Hi all,

Have a litter now of 10 now 18 days old and started solids today. All doing great except one.

This little dog pup was tiny when born and very quiet.Pressed on with him,he would latch on and suckle well and all going ok, pup gaining.

This last few days as the rest of the litter are obviously getting rougher at feeding times he just cannot get a look in so I have been taking him out of box before she feeds them ,roughly every 3 hours, and making sure he get a good feed on his own before the rest. This has been done around the clock. He also has been having nutri drops but I am not sure if I should keep giving them long term...is it safe?

My concern is that while the other pups are clearly ready for solids this little guy just doesn't seem to have the strength for it. If anyone has any experience in rearing a behind pup I would be very grateful as so don't want to give up on him yet....he is about the size of a week old pup for the breed not 3 weeks as he should be so i'm assuming he wont be ready for weaning yet or has anyone tried anything such as scrambled egg etc....he wont even attempt the soaked mashed puppy food the others are wolfing down.

Any experiences that may help the little fella would be great...weaning tips,how long for nutri drops. Sometimes he looks so weak I feel that i'm doing the wrong thing in trying but I have to for now

Thankyou

Ali

nutridrops will do no harm,they will keep his energy level up to allow him to suckle, I would allow him one to one time with Mum, the others may not be so eager for milk now they are getting solids.

I use scrambled egg with cheese [stops it going too solid]for my pups first weaning and they love it, your little chap may be better with something light like this than the heavier stodgy puppy kibble.

Hope he picks up for you

I have had the same problem and persevered with him.  I let him have as much time and as long as possible on mum but tried him with scrambled egg with some natural yoghurt.  I also gave him goats milk.  I, like you, persevered, and he is now six months old.  They catch up eventually, so don't lose heart.  My pup has an undershot jaw, but otherwise is fine and is a little miracle so it can be done despite being told it was useless.  Good luck with the little chap.

Thankyou both for your advice and experiences,

Scrambled egg sounds a good idea although I don't think hes ready yet...his eyes aren't open but when they do i'll try that and i'll keep the nutri drops going as well.

So heartening to hear others have had a happy ending and we will plod on and do all we can for him. It's heartbreaking to see him struggle but to hear your success stories gives me hope

Thanks again

> his eyes aren't open

I have never had a litter on anything but mum's milk with eyes not open.  My breed feeds from mum for as long as they can!  Are they standing?  Because mine don't.  Not this early.

Yes,Jean,they are walking around the box..bit drunk looking admittably..even the little guy is walking around just nowhere near as strong as the others and gets knocked about a bit bless him.

They are a largish gundog breed (think Andrex!)

Just out of interest, have you considered offering this puppy some fresh raw mince?

I know it is not everyones ideal food but it is the most natural offering a mother dog would make when she starts weaning her puppies.

No matter how backwards your puppy is at the moment, it is however 3 weeks of age, and I would try  anything to get my puppy going (without upsetting this delicate tummy and this will be fine).
Try offering a little fresh raw mince, maybe even liquidise it so that the pup just licks at it, maybe even put a little on your finger and put some on her tongue.
I offer 2 to 2.5 week old puppies the taste and smell of raw meat, only such a small amount is required and they are either interested at this early age or not, but by 3 weeks of age they certainly know how much they like it.
No matter what the vets might tell you this is "natural" food and with mums milk is the best way to get a puppy going.

However, it is possible that this puppy for some reason was not intended to survive, and this could be natures way of selecting the strongest !

Thankyou Wee man,

I have thought about raw mince and i'm not anti raw feeding at all. I did dabble in it a few years ago but with ten large breed working gundogs I found it hard to keep up but maybe I was complicating it for myself. I thought I read somewhere that you should freeze raw mince first as it harbours a parasite that is killed by freezing.....is this true or am I googling too much and scaring myself?!!

I understand he may leave us yet although i'm hoping if I can get him onto solids and build his strength we will get through the days and win,

Thanks for taking the time to reply

Ali

You are correct in freezing raw minced beef in particular. For my last couple of litters I weaned on Natural Instinct weaning paste (http://www.naturalinstinct.com/products/Weaning-food.html) and was very happy with it.

I thought I read somewhere that you should freeze raw mince first as it harbours a parasite that is killed by freezing.....is this true or am I googling too much and scaring myself?!!

My dogs and cats are raw fed but long before they all were I weaned all puppies and all kittens onto raw mince -it's by far the easiest way I have found to wean as it is so extremely easy to do and so palatable and so soft. You don't want to go and buy mince in a supermarket, go to your nearest pet shop and buy a bag of freeflow mince (various types available like chicken, lamb, beef, tripe etc). It will be frozen already. Just keep it in the freezer and pour out the amount you need for each meal as and when. You can then either leave it out to thaw enough or pop it in the microwave for about ten seconds. If needs be mash it a bit with a fork for very young pups. Very easy. :)

Hi Bucksmum,
Dont be too scared about the "parasite" it is worms! I was told 45 years ago that my dog will get Tapeworm if fed raw lamb!! This has never stopped me feeding raw and I have never had any problems either!
I have always wormed on a regular basis  and no doubt you do too.
Most frozen pet minces will come from a human supply source and is perfectly safe, our farmed livestock are wormed too, but If you are worried about the parasite, and you buy frozen pet mince as suggested there will be very little to worry about!  :)

>Dont be too scared about the "parasite" it is worms!

No it isn't, it's a protozoa called Neospora.

Oh dear , looks like I'm wrong again!!

Thanks all for the ideas.....hope I haven't opened a can of worms! Think raw mince will be much easier for him but a bit scared of this parasite...maybe freezing would be the best compromise. Will look up the weaning paste as well.

This really is a first for me. Have only reared 9 litters but never had a pup not wolf down solids at 3 weeks so he is a bit of a challenge but sleeping upside down,legs in the air under the lamp tonight with a lovely round belly so am quite hopeful :-)

I have had a litter recently of 15 puppies. sadly 2 didn't make it despite my usual efforts (I never give up). But I also had 1 little boy who was tiny beyond anything I have ever seen before. I fed him every hr for 4 weeks, then from there he came to bed with me til 6 weeks. everyone including my vet told me I was probably fighting a losing battle. His eyes didn't open until 4 weeks!!!! his teeth didn't make an appearance until 6 weeks and they were tiny! At 4 weeks he looked like a newborn and weighed 500g! We are talking large breed here. Anyway to cut a very long and tiring 12 weeks short all his siblings have left except the girl I was keeping, he too is going nowhere now either but he is amazing......very small as his sister is 12kg and he is 6kg.....but no issues at all other than lots of catching up to do.....if he ever does....it doesn't matter to me he is staying here as a beloved pet so as long as he is healthy he was worth every sleepless night and there was too many believe me lol.

So keep going with your little one and I wish the best of luck for a happy outcome x

Hi Mandyc,

It was really lovely to read your success story...thank you so much for taking the time to reply.

Unfortunately I lost my little man on Monday. His breathing got laboured and he was crying but not a normal puppy cry.....it was like nothing I have heard before. I slept with him in my duvet that night and he had given up taking the bottle....the decision was made in the morning.

It was so very hard to let him go,broke my heart,the first puppy I have ever lost. I will always wonder if I did the right thing but I honestly think he was dying...everything was such an effort for him,even holding his head up.

Like yourself I had made the decision I would not part with him when he was 8 weeks,one because I was very attached to him but mainly in case he had any future health problems crop up.....

Thanks again x

Ah so sorry to read your sad news. No doubt you done the right thing for him, so sorry your outcome wasn't a happy one but good for you for trying for him x