Hi All,
My bitch whelped last night - a lovely litter of 4 pups. my first ever litter and thankfully she did everything herself! :0). Today she has eaten small amounts of food (James wellbeloved puppy biscuits and some tinned meat mixed in) but hasn't drank any water. Should i try her with some lactol or what do you suggest to up her fluid intake? She is being a great mum and will only leave the pups for toilet breaks so i'm offering her food and water every hour. The puppies seem content so she must be producing plenty milk but i don't want her to dehydrate as it is warm anyway and she keeps laying on the heat pad.
Thank you in advance
Nicola

Hi Nicola congrats on your litter :)

Yes try giving her some puppy milk, my girl had her pups on Friday and would not leave the whelping box for anything! so I held the bowl of water, food, or milk to her while she was in the box.
She loves the puppy milk, and now pups are a 6 days old now she feels more relaxed to leave the whelping box for her breaks and is eating and drinking better.

Good luck with your litter xx

One thing for sure , mine will not take cool or cold liquid after having pups, they like it warm. I sit with a warm bowl of water with a dash of skimmed milk in it ( I mean a dash)  and let the bitch drink from the bowl whilst I hold it. I offer this every hour.    

It is worth really soaking any complete food or mixer.  A good source is also cooked and blended chicken breast. When you blend it the volume looks nothing but the benefits are huge. In my experience anyway :-)

Yes! I give puppy milk also, if you have it, Like Blue, I hold it up to her mounth and spoil her a little, she deserves it. If she likes rice pudding " Asda's" that would be nice and light on her tummy also.