got my first dog. My parents will never be "doggy people", indeed, they have never even looked after my dogs even one at a time...lol, but they show them tons of love and affection whenever they see them and have a genuine interest in them.

Their real affinity is with their grandchildren. Pets never did figure greatly in our upbringing, I guess the house was too full of children...lol!

but surely anyone knows that a puppy of 3 - 4 weeks old is unweaned and is the equivalent to a very young baby, primarily dependent on milk, and only just starting solids?

If they don't know that much then I would expect them to be taking expert advice from those who do.

Behaviour such as this would make me seriously question their commonsense and competence I'm afraid.

In her defence she is wonderful with both my children and others, I have not and will never doubt her ability in that sense, It's a sad fact that people don't know how to look after dogs properly, but if you have never had to before you don't find out until you do, i told her i had got advice from experts (you lot) but what she is doing she thinks is correct i suppose, I did advise her to get puppy crate trained more for the safety of the pup and so it would have somewhere to escape to when there were lots of kids at hers and she agreed but then she told me she was just going to train it to stay in the hallway, i wonder if she will regret that when there are teeth marks in everything!! LOL!
I also have another freind who got a black lab pup at 8 weeks old, she had to have him to the vets at 5 months old cause of his hips, i asked her if the parents were health tested and she didnt know! Now she has adopted 2 kids and is not someone who i thought would do this, just goes to show people are still not educated and you cant be good at everything!!

> but surely anyone knows that a puppy of 3 - 4 weeks old is unweaned and is the equivalent to a very young baby, primarily dependent on milk, and only just starting solids?
>
> If they don't know that much then I would expect them to be taking expert advice from those who do.
>
> Behaviour such as this would make me seriously question their commonsense and competence I'm afraid.

I dont know how to riase very young pupppies (never been around pups that young and it's not the same as looking after a human baby), so if I wasn't personally aware of the wealth of experience & knowledge on this forum, if I found myself in the situation of the OPS childminder, I would be going on the advice of a vet.
The OPs childminder took the pups to a vet in the begining, so giving the pups treats for peeing on a training mat may well be on the vets say-so.
Seems she's trying to do whats best, even starting early on reward-based training and thankgoodness she found the pups before they perished. It seems as if she only needs pointing in the right direction regarding not giving treats to such a small pup due to the impact on it's overall nutrition.

One only has to spend a while reading these boards to see how much you breeders know and that you really do know what's best for your pups, but getting the same advice from a 3rd party is just the same as being told "I read on a dog forum on the internet that you should be doing X Y & Z with those pups" is not as convincing as seeing where it comes from oneself.

I know now I would rather take advice from you guys, but I've been hanging around these boards for a few years now and can see how valuable your knowledge is. Prior to my joing CD, I would have rather gone by what a vet had told me first hand.

thanks mastiflover,

It would seem she is listening as she has now decided on a crate due to pup chewing the new flooring!! LOL, also she has been giv ing her a good quailty puppy food soaked in the milk from the vets!  thanks for all your help!