this is my first time on this forum and im wondering if anyone could give me some advice please im hand rearing a litter of puppys as the bitch rejected them could anyone tell me how often they need to poo they seem to be going often i have a chart that i mark it on but they still seem to be grunting not crying there warm on a heat pad there drinking from the bottle fine there twitching is there any advice anyone could give me to give them the best possible start in life thank you

Many years ago my mum hand reared two great dane puppies and stimulated them to wee everytime she had fed them.  The important thing is to try and ensure they dont get dehydrated.  If your vet has life aid we have found that to be invaluable when raising weak puppies.  I have seen a puppy who looked like he was going to die come back after giving them lifeaid.

Good luck with raising them.

Has the bitch rejected them as in she isn't looking after them, or will she not have them near her??

she rejected them at birth started barking at them as they were coming out nearly bite  there heads off weve taken them all to the vets two have stayed in the other two are fine and at home we have brought her in afew times but she just trys to bite them

There was a recent thread where a bitch wouldn't accept the pups at first but with persistence after about 4 or 5 days she did so.  It may be worth persisting.

Could you not muzzle her and have someone hold her so that you can get them to feed from her.  It will be better for them and for Mum ,as she could well end up with mastitis.  the stimulation may just bring her around.  A foster Mum would be a better idea than hand rearing as you will need to feed every two hours around the closk in the first week and gradually less often in the second by the end oif which you can start them on semi solids and eating from a dish.

yes we have tryed getting her in and we muzzled her but she went mad we have been feeding the pups every two hours since they were born yes it is hard work and im not complaining  i just wanted to know if they have to go poo at every time they feed we will find out what the vet says at 5pm about the other two iv tryed looking 4 a foster mum around were we live but had no luck thankyou for your suggestion anyway

According to a book I have on puppy-rearing, it says that hand-reared pups should be encouraged to urinate and defecate after every feed.

thankyou  very much jeangenie could you please tell me what book it was from thankyou

"Dogs and How to Breed Them", by Hilary Harmer.

Use a small piece of cotton wool (dipped in vasaline helps so it does not rub the pups) and run this down their stomachs and around their tails, yes they should go after nearly every feed (or before, or during if you have enough hands).

I used to try to lay the pups on their backs and try to stimulate them to "go" at the same time as this is often when the bitches will wash them.

After a couple of nights of doing it on your own you will find you need a break and they can go four hours between one feed but do not do this more than once in 24 hours if you can possibly avoid it as little and often is best for tiny pups

HTH

Yes that is what I did when I hand reared my litter. It was hard work but well worth it as came out with 5 strong beautiful labs one of which was Min :) They didn't poo everytime but did for the majority of the time.

Why not let us know what area you are in as somebody on here may well know of a foster mum that maybe able to help ;)

Good Luck

Lucy
xx

When I had to hand rear my litter last christmas a very knowledgable lady advised me to get a book called Nursing and Hand Rearing Newborn Puppies by Betty Bloomfield.  It's an excellent book definitely worth getting!

They now say the pups should go before a feed, which if you watch the bitch going into her pups she does sort them all out then lie down for them.

Yes, Bower, In the book of the Bitch it says:-
Very recent work shows that the bitch performs this service before she feeds the puppies and not after.

update on the hand rearing two of the pups are fine doing realy well ,the other two the vet thinks they have milk on the lungs theyve had a few injections  and were giving milk little - every hour and they go back to the vet tomorrow morning let pray and hope thankyou all for all your coments and advice

good luck I hope they do really well  :) I had to hand rear my 8 its hard work isent it . I remeber the lack of sleep poor you! But its all worth the work in the end when you see them bouncing about :P

update all pups are doing really well eating loads there lungs have improved and there pooing nicely thankyou all for the advice i cant wait now for the fun and laughter of the bundles of joy

Hi lanie

I am doing exactly the same but we only managed to save one pup from the 8 she delivered. I am tube feeding the pup now as she has milk on her lungs and is on antibiotics.

Boy, I never realised how emotionally and physically draining all this can be.

Good Luck.

hi yes just give them  little drops  lots of times we thought we,d lost to of ours because of the milk on the  lungs ur be surpised how tough the little ones are all ours are good now eyes are open making lots of noise and one being so special in there own little way, good luck with ur last baby be thinking of you