I have had many dogs over the years, and 3 come to mind.
I fostered one at birth (she was found in the rubbish) and I bottle fed her from the start and had her right up until she was old enough to go to her forever home at 12 weeks, and I have actually had two of my previous dogs given to me at the age of exactly one month old too - one was a yorkie and the other was a rater (also a small breed), both were males (long story, different subjects, I will not take over your post with this).
But, with this, I just wanted to say that looking after such a tiny/young puppy is in no way or form ideal, and it shouldent be something an owner has to worry about, but it´s also not rocket science and it´s doable
You need lots of patience, lots of dedication and common sense (it´s alot like looking after a baby - I know this, I have 3 kids lol).As I said, it´s not ideal, but it doesnt always mean that something will go awfully wrong either.
This is how I cared for my
very young pups:
I used to keep honey (in your case Nutrical) on hand and twice a day, I´d put a little dab on my finger and just wipe it on the roof of their mouth to stop their sugar levels from plummetting.I´d do this every morning and then again right before bedtime.
I´d soak their kibble in chicken broth (about half an hour before feeding) and made sure it was "fluffy", then I found that hand feeding was the best way to go.I´d sit them on my lap with a small amount of kibble, and then hand them a few peices at a time until I felt that they´d eaten a good amount of food (a tablespoon full of kibble every 2 hours during the day is more than enough for a toy breed at that age).You can also mix the soft kibble with a
small amount of canned food (half a teaspoon full) and that will also make it alot more appealing.
The reason I don´t like canned food on it´s own, it because it makes their stools very soft and extremely smelly, and they get used to it to the point where they end up being picky eaters.I always prefer soaked kibble for this reason and just a
tad of canned food just to enhance the smell
During the day, just make sure she eats every couple of hours (this is why I liked hand feeding) and if you see that she hasnt drank anything in a few hours, take a small seringe and just squirt a small amount in her mouth to keep her hidrated.
At night, a hot water bottle is a god send
I also had a big fluffy teddybear that I used so that my boy could snuggle up to something (remember, she would still be doing that every night at that age).
At 4 weeks old, don´t even atempt potty/crate training or hoping she´ll sleep all night, because a pup that age
should still be nursing from her mother every once in a while at that time and she´d still be sleeping in a big comfy pile with her littermates too (sad when you think about it), so she´ll pee and poop an awful lot at that age now that she´s completely on solid food.I remember thinking "wow, this dog pees like every 10 minutes", and it was normal
Once she´s about 8 weeks old, you can lower your guard a little, but right now, she shouldent be left alone for more than an hour at a time just so you can keep an eye on her behaviour at all times
I hope all goes well for you, I´m sure you´ll do a great job