Caring For Newborn Puppies And Their Mother

Caring For Newborn Puppies And Their Mother
Caring For Newborn Puppies And Their Mother

Video: Caring For Newborn Puppies And Their Mother

Video: Caring For Newborn Puppies And Their Mother
Video: Care for mother & its puppies + BONUS Clip 2024, March
Anonim

Puppies were born. They are already weighed and each tied with its own ribbon; mom fed them, and now they sleep well … What to do now? How to take care of them?

Feeding. First, you should feed and water the mother of the puppies. Bring her bowls to the newborn crate as she may not want to leave her children. Do not leave bowls at the bottom of the crate with babies, as they will crawl on them. You can hang the bowls on the side of the drawer, or offer your mom food and water at least every 2-3 hours. The mother is regularly taken outside to the toilet for a short time.

Within 2-3 days, the bitch's appetite will increase significantly compared to her usual (approximately 2-4 times). She will need high quality puppy food (do not use food designed for large breed puppies as it is reduced in protein, fat and nutrients) and water to keep her healthy and nurture the puppies. In addition, the mother should be given additional vitamins and minerals. The bitch should not look haggard or emaciated. Ideally, she should weigh the same as before pregnancy.

White newborn puppy, dog photo photo
White newborn puppy, dog photo photo

A healthy puppy is plump, energetic and active. Puppies should be fed milk every 2 hours. If they suck on milk until their tummies are round and then sleep peacefully, then they are eating enough. If they cry and move a lot, then there is not enough food. They can swallow air, making their stomachs appear large. Malnourished, they become weak, lie motionless and do not make sounds. The puppy can lose weight in the first 24 hours after birth (lose less than 10% of its weight), but then usually the weight begins to increase. The weight should double in the first 7-10 days. Before, during and after feeding, the bitch licks the puppies' tummies and anal area to stimulate urination and defecation. She will continue to do this for 2-3 weeks.

Puppies should be weighed daily for the first 2 weeks and then weekly. You can use a conventional kitchen scale for weighing. If there is no positive dynamics in the weight of the puppies, this is the first symptom of ill health.

At about 3 weeks of age, puppies will start trying to eat and drink as an adult, so a shallow water saucer should be available for them at least part of the day. At this age, you can already give a special mixture for puppies.

Preparing this mixture is simple: Soak a high-quality dry puppy food with bitch milk, available from the pet store, and then you can mix this mixture in a blender, adding warm boiled water as needed. The resulting mixture should have the consistency of porridge for children. You can start feeding your puppies by giving them this mixture 3-4 times a day. When the puppies have eaten a certain amount, you can let the bitch finish the rest and lick the puppies. Increase the amount of food weekly, reducing the volume of milk and water, and the whipping time so that the puppies can eat completely dry food by 7 weeks. Once the puppies are able to eat dry food, they can be kept inside the cage (when their mother is not there) or simply lengthen the meal time. Since puppies can already eat dry food,the bitch can be allowed to be away from her puppies for a longer period of time.

By the age of 6-7 weeks, puppies are completely transferred to dry food and regular water. Even if by this time the puppies have not been weaned, she will begin to produce less and less milk, and the puppies somehow switch to adult food. Once you switch the puppies to formula at 4 weeks of age, you should change the bitch's diet back to adult dog food, which will reduce milk production. Start by replacing 1/4 of the puppy food with adult food, continuing to increase the amount of adult food and decrease the amount of puppy food, so that by the 7th week it is completely switched to adult food.

Toilet for puppies. During and after childbirth, the bitch must be taken outside to empty the bladder and bowels. Take her on a leash and be sure to take a flashlight with you if it suddenly occurs to her to give birth to a puppy right on the street or in the stairwell.

The box with puppies should be cleaned at least once a day, while the mother feeds the puppies herself, and 2-3 times a day, when the puppies switch to solid food, the bitch stops cleaning after them. You can put a large sheet of cardboard at the bottom of the box, several layers of newspaper on top, and stretch a layer of bedspread on top. If the box is collapsible, then the cover should be pulled at the bottom, and pressed from above with the walls from the box. It is very important that the top layer of the blanket is well stretched so that it does not wrinkle and the puppies do not pick out the bottom layers. When cleaning the crate, you should monitor the amount and color of puppies' stool. It should be brown, regular, well formed, but not too hard. In case of any deviations, a veterinarian should be called.

To make cleaning easier, puppies should have a separate place to sleep, play and toilet. When the puppies begin to move actively, they will select one area in the box for their litter box. A low barrier should be used to separate this area from others. Cover the toilet area with newspaper and sawdust. Keep the toilet area clean and dry.

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