I am asking this for a friend of mine, who didn't necessarily ask me for help, but who I think will need it.
Her mom's dog got pregnant - unplanned when some of the kids came home from college for the summer with their dogs and stayed with her (and I am going to keep my mouth shut about letting intact males live with an unspayed female with no precautions) - and had four puppies a little over a week ago. She thinks the pups are Lab/Pointer mix. Apparently two days ago the mom passed due to complications. She had trouble delivering and had an emergency C-section, then developed an infection in her milk ducts. They thought she would be okay after a few vet visits but it was not the case. Now they have to hand-rear the pups who are currently 9 days old. My friend took two males home and left two females with her mom. They hadn't planned on keeping the puppies but now that the mom has passed it wouldn't surprise me if my friend's mom decides to keep at least one...I'm hoping she will ONLY keep one.
I don't have a lot of details because she lives in another state but I have seen photos of them bottle-feeding the pups and know that she has stayed up with them overnight. She is a school teacher and is back at school now but she has another person in her house who is home all day.
What can she do to give these pups a good start without their mom?
PS I know you folks have been asking about Murphy, and I appreciate that. I am not ready to talk about it, I am just trying to keep everyone safe while dealing with other challenges that have been thrown our way these last couple of months. So thank you for your concern.
VERY young pups lost their mom. Advice?
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Re: VERY young pups lost their mom. Advice?
I've hand-reared, and if I never do it again it will be too soon 
it's jolly hard work but perfectly possible. To start with they need feeding about 2 hourly (when they wake up and yell) then 3 hourly, then 4 hourly and you can actually get some sleep. They need to be kept warm but not stiflingly hot, and to have good ventilation in their room. Stroking tummies downwards with a warm damp cloth helps them to eliminate bowels and bladder.
At 2 and a half to 3 weeks, pups can be started on minced meat mush, and I stir in some plain bio yoghurt as well (this is how I wean whether pups have Mum there or not). They will eat it when they are ready, but first they will crawl through it and make an unholy mess. If they don't eat it they aren't ready, and one is always slower than the rest. This is normal. The pups dictate the pace.
Water should be in a shallow container because if they can drown, one will try.
By 4 weeks they can cope with chicken wings and meaty bones. I expect they will be weaned onto kibble though, so I won't say any more about that.
it's jolly hard work but perfectly possible. To start with they need feeding about 2 hourly (when they wake up and yell) then 3 hourly, then 4 hourly and you can actually get some sleep. They need to be kept warm but not stiflingly hot, and to have good ventilation in their room. Stroking tummies downwards with a warm damp cloth helps them to eliminate bowels and bladder.At 2 and a half to 3 weeks, pups can be started on minced meat mush, and I stir in some plain bio yoghurt as well (this is how I wean whether pups have Mum there or not). They will eat it when they are ready, but first they will crawl through it and make an unholy mess. If they don't eat it they aren't ready, and one is always slower than the rest. This is normal. The pups dictate the pace.
Water should be in a shallow container because if they can drown, one will try.
By 4 weeks they can cope with chicken wings and meaty bones. I expect they will be weaned onto kibble though, so I won't say any more about that.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
Re: VERY young pups lost their mom. Advice?
Thank you for the advice, I have passed it on.
I have chatted with her and found out that her mother was considering keeping one of the pups before, but now since the mom passed, my friend is trying to convince her mother to keep THE TWO GIRLS so they can keep each other company, and so she can cuddle on them when she visits her mother without having her own furniture destroyed. *sigh* I sent her the Double Trouble article and she said that her mother has always kept part of her litters. And that the one who just passed grew up with her littermate sister and they were "fine." I asked her for no further details, wished her luck, and washed my hands of it. I just hope she comes to her senses. If they allow their dogs to have accidental litters and make ignorant decisions like that and think their dogs will be fine, then I have nothing more to offer her but my best wishes. And hey, maybe their dogs will be fine. Seems the ignorant ones always have the dogs who are untrained but have great temperaments and those of us who bother to learn and try really hard are the ones who end up with the messed up dogs. (If you sense bitterness, it's because that last sentence was, in fact, dripping with it.)
Thanks for the help anyway.
I have chatted with her and found out that her mother was considering keeping one of the pups before, but now since the mom passed, my friend is trying to convince her mother to keep THE TWO GIRLS so they can keep each other company, and so she can cuddle on them when she visits her mother without having her own furniture destroyed. *sigh* I sent her the Double Trouble article and she said that her mother has always kept part of her litters. And that the one who just passed grew up with her littermate sister and they were "fine." I asked her for no further details, wished her luck, and washed my hands of it. I just hope she comes to her senses. If they allow their dogs to have accidental litters and make ignorant decisions like that and think their dogs will be fine, then I have nothing more to offer her but my best wishes. And hey, maybe their dogs will be fine. Seems the ignorant ones always have the dogs who are untrained but have great temperaments and those of us who bother to learn and try really hard are the ones who end up with the messed up dogs. (If you sense bitterness, it's because that last sentence was, in fact, dripping with it.)
Thanks for the help anyway.
Re: VERY young pups lost their mom. Advice?
You did your very best Noobs and you are right to walk away now because otherwise it's only misery for you and won't help the pups. People do have rose-tinted memories of what they did and didn't do or have always done untold years ago: I get this all the time 
mostly turns out the dogs got run over or 'ran away' or were 'got rid of' but the memories erase that part. You can guess how many times I have to explain that THIS is the dog they have NOW and whatever happened when they were in pigtails (and that's just the men) doesn't necessarily apply to every dog. But folks hear what they want to hear and sometimes we can only do our best and then walk away.
mostly turns out the dogs got run over or 'ran away' or were 'got rid of' but the memories erase that part. You can guess how many times I have to explain that THIS is the dog they have NOW and whatever happened when they were in pigtails (and that's just the men) doesn't necessarily apply to every dog. But folks hear what they want to hear and sometimes we can only do our best and then walk away.A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
Re: VERY young pups lost their mom. Advice?
ya, but those "messed up" dogs need special people to help themNoobs wrote:Seems the ignorant ones always have the dogs who are untrained but have great temperaments and those of us who bother to learn and try really hard are the ones who end up with the messed up dogs. (If you sense bitterness, it's because that last sentence was, in fact, dripping with it.)
Thanks for the help anyway.
oh and good hear for you.
Re: VERY young pups lost their mom. Advice?
Thank you for that, Nettle.
Jacksdad, thanks to you as well. I should amend that by saying I didn't really mean "messed up," just "special needs." And yes, they do indeed need the ones who will try hard, not the ones who put their dogs in the back yard, think they're fine, and live blissfully ignorant.
Jacksdad, thanks to you as well. I should amend that by saying I didn't really mean "messed up," just "special needs." And yes, they do indeed need the ones who will try hard, not the ones who put their dogs in the back yard, think they're fine, and live blissfully ignorant.
