Hello All

I've only popped up on here once before, funnily enough in response to a feeding question, but I was wondering if I could pick your brains on something.

We had our first, long planned litter on 29th December. I have been working with 3 mentors within the breed for the last two years before embarking on the journey myself, in hopes to breed a pup suitable for the showring.

My bitches pregnancy and whelping was smooth. She had 3 pups on day 60 in just over an hour, and has been tending to them really well since. The pups are now 17 days old.

Since last Thursday (10th) she seems more reluctant to drink the amount that she was. Up until this point she was eating around 5/6 meals per day and drinking 2+ pints of fluid a day. Having breastfed 4 times myself, I know how ravenous and thirsty you can get, not only that, you need the extra calories and fluid to aid your milk supply so I was happy with her intake. But for the last few days she has almost stopped drinking. She was never a massive 'drinker' before, just a few laps now and then during the day. She's a small breed hound group dog. She's still eating around 3/4 big meals a day, a mixture of puppy kibble and raw meat, i'm not overly concerned that she's cut back a bit as she's still eating far more than she did before the pups arrived. What is concerning me is the fluid intake. She was drinking goats milk but is now refusing, she's refusing water too. I've tried boiling some chicken and giving her the cooled down broth, no joy.

The three pups are gaining weight, so her milk is obviously still there, but one pup especially is getting very frustrated at the breast. He is the slightly bigger, stronger of the three, but weight wise there's not much difference with the others. I've been very vigilant at feeding times, trying to rotate them all to make sure they all get enough and are roughly the same weights as this little boy seems to drain two breasts them push the other two pups off theirs, one by one, to drain those breasts too - so all feeding is supervised to try and avoid this happening (which is quite a task - he's very strong and relentless!). I've been keeping note of times at which they feed and it's roughly 12 seperate times in a 24 hour period, for 5/10 minutes each time.

My questions are - is there any ideas or tips that anyone can give me on how to try to up her fluid intake? Are there any drinks that are suitable and that will tempt her that I may not have thought/know of?

If she is still eating well, how concerned should I be about the fluid intake?

I know that a mothers milk is made on a supply and demand basis, and the fact that they are feeding every two hours, this should keep her milk supply up, but I can definitely see that some of her breasts are emptying quite quickly after the pups start feeding. I know that all babies, as they grow, become more efficient feeders and can empty a breast in minutes, where as initially it can take half an hour, and actually, two of the pups seem satisfied enough after their feed and will sleep soundly for 2 hours. The other pup never seems satisfied. He'll hang on her for as long as she is in the box. Eventually she'll climb out and thats the only time he'll come off! Oddly, he only weighs an ounce more than the rest.

Whilst they are still feeding as often it's doubtful she'll lose her milk supply, but in a dog, could it diminish through lack of fluid?

Thank you in advance for any thoughts on this. I would also just like to say that even though I have my mentors, this forum gave me invaluable information throughout my bitches pregnancy. I spent hours every night reading through past posts, pages upon pages. Not that you will have been aware, but you have all been very helpful to me on my journey! :)

I usually soak the dry food so that they take on more water.

Firstly, I wouldnt worry to much about her milk supply. Bitches can and will drain every last drop of themselves before they would reduce the am0unts to the pups.
Glucose water ...a pint of boiled, cooled water with a teaspoon of glucose powder can be kept for syringed into the corner of her mouth in emergencies.

Secondly..the reluctant feeder: Do you know the point at which the mother 'lets down' the milk? Much of the pummeling and sucking is nothing but encouraging the milk to flow and then the little mouths can barely swallow if its coming thick and fast.
Many breeders waste so much time holding weaker puppies on the nipple when very little milk is flowing rather than waiting until the lusty siblings have done the work and the gush starts..that is when the smaller pups need to be well latched on.

Good luck.

Hiya

Thanks for your responses. I probably didn't make myself clear - when I said that one pup was frustrated at the breast, I meant in a greedy way - he's not reluctant by any means. The other two will latch on, suck quite happily, have there fill (if greedy boy doesn't shove them off!) and come off the breast of their own accord then fall asleep against Mum. The 'frustrated' boy rushes to the breast, pummels and sucks and pulls like mad in a frantic manner, then within minutes he is looking for another breast, so goes for the one underneath. Then within minutes of that he's had enough there and pushes the pup next to him off the breast thats it's quite happily feeding from. But he's manic, and so forceful. So I have to supervise otherwise the other two would hardly get any, I have to keep moving him back to the breast he started on or the one below.

Ah - so maybe he's not on there long enough for the 'let down' to occur?? Hence the frustration! He is not the weakest or smallest, he's the biggest and strongest, so maybe i've mistaken what I thought was greed and super effiency on the breast, but really it's more down to impatience - he's not staying on long enough for the let down?

You are using the broth and goats milk that I use to increase the fluid intake so can't think of anything else, provided the dam isn't looking dehydrated I wouldn't worry. Could she have found water outside in a puddle or such that you are unaware of and keeping her fluids up that way?

Does seem like your pup is being impatient, have you checked the milk flow when he has come off to make sure that teat is empty, will he continue sucking when you put him back? If he is settled for the 2 hours between feeds then he must be getting enough or he would be hungry and restless. If the pups are getting a steady supply of milk there should be a thin line around their lips as they suck and no gulping.

You will be weaning soon so "greedy guts" will be able to try something more substancial

Yes the greedy ones are 'stamping their feet' in frustration, they want it all and they want it NOW!
During the 'let down' phase even the greedy ones can only gulp but if the flow slackens they quickly look for the next gushing tap.. :-)

And of course the creamiest (so most satisfying) milk always comes last, so by not waiting for that he's not properly filling himself up.

Hi Rhodach - I think, from reading your past posts (and your name) that we may have the same breed, roughly :)

So one of my mentors just told me to mix evaporated milk with water as it usually works like a charm, and it did!!! Bingo! So chuffed. A whole bowful gone in a flash!

Still not sure how to manage greedy boy. There are two boys and one girl in the litter. Interestingly, the other little man feeds for a fraction of the time his brother and sister does, but still weighs the same (the girl weighs the least by a small amount) and very content, sleeps well between feeds. The girl feeds for what I would expect to be a 'normal' amount of time, and then greedy boy would be on there forever more! They weigh 1.10lbs, 1.10lbs and 1.9lbs - they started off at 7.4oz, 6.4oz and 5.1oz, so there weight gain is fab!

And to answer an earlier post, yes, I do soak the dried food too :)

Ah - Yes, I know about the 'fore milk' and 'hind milk' as it were, from humans. Thirst quenching first, satisfying fatty milk last.

Gosh, I worked as breastfeeding support for ladies, so the same facts apply, we're all mammals. But this little guy has thrown me as he made it seem like the breast was drained! And with the mother not being able to talk to me and explain, it's a tad trickier!! :)