Hi, by a weird twist of fate I have ended up with caring for a little Shitzu puppy. Long story short, I called to a house of a lady who was a breeder. I only knew her slightly! Anyway, her dog was in the throes of delivering 9 puppies. 2 were dead at birth and she fiercely rejected a third. She tried several times to get the bitch to accept the little chap but she was having none of it. In fact, she actually tried to kill it. All this was going on and I was quite traumatised to be honest. The breed then just put the puppy aside and said it would die after a few hours! I couldn’t believe how heartless she was. Do breeders actually do that? As an absolute dog lover I just couldn’t stand there and do nothing so I asked her if I could take him. Bearing in mind I have never raised a newborn pup in my life, I just shot off to the vet with him tucked in my bra. The vet gave me Welpi and generally showed me what to do. A crash course at best!
Tiny Tim is now 3 weeks old and I have clocked up a £500 vet bill already! However, my daughter in law ( an animal mad person too) created a Facebook profile for him along with a Fund Me account and has raised enough money to cover it. I love my daughter in law! Tiny Tim is a celebrity now ha ha!
I wanted to give you all a background so that you can all appreciate how inexperienced I am. Hence the constant visits to the vet. He is gaining every day and is such a bright little chap. His eyes are open and he is very active. He takes his milk well and is currently having 5 mls every three hours. He definitely would like more and gets very frustrated when it’s all gone but, because he is suffering from constipation the vet has said he mustn’t have more? I have even learned how to give him an enema now because I was having to pay daily to get this done.
I completely understand that the vet is the expert but I do wonder if I would benefit from sound advise from a kind breeder. They are the ones with hands on experience. A vets advise is probably text book knowledge.
Should I start weaning? Would this help with his constipation? Can you devise an eating plan for him please?
He weighed 151 grams at birth and now weighs 304grams and he is now 12 days old. He is small I know but I promise he is so bright and alert so please don’t tell me that he would be better off euthanised. Even the vets always say that this pup really wants to live.
Any advise would be massively appreciated.
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You've done really well. First you say he's 3 weeks old, then 12 days, which is it? If it is 3 weeks then you should definitely start weaning now. Either get some pet mince (frozen to thaw out and give raw) from a petshop, or a good quality puppy food. If dry soak well in warm water and mush it up properly with a fork. You can add Welpi to it. I bet you he'll start eating pretty much as soon as you put it in front of him. If not, put a tiny amount on your finger and let him lick it so he gets the idea. Start with once a day then build up to 4 or 5 times a day. I have a Papillon  (slightly smaller than your pup, he was around 100 g at birth) who was rejected by his mother at birth and I hand reared him. Mickey will be 4 years old this month and is healthy, happy, beautiful and still sees me as his mum. A spoilt brat really lol.

You also need to start worming now.

No, good breeders would never just leave a pup to die, if there was something wrong with it we'd have the vet put it to sleep. And no most vets don't know much if anything about rearing pups.

You really have done remarkably well, hand rearing isn't easy!

Thank you Goldmali. Your praise means so much to me as I sometimes get scared that I could do harm by being so inexperienced. I think it will be my proudest a achievement if he makes it! I have already found him the most perfect home and , although I will be sad to let him go, the home will be better than mine as I already have 3 large clumsy dogs who would probably overwhelm such a little chap!
Sorry, he is 3 weeks on Tuesday. I have already tried putting milk on a flat plate and he does lick at it. A good sign I reckon! I’m hoping that a little fibre in his diet will help with his constipation. Although the enemas don’t seem to upset him at all I will be relieved when he can go properly on his own.
Is there a weaning puppy food that you can recommend?
Oh I forget to mention, I have already completed a three day worming with him. I have to do it again at 4 weeks according to vet.

Just to let you know I calculated wrong when I said 12 days. I blame the lack of sleep haha! He is 19 days.

If he's 19 days then you can safely start weaning now. There's so many foods out there, hard to recommend as everyone have their own preferences, but in a nutshell you will find the higher quality ones in petshops as opposed to in supermarkets. High meat content is what to look for.

Sounds like you’re doing a great job! Not many would be as dedicated as you, you’ve given the little chap a fantastic chance at life he definitely wouldn’t have had otherwise. :)

I’ve never dealt with a newborn pup myself so I can’t offer advice (although if you ever need to know how to syringe-feed a sick rabbit, hedgehog or guinea pig I’m your girl!) but I just wanted to say well done and wish you and your pup all the best.

Very well done you!
We start weaning on raw beef mince mushed with puppy milk or goats milk for a few days then move on to Nutriment puppy weaning paste.

I use goats milk mixed with minced lamb to wean my litters at any time from 21 days. I heat the milk and mash it to a paste with a mortar and pestle, initially keeping it fairly runny and then adding less goats milk over the next 2-3 weeks. They get fed a couple of tablespoons worth 4-5 times a day and there is never any left over. I don't give Weetabix or any cereals. At 4-5 weeks I give them the tips of chicken wings to chew on, a bit of egg yolk in the lambs mince mix and if they are going to non-raw households then they get a good quality gluten-free kibble so they are used to it.