Is it ok to give a small puppy some bottle feeds just to help her along , or should i leave well alone as she is doing well fighting with the others at the dinner table??

If they are strong and feeding well, I just plug little ones in when the others are sleeping so that they can feed without a struggle.

I have always thought that if supplementry feeding is needed it was given to the larger more viable puppy/puppies enabling the smaller ones to get more of what nature intended as this is much better for them than any mixture we can buy or make up ourselves.

I would agre in the case of an over large litter, that taking the big strong pups away so that the smaller wones get more milk is the way to go, with possibly topping up the big ones.

In my experience though if you have a week or slow pup, such as can happen after a C section, or perhaps long time being whelped, that the wek ones do well if topped up for a few days to gain enough strength to feed efficeintly. Milk production is based on supply and demand, and as in humans the first threee days of near constant suckling on demand brings the milk in. If for some reason the pups are not feeding strongly, th3en the milk supply is compromised, and th4e pups do not gain at the expected rate and are playing catch up.

I have found that supplement ing at up to half the pups requirements for a few days just get the pup going, and it will then feed more vigourously from Mum in between thereby helping to get a good bitch milk supply going, usually after 4 days to a week these can be phased out.

Sadly I recently had a pup whose sucking reflex was very poor, and even with this approach made no headway, and I ended up supplying most of it's needs, but stil it couldn't get ahead, and I had to call it a day.

A bitch that is well fed will supply the amount of milk required, making less milk for a small litter than a large. My current Mum is doing her 4 babies well, but three years ago her litter of 9 developed at the same rate.

Sometimes pups in a small litter are heavier than a larger litter, as they were larger born, and therefore more vigourous to start with, but by 8 to 10 weeks any such differences are evened out, and it can be disconcerting to find that the fat pup finishes an average adult, and the fairly small one just keeps growing and makes top size.

Yes I totally agree with you where weak puppies are concerned you have to get nourishment into them quickly.I also give Nutridrops in this situation and it does boost their energy and makes them able suckle.

Hi Dogman
Congrats on the babies.
I always bottle feed at about 2 weeks old, praps I shouldn't but I do, I give the babes 4 parts evap milk to 1 part water...after they've been on mum...3 weeks- only have to sit down with the bottle and they fight to get on my knee, and I start giving them solids at about 2 and half weeks too.
My females always go back to normal quickly and the pups are always chunky..well probably fat actually :D
Tracey

Thanks everyone, My girl had a litter of 11, the smallest was getting pushed around at the milk bar, so with a little help from me has now agined in size and strength and gives as good as she gets. She has also learned to get there first and its her sucking that wakes the others now, by the time they wake and get round to it she is almost full. still topping her up a bit though. All doing very well indeed and mum is too , other than very loose poo, but hey after what she has been through im not surprised!
5 possibly 6 homes found already and thats without trying!
just got to sort out names now, for 11 where do you begin.
John