Any tips on hand rearing pups. As some of you will know who read my last topic I have to feed a litter as the mother is making very little milk.
I have heared horror stories of flooding puppies lungs in doing this. Iam trying my best to take the feeds slowly but Im very worried about this.
How best to hold the pup and so forth.
I have done this once before with a very small pup that just couldn't get the hang of feeding from mum which ended up dying at 8 days old.
The pups do still suckle from the mother even though they aren't getting much from her.
Thanks

You need to encourage them to feed off mum as much as possible so that she develops more milk.

Have the pups gained or lost weight.

If they haven't lost or lost no more than an ounce I would be plugging them into Mum every half hour whenever I was near the whelping box, waking pups if you have to.

If they have lost an appreciable amount and are a bit weak the odd top up to give them strength to work on Mum to get the production going should be the aim.

I would use a small babies bottle and not bother with the special teats as I have never found average size pups get on with them.

As for amount there is a chart in the development of newborns section of the book of the bitch which gives statistics liek boyd temperature and fluid needs per weight.  I woudl say do not give more than half what the pusp woudl need at tehri present weight over abotu 4 to 6 feeds a day.

Keep the pups really cosy warm at night.  I have used a portable Electric Oil filled radiator on castors with a thermostat, rather than heat the whole house all night, I also keep a heat pad under the Vet bed..

That is a very valid point Brainless I should have said, pups gaining weight are getting fed.  I like to weigh mine at night at the same time every night.

Sharon is there no way you can just keep putting them on and encourage the milk? I know it is heard but hungry pups generally can get it going.   Sometims I think they have more milk than we think. My breed only have a few pups so they never really get hug underneath.

Hope things  come together soon.

My Lexi who had seven pups last year fed them really well but never had much mammary development, she didn't fill up visibly at all, and if you had come and visited apart from the bare areas around the nipples you would have sworn she wasn't a nursing bitch. 

Her mother had real boobs, but it was her third litter.

The pups were born early wednesday morning weighing 17oz -20oz, friday evening they weighed between 13oz-15oz. So they had lost. Im sure its normal to lose a little as in human babies but its about 1 5th of their weight. I have weighed them just now before their feed and they weighed almost same as lastnight.
The vet told me to feed every 2 hours around the clock but my instinct as told me every 3 hours.
They do latch on to their mother and if Im feeding every 2 hours they dont seem to latch on, it seems all Im doing is taking them away from their mother to feed.
Iam hoping they will eventually stimulate her milk.
When I do feed them the pups seem to get stressed and so does Star. She gets restless and cries. When they are all back with her they all seem content and happy.

I would only remove one pup at a time feeding it sitting by the whelping box, so the others are feeding from Mum, try to feed them after they have had a good feed from her, so if they are hungry they will take it.

I have noticed more weight loss in pups born heavy for their breed (mine are average 10 - 12 ounces) have had them weighing in at a pound, these seem to loose some weight as it takes more just to keep them going and the real milk like with us doesn't come in until about the third day.

If they are feeding from Mum almost constantly (which is what they should be in the first few days) then I think feeding every 3 to four houses in the day, and getting up once in the night and reducing this to just days once they start to gain weight, but concentrate most on plugging them onto Mum between times.

Hi Sharon can you up her drink intact at all.  I know a lot of people dont like milk but I give mine just a dash of skimmed milk in warm water and just keep bringing the bowl to the box every hour. They pee all the time :-) but I know they milk is still coming.

To maximise water intake I absolutely drown my girls food so they have to drink loads.

My bitch had her Pups late Tuesday night, so just before yours.

Are you weighing your puppies? If I wasn't weighing mine daily, I think I would worry that she didn't have enough milk, as sometimes when they have been feeding, a teat or few seem to stop producing milk/run out of milk but they soon start again. (I guess the same as breast feeding women) The pups have just started to get the hang of burrowing underneath to get to the other teats now, but before that I used to make sure she laid on each side alternately, so they drank from both sides before they could burrow under. (If that makes sense?!)

As I understand it, the bitch only really produces colustrum for the first few days anyway, then the proper milk comes in. (again, much like breast feeding women)

Good luck with your pups.

I take only 1 pup at a time while the others are with the mother. Im sat on a chair right beside the mother and other pups.I have just checked them now and all but 1 pup is feeding/suckling from her. I have put the pup on without any problem.
They say a good sign of pups being well fed from the mother is the wagging of tails.
I dont want to over feed but then I dont want to go back to square 1 with near to death pups. I have seen how quickly new born pups go down hill.

A friend of mine recently had a bit of a breeding nightmare.  Bitch mated who had missed previous two attempts (had already had a small litter), when taken for scan told no pups.

The bitch had come back on breeding terms, and with negative scan had returned to her owners. 

She seemed a bit unwell and the owners vet pronounced a phantom and gave her Galastop.

In the fullness of time the bitch was panting restless, you guessed it was in Labour.

New owners work and ended up with emergency vet and C section.  the vet couldn't understand how someone could have missed the pregnancy.  the breeder had to rush to the bitch and pups and there was no milk or likelihood of any because of the Galastop.

Bitch was caring for pups and they were suckling but other than a few drops of colostrum there was no milk.

they were hand reared for a week, but allowed to nurse for comfort from Mum.

After a week the milk came in and feeds from bottle were slowly reduced until Mum had taken over completely by 10 days.

they did loose one pup early on and another was very lightweight and not gaining,s o they started early solids as soon as eyes open and even tiny is catching the other three pups up.  At four weeks they are just a few days behind with the smell one about a week behind.

I don't know if anyone remebers the Auatrailia sibe owner that posted as the bitch wanted to kill her pups, but they got her to accept them nearly a week later and she got her milk and continued rearing them OK.

Sadly, the pup that took ill first died today. Milk went down the wrong way. With advice from the vet we put the pup upside and gently massaged its chest to help get milk from its airways. This did get the milk off. We then gave it a tiny amount of infant paracetamol as advised by vet but the poor little thing didnt make it.
We were so careful feeding them Ive been on phone asked every question I could think of.
The vet said it is hard to hand rear puppies and we did nothing wrong. Naturally I know we just didnt get the feeding right. Im so scared for the rest of the pups. Every time I feed them I think am I killing them while Im trying to save them.
So far they are showing no bad signs. Im hoping and praying for them.
RIP little one.

So sorry to read that Sharon.......you did your best

R.I.P little pup :(

Sharon.. I am so sorry....

I have hand reared a few litter... one was a litter of 10.. all survived.. what type of bottle are you using and PM me the breed.... (dont put it on here)

Hi kayc. Well done. I have pmd you.

So sorry to read about your little one ,it is hard hand rearing for the first time .I see Kayc has offered help so chin up you did your best.
R.I.P. little one

How are things this morning Sharon?

Fingers crossed that they are all doing well i will say apray four you all.

I thought Paracetamol was a no no for dogs?

no i was advised by vet to give paracetamol and gripe water for puppy colic and it was fine

Everything I'v read certainly says that, depending on size of dog and quantity of drug, but it dosent seem to take much.

Lost another pup during the night but the remaining 4 seem well and are actually getting stronger. Im not counting on anything yet, but Ill hang in there.
I have spoke to kayc on the phone and I feel a bit more optimistic now.
Paracetamol:- we only gave the pup half ml on the vets advice.

I'm so sorry about the puppies you have lost.

Best of luck with the rest of them. It sounds like they're doing much better.

Just to let you all know. We have now lost all our pups. The last 4 seemed great Monday and tuesday getting stronger wagging their little tails as they fed. They got week yesterday I just couldnt believe how fast they went down hill.
Vet came out to say Star had and infection and passed it on to them. Throughout the day we lost 3. The last 1 I hoped and prayed maybe we might have a survival against all the odds. The little thing held on untill 10am this moring.
As my husband burried them all together all the other dogs sat and watched.
Its heartbreaking. WE are having Star spayed no more pups Its not worth it Ive had enough.
Out of 5 litters I have lost 2 full litters.
Thanks for all your messages of support and thanks kayc for your help.

Oh.. Sharon :(  I am so very very sorry... what a heartbreaking time for you...

Rest in peace little ones ...

So so sorry to hear this Sharon. I was praying for the little ones .   It will take time to deal with it emotionally.  God bless the little ones. :-(

So sorry to hear that Sharon :(   R.I.P little ones

So sorry to read about your little ones.
R.I.P little ones

Sharon, please do not jump to any quick decisions, you are emotionally drained and exhausted at the moment and may not be thinking straight, of course its your decision but why not give it a week or so and see how you feel then? I have been glued to this thread praying that the little ones would be ok and I am so sorry for you all that this has happened. You did all you could, give the dogs a big hug from me. My thoughts are with you as are the thoughts of many who have been reading about your experiences. God Bless.

I to am very sorry for your loss Sharon.

Rest in peace, little ones.