Feeding The Puppies Under The Mother And During Subsequent Growth Periods

2023 Author: Molly Page | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-07-31 03:34

The development of puppies, from birth to the end of the suckling period, and especially in the first two weeks, depends mainly on the proper nutrition of the lactating bitches. In the first two weeks of newborn puppies, the mother's milk is the only food.

In the first week of life, puppies suckle their mother at least 12 times a day, in the second - 8 times, by the fourth week - 6 times and before weaning - 4-5 times. With a normal litter of 3-6 puppies and with good milkiness of the bitch, feeding of the puppies begins at 2 weeks of age, with large litters (10-12 puppies) or if the bitch has little milk, feeding the puppies should be started at one week of age.

A sign of satiety in puppies is their restful sleep, while hungry puppies worry, crawl and whine. Puppies that are lagging behind in growth should be placed on the rear teats, as the milkiest ones.

Feeding puppies should be started with special milk substitutes. If this is not the case, then the best milk for small puppies is goat or sheep, since the composition of the milk of these animals is close to that of a dog's milk.

If you only have cow's milk at hand, then in order for it to be closer in composition to the bitch's milk, add 1 raw chicken egg per 0.5-1 l.

First, milk (mixture) is fed from a regular bottle, on which a nipple is put on, later, when the puppies begin to see, they are taught to drink (lap). To do this, milk is poured into a shallow saucer, and the puppy carefully pokes his muzzle into it. After one or two times, the puppy learns to drink milk himself. Since that time, a small amount of white bread is added to the milk, liquid milk porridge made from semolina or oatmeal is added, adding one fresh chicken egg per 5-6 puppies.

The amount of milk (mixture) is normalized, and in the first week a little less faceted glass is required per puppy, in the second - a glass, in the third and fourth weeks - 2-3 glasses per day.

From 2 weeks of age, it is useful to feed puppies with raw fresh meat, which is given in the form of minced meat or finely chopped. In the first days, they give 15-20 g of meat. Gradually, the norm is increased so that at 3 weeks of age the puppy ate 40-50 g of meat, at 4 weeks of age - about 100 g per day. Meat feeding is given 3-4 times a day in equal portions after the puppies suck their mother.

From 3 weeks, puppies can be given a combined feeding: meat, milk, cereals and other food in a semi-liquid form. At the same time, rice broth and liquid semolina porridge are prepared in milk. Porridge and decoctions at the beginning give 30-50 g, gradually increasing this rate to 200-250 g per day. They are fed in 3-4 doses.

Starting at 3 weeks of age, puppies should be given drinking water several times a day, even if they are receiving milk. The most convenient non-allergenic crockery is earthenware. The water needs to be changed several times a day, and once a day the drinking bowl should be washed, at the bottom of which mucus settles.

From 3.5 weeks, meat broth is introduced into the diet of puppies, and then meat soup is prepared on it, but without meat, which is fed 3-4 times a day.

To prevent the appearance of rickets in puppies, they are given calcined cottage cheese. The method for preparing calcined curd is as follows; for 1 liter of milk heated to a boil, quickly add 3 tbsp. tablespoons of 10% calcium chloride and mix thoroughly. After coagulation of milk, the curd is separated from the whey, it is thrown on a sieve and, after cooling, is given to puppies up to 1 month old. not older than 20 g, from 1 to 3 months - up to 50 g per day. For better palatability, cottage cheese is diluted with the same whey to a mushy consistency and 1 tbsp. a spoonful of sugar. The remaining serum is given to the bitch.

The puppies are fed vegetables in the form of puree. The method of its preparation is as follows: carrots, beets, rutabagas, turnips, pumpkin and other vegetables are cut into small cubes and simmered over low heat in a small amount of water until soft. When the vegetables are ready, add 2-3 tablespoons of cream or sour cream, stew for another 15 minutes and then rub to a mushy consistency. The amount of vegetable puree given depends on the age of the puppies and is 50-150 g per day.

It is better to give eggs to puppies in the form of an omelet (for 2 eggs of 1 cup of milk) 1 time in 2 days.

Puppies can be fed minced fish twice a week. Moreover, it is prepared as follows: sea fish is boiled and passed through a meat grinder together with the bones, the resulting minced meat is diluted with broth to a mushy state and fed in an amount of 30-50 g per puppy during the day.

A month after giving birth, the bitch begins to gradually admit to the mother 3-4 times a day, and in intervals of 4-5 times they give a subcortex consisting of whole cow's milk with a small amount of crumbled white bread, oat or rice soup and meat (boiled and raw) passed through a meat grinder. By the time of weaning of puppies from their mothers, the number of feedings is increased to 6 times a day.

Weaning of puppies from bitches is done in 6-7 weeks. They do this for 5 days, gradually reducing their stay under the mother. By this age, puppies should be accustomed to normal dog food that they eat on their own. Transferring puppies to regular food without breast milk requires great care to avoid digestive upset.

The control of the correct feeding of puppies at this time is the indicator of the average daily weight gain: small breeds - by 15-20 g, medium breeds - by 50 g and large breeds - by 150-175 g. nutrients.