Need advice plz .

My girl had 2 pups 18 days ago sadly we lost one at 6 days old , but my other girl is doing really well .

About 2 days ago she started to not settle on the nipple & is searching back and forth along the nipples as if she cannot get enough milk , she is also crying at the same time , i have squeezed the teets and milk is still available but not as much as before .

Maybe her milk is drying up because  there is only one puppy , i don't know .

She is a large breed and at the moment weighs 5lb 10oz , she is also going to the toilet by her self ( slightly on the firm side i think ) , but i have given her some welpy & a couple of mashed biscuits ( wainwrights puppy ) today .

If anyone could put me straight if i am doing this wrong , that would help loads as the books i have do not have lots of info on weaning .

Also is it possible that my girl maybe did not produce enough hormones with having a small litter , as she only tends to do the basics with the pup , she is not washing puppy much , so i am not sure if i should just sponge her lightly , her coat is not very glossy but she is fit & strong eyes open  and was standing on her own at 13 days old .

Thanks

I always start my puppies weaning at 2 weeks of age (large breed), I use a suitable puppy weaning food, soaked in water to a consistency like thin porridge and offer 2-3 times a day.   You would have to sponge and dry  her after feeding anyway as she would get the food all over herself, it might encourage mum to lick her as well!!

To encourage toiletting you should just wash her vulva and bottom with moist cotton wool - that is if she is not toiletting by herself and still needs to be stimulated (it is usually during the third week that they begin to toilet without being stimulated).

i have alway started my pups on puppy food well soaked and mushed up very watery at about 2 1/2 weeks ,my last litter mum had 4 big pups and at 2 weeks old they cried alot after feeding and was surching all the time for food (large breed too) mum wasnt great with them i had to clean up after feeding ,as soon as i gave food to them the cring stopped and would still suckle from mum for about 1min and go to sleep ,i started with 2 meals for 2 days then 3meals for 1 day then 4 meals for 2 days then on to 5meals it took about a week or just over so by the time pups were coming up to 4weeks old they eat like little pigs :) and omg they were massive ,even the 1 girl in the litter was as big as her brothers if not bigger lol ,good luck x

Similar here, but mine go onto 4 meals after the first few days of introduction, and Mum will still feed right until they leave.

> Similar here, but mine go onto 4 meals after the first few days of introduction, and Mum will still feed right until they leave

I do the same as Barbara, mum will still feed a litte and they are 10 weeks old now (ouch!) 2 puppies are staying with us and the other one his family are on holiday at the moment, they are ittle buggers now lol x

Hi Strawberryblond,

When my pups were around 2 weeks mums milk also started to decrease and pups started to do the same as yours, searching from nipple to nipple and getting a bit crossed because not enough came out! :) Spoke to vet and was told that it is normal that bitches sometimes go through a little decrease in milk production. What I did was to increase mums food even more and give her Whelpi to drink as well. I already did this, and she looked good, but after giving her even more rich food and milk for a few days milk production seemed to increase and it has been good ever since.

Another thing is also that you will find that teets might not always show milk if you squeeze them. This does not neccessarily mean that there isn't enough milk, just that pup is drinking and emptying every teet, so that you are seeing less milk might not be a problem as such, according to the vet.

Is mum on good rich food? But it would only be logic if she adapted to only having one pup and decreasing her milk I guess. But I would try increasing her food and whelpi. But its good that little pup is at that age when you can start her on puppy porridge. And she sounds like a little strong girly. :)

Good luck.

Dear Strawberryblond ;)

At that weight hun I wouldn't worry too much. Only start with one meal a day, preferably breakfast, for a few days and then let her tot herself up from mum. As someone else said, mum should lick any food off puppy and therefore wash her face at the same time :)
If Callie isn't cleaning her much, then just make sure her tummy stays clean and doesn't get sore spots.
Most importantly, phone your breeder!!!!! or her best friend ;) or even the stud dog owner! All three will be only too willing to help :)