Why is my dog bringing me her puppies?
Instead, you are greeted with a joyful litter of the cutest puppies on earth. … Whether you are the guardian of her new possessions or she simply wants a part-time puppy-sitter, one thing is for sure: her litter of puppies is safe and sound with you.
Weaning:
At 3 to 4 weeks of age, a dish of water and dish of gruel should be introduced to the pups. Feed a high quality dry puppy food, softened with warm goat milk or water to make a gruel. This can be fed in a low heavy dish 4 times daily. “Flying saucer” dishes, pie plates, ashtrays or rabbit dishes work well for this. Gradually decrease the amount of time the pups spend with their mother at this point. This will make the transition from nursing to weaning smoother and will also lessen the puppies’ demands on their mother. Beginning at 2 weeks of age, they should be wormed with NemexR for the first time, then weekly until 2 negative fecal samples results are obtained, unless the bitch was on the PanacurR protocol during pregnancy. By 5 to 6 weeks of age, they should be weaned and eating only puppy food. After weaning, temporarily decrease the bitch’s food and water to aid in drying her up.
From this point on, the pups will become more fun and a lot more work. It can become difficult to keep the pups confined and they can be messy and destructive. An exercise pen or playpen can be helpful.
The first 3 weeks with the puppies are relatively neat and clean. Mom will lick them frequently and ingest all of their urine and feces. However, upon starting on solid food, the mom will give up this quest and you will now have to deal with excrement. There are many ways to keep the pups clean. My favorite is to place a 2’’ deep plastic tray in the enclosure filled with pine shavings or shredded or pelleted newspaper. This, with some practice, will give the pups a place to eliminate thereby keeping their bedding clean.
In addition to providing bedding to allow for good footing, the shavings tray, and food and water dishes, the pups should have a bed to sleep in and acceptable chew toys. Stuffed Kongs, soft toys, and rawhides should be changed regularly to provide environmental variety and developmental stimulation.
By this time, they should have increased human social contact. At 8 weeks, your pups should be examined, vaccinated, checked for worms, and wormed. Up to 95% of pups may have worms by this age, unless the bitch was on the prenatal PanacurR protocol. Boosters should be administered every 3 to 4 weeks until 16 weeks of age.
By 6 weeks of age, they can go outdoors with supervision for brief periods, if the weather is acceptable.
In this section:
You did your research and found the puppy that’s right for you. They are healthy and adorable, and you want to bring them home as soon as you possibly can.
However, the time your puppy spends with their mother and siblings is critical for development, and so its important to make sure they spend this growth period with their litter.