Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, my name is Jessica & about a month ago, we rescued a pregnant dog, she was scratched up & starving. We took her in, fed her as much as she would eat & (fast forward) now have 10 puppies... They're a little over 3 weeks old, she still cleans up after them but it's a struggle to get her to nurse her pups. We're feeding the mom puppy food (diamond brand) & satin balls to help her build up from having been malnourished before we found her.

Up until a few days ago, she was with the puppies almost constantly. Now she won't go into the box with the puppies except to clean up after them.
The box is 4'x4' with a space for paper for the puppies to go potty. We tried bringing her to the box, but she won't stay, so now we bring the pups to her to nurse. We started them on softened kibble with some puppy formula mixed in about 2 days ago & they eat it VERY enthusiastically.

Isn't 3 weeks a tiny bit early for this? When the problem started, we put out some puppy formula (Just Born) and they didn't seem super interested. Yesterday we started on the softened kibble.

Some background: we think the mom is a blue tick coonhound (DEFINITELY a hound: she bays! ) & is a fairly large dog. When we brought her in to the vet, she weighed 72 pounds (very skinny: could see her ribs) and was 5 days away from giving birth.

I'm wondering if she's weaning this soon because of her previous history (she was starving when she first came to us) or is this normal behavior? We took in a cat in March & she spent 5 solid weeks with her kittens, but this is my first experience with a canine litter. The puppies seem healthy, tho probably need worming since we're having some flea issues. They range from around 3 pounds to 4-1/2 pounds..

BTW, I did not set out to bring more puppies into the world, the mom dog came to us this way... same with the momma cat (who gave birth in my car)...

Sorry if this post seems disjointed, I'm a bit tired from all this!!

Cheers,
Jessica

If the pups are eating the soaked kibble, then they are ready to be weaned. Mom dog may be actually suppliment feeding them still when you are not around, but she also must think it's time to wean them. The reasons for that are varied and I'd say it's a tiny bit early, but at least she hasn't completely abandoned them. Do the best you can to get mom healthy and up to weight. Being malnourished herself, she is going to have a harder time producing enough milk for 10 puppies anyway. If you have th resources, have the mom and pups checked by a vet soon. The vet will be able to better assess the situation.
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