Just wondering if anyone knew what the average weight gain was for a new born puppy?

She's a toy breed if that helps, I have been monitoring her weight and also her latching on and feeding, mom doesnt appear to have a massive amount of milk but then it was a singleton puppy, she seems to be feeding fine, not getting tired and falling off the nipple or anything like that and feeds well throughout the day without much help.

These are her weights

6/11/12- born 8.2oz
7/11/12- 8oz
8/11/12- 8.1oz
9/11/12- 8.8oz.  And as I was a little concerned weighed her again about 20 mins ago and she's 9.1oz this evening

I have been told that she should be atleast 12oz by now so am a little concerned and wondering whether I need to supplement?

I would not be concerned looks like the milk yield is picking up after day three, which is quite usual.

With my own breed a slight drop the next day, and then regain and gain after that is fine.

with my own medium size breed (pups usually 12 - 14oz) I am happy with a gain of 4 - 8 ounces the first week, 7 - 10 ounces the second week, and in the third week a pound.  Mien are then on solids and the weight gain just goes up and up after that.  My breed pups are about half as big again at birth on average, so yours would be proportionately less.

If pup is a pound at 10 days I'd be happy.  I have never had a puppy double it's weight in a week, more like 10 days.

That weight gain seems fine to me, I have had pups born that size in litters of 3/4 and their weight gain has been similar, ignore those saying they "should be", no 2 pups are alike, are you keeping her extra warm so she isn't burning off calories keeping warm[reduces risk of getting canine herpes too in the first 3 weeks], don't be tempted to supplement as it is supply and demand for the dam, if you supply she won't get the same demand.

Hopefully some CKCS breeders will be along with more breed specific info for you.

Being Swedish, I don't understand pounds and ounces and whatever all it is, so I'm biased, but I'd still like to say that I think for toys, it is better to weigh in grammes. One ounce is something like 28 g, so therefore you get a FAR more accurate picture when weighing in grammes, as long as you have a digital set of scales that will weigh in either. Most seem to do these days, the ones I have and use for toys and kittens are basic and cheap but all it takes is the press of a button and I can tell weight gain or loss to 1 g which is much more precise than the point something of an ounce. JMO. :)

>  I have never had a puppy double it's weight in a week, more like 10 days.

Me too, and that's in both a large working breed, and a toy breed. Years ago I used to worry about it - not now.

Looks fine to me, she's gaining weight and that's the main thing. :-)

I do also take the grams reading from my scale, I too like to work in grams,

Weights in grams:

6/11/12- 233g
7/11/12- 230g
8/11/12- 231g
9/11/12- 250g

Thankyou for all the reassurance, it's a breeder that's telling me she should be 12oz by now and said she's quite concerned that she hasn't gained enough, pup isn't dehydrated isn't whining or crying out and generally likes to be snuggled with mom and will only feed when she wants to, I've tried latching her in inbetween her 'feeds' and she doesn't wanna know!

If she continues to gain steadily, is settled between feeds and appears to be weeing/pooing normally then I wouldn't worry. Is Mum eating and drinking more than her normal intake, mine refuse plain water so get goats milk[ easily found in supermarket fresh or UHT which means it doesn't need to be in the fridge till opened] to drink and what ever takes their fancy to eat,puppy kibble available 24/7.

Mom isn't really eating very much at all, we've tried everything to get her to eat, scrambled egg, goats milk cooked meats (I don't like to feed raw) but she doesn't eat as much as she did when pregnant and is prob eating around the same amount as she was eating before she was mated, there is always puppy kibble down for her 24/7 and fresh clean water, she's started to leave the welping box for short periods of time but will not eat unless it's in there with her.

My concern is that her milk is going to dry up, when she was pregnant she had a huge milk supply her nipples and the skin beneath (sorry don't know the correct term) were full to burst and really rather large but now there is hardly any 'swelling' beneath the nipples and when she lies on her back her tummy is almost flat, and apart from the nipples being enlarged when on her back you wouldn't know she has milk.

I am sleeping alongside the welping box and have done since there were indications she was going to give birth but as mentioned above the puppy seems reluctant to feed from mom unless she wants it, she won't latch on unless it's her feeding time.

I'm prob being over cautious but it's our first litter, it's the bitches first litter and we were told there was going to be 2 possibly 3 puppies so was a bit of a shock when there was only 1 and would be totally devastated should something Happen to her now. when it was mentioned that she should be 12oz by now panic started to settle in and Im worrying now that she's not getting enough

Has the person who is scaremongering actually come up with any suggestions to help?

I feed minced cooked lamb as it is full of fat, don't throw away the juices, pour them over a small amount of kibble mixed with the lamb, fat will set if left too long so small amounts and often, warm up in the micro wave enough for each meal, the juice from boiled chicken cooled and either given as a drink or again mixed in with kibble also adds to the taste.

Some bitches mouths can get sore from constantly cleaning the pups tail ends so that will put them off eating too. Have you got Nutrodrops, they give a calorie boost without filling them up and stopping them feeling hungry.

You don't want her breast to become too full and engorged with milk because she will become uncomfortable and the pup won't be able to latch on. If there was no milk coming out the pup would be restless and trying out one teat after another, if you watch closely you should be able to see/hear the pup gulping down the milk and a small amount of milk visable where the pups lips meet the breast tissue. Try weighing immediately before and after a feed to monitor the difference, stop Mum from stimulating wee/poo just for that feed so nothing is lost from the weight.

The pup has no competition for the milkbar so there is no frenzy that there can be with larger litters all wanting their favourite spot and nearly always at least one pup feeding, she knows it is there when she wants it.

Hope this helps.

Thankyou for that I will visit the butchers for some minced lamb in the morning.

I have puppystim, got it in just incase along with dopram v which thankfully we didn't have to use

I will try the weighing too and see what she's before and after a feed

And I guess just monitor her closely over the next few days and see what happens

Hand feed the bitch (in her whelping box) with little balls of meat and soaked kibble squeezed into little balls, one at a time until her appetite returns.

Pup sounds fine, you dont want an engorged row of teats when you have a singleton. An increase in weight, if maintained at this rate, is just fine.
A 9 oz cavalier puppy of 3-4 days old is a very good size.

Sounds fine to me too, our last litter mums milk didn't come in fully until day 3-4 and they all lost weight to start, then slowly but surely started gaining, small amounts to start then after about a week they started gaining 50-60grms a day, which I was happy with being 7 of them.

Also with only the one baby to feed I doubt mum is that hungry at the moment, pup isn't taking too much from her yet.

Thankyou so much for all the reassurance pup is 10oz (283g) this morning when I weighed her so is steadily gaining.

If she was crying out all the time then I think that's when I should be worried, for the moment she's not doing that so she must be getting enough.

I've had the whole 'she should be 16oz by next Tuesday (double her birth weight)' lecture this morning, I highly doubt she will make that but aslong as she is steadily gaining, with thanks to the advice from here, I'm not going to be worried :)

That's a fantastic weight gain for a toy pup, I woudl be ahppy with an ounce a day from the third or fourth day in my much larger breed.

She has gained 25% of her birth weight in 4 days.

Mine have never doubled their birth weights in a week, an 8 oz pup would have to gain more than an ounce a day to achieve that, as long as she continues to gain and appears happy and well then sit back and enjoy, they grow so quickly and puppihood last for such a short time.

I can assure you if she was hungry she would be screaming blue murder, if mine can't get to feed for what ever reason they certainly let me know.

Sounds fine to me she is gaining.  My breed are much smaller at birth.

I don't know if it will be any help but I had a singleton puppy a few weeks ago and had problems with her gaining weight and had to bottle feed her for a bit.
http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?pid=1334135;hl=#pid1334135
She is now a fit and healthy puppy with a great appetite.

I'm with the others, as long as pup is contented and feeds regularly, as long as she is warm and feels 'right' in your hand then she's likely doing well.

Pups that aren't doing well are restless, and feel different in your hand, their skin seems loose and they cry more and sound distressed.

Hope this helps

Hi we have a huge litter of 11 puppies from a small breed dog. They are now 9 days old and we have been alternating feeding. All have gained weight steadily ( some quite a lot daily) until the last couple of days when 2 or 3 have either maintained or lost a few grammes. Is this normal for puppies just a little worried as first time breeding.

I would ensure the slower gainers are given more opportunity at most productive teats

As soon as their eyes open I would start offering puppy porridge, to start weaning.

Yes thats exactly what we have been doing. I have weaning porridge can you give it that early?

Put the bigger pups in a warming box and put the smaller pups on the most productive teats. (Usually those towards the rear legs of the bitch.)

If necessary, use one of the strong pups to start sucking and let the milk down, then when that pup starts doing satisfied gulping sounds, remove it (sorry pup) and put one of the small pups on that nipple to have the milk.

And do supplement with bottles for the smaller pups if they start to lose weight. Losing weight or remaining the same on one day wouldn't concern me much but I'd want that pup to increase the next day. I wouldn't want to see two consecutive days of weight loss.

That's exactly what we have been doing, just not supplementing as they have all been gaining weight. Today they all put weight on apart from 1 ( a different one than yesterday) so he will be on the good nipple today lol. Thank you for the advice.

So you should be OK by being extra vigilant until you can start early weaning.

I have started pups on weaning as early as 10 days when weight gain started stalling.

At this point I'd not bother with bottles as your that close.

Problem with bottles is that pups can get too much too easily, with the risk of gettimg it down into lungs, or causing digestive upset.

With a porridge made of mashed soaked puppy food with puppy milk added there is less chance, and you would be doing this just a bit earlier. I routinely give pups their first tastes of weaning food at 18 days.

One first day I try them once, next day twice, by 4th day 4 times a day, to appetite, then back to Mum for their main sustenance.

Often the bigger pups get the hangnof it fastest leaving more Mums milk for the smallest.

Thank you, how often to feed on mum after weaning starts?

It depends how much she is still feeding the pups and how long you want her to continue supplementing for. If her condition is good, then there's no need to be sudden about it - let her keep on topping them up after meals until she's had enough. If she doesn't have enough milk at the moment, I wouldn't reduce her food too much immediately.

She hasn't been well going back to the vet today she retained some parts of placenta and had oxytocin last Tues she has been sick on and off still runny poo and on and off her food. ( can only feed in small amounts so she isn't sick. As she struggled to eat pre birth as she was so full of puppies she is now quite thin. Obviously going to see what the vet says today.

As often as she will allow.

I never seperate Mum from pups except when they are fed, then let Mum in to clear up, and of course they will then top up from her.

The majority of their nutrition will still come from Mum, but gradually more and more from you.

Once their teeth are in she will start to allow them to feed less, but that's up to her.

She should aleays be able to get away from them if she wishes.

Mum should have high quality food to appetite.

I do what Brainless says. Feed the pups first so they fill up mostly on the food, then let mum in to finish up the food and lick the bowl clean and let the pups nurse and have a top up.

If you try to stop lactation and nursing too soon, you can risk mastitis because she will continue to produce milk but you're not letting the pups take the pressure off. You really don't want to add mastitis to your problems, so don't wean suddenly.

Her body needs time to move from lactating to not lactating - hormones change and work relatively slowly - so you need to allow this to be a gradual process and not a sudden one.

Yeah thank you she is just struggling to eat vet gave her a mild antibiotic to help with the runny poo. Hopefully then she will be able to eat what she needs to feed them all