New to site with lot's of questions!
 

:aimeeyork Hello everyone!

I am so excited to see that there are more Yorkie lovers such as I out there, willing and wanting to talk and help one another.

My yorkie had a liter of puppies 3 weeks ago and I am trying to figure out the next step now that the puppies have their eyes open and are almost walking! I still have them in the same box that they were born in, with a heating pad as well. I do have their bigger whelping box ready, but I don't know how soon is too soon to put them in it. The new box has 3 rooms. One for sleeping, one for play and one for potty.

My main few questions are as follows...

*How long do I need to keep them with a heating pad?

*When can I start having them drink milk/puppy formula from a bowl instead of mom feeding?

*They whine a lot in their box but are better when we hold them...is that normal?

I'd appreciate any suggestions! Thanks so much!!!

Hi,

Hope I can help.

Puppies need the extra warmth for two weeks until they can maintain their own temperatures.

I introduce puppies to puppy mash--puppy food, rice cereal, baby food meats, very thin for lapping around 3-4 weeks when mama dog is spending less time with the puppies. Let babies nurse as long as mama will let them.

I start expanding floor space when they are moving around maybe in the third week. Do they have toys to play with??

MANY thanks!
 

Thanks sooo much for your kind words of help and wisdom...I am very "ignorant", if you will, when it comes to raising puppies, much less Yorkie puppies!

They will be 4 weeks this Tuesday, so is it now a safe time to remove the heating pad from under their box?

Mama is feeding VERY RARELY, but definitely 1-2 times daily. Can I feed them puppy mash and still have them feed from mom or is it either or? And do I start them with puppy formula from the pet store or go straight to puppy mash?

I guess they are moving around enough to place them in the bigger area now, but I worry that they will have a hard time understanding that one room is potty, one play and one sleep. What I think is cool is that they whine to get out of their box and as soon as they are out, they pee on the newspaper that I put down for them. I haven't introduced toys yet, which kind are the best at this age?:)

[QUOTE=sugarkookies;2550557]Thanks sooo much for your kind words of help and wisdom...
They will be 4 weeks this Tuesday, so is it now a safe time to remove the heating pad from under their box? when heating the whelping box make shure the source of heat is only 50% of the box .. if the puppies over heat it can kill them .. when I move my puppie from the primary area ..I place them in a movable whelping box that keeps them secure from Germs that come in on our clothing and shoes .. Parvo is a huge thing to watch out for .. At four weeks I like to offer the Puppies a mash with Probiotics in it .. are you giving your Mamma Dog Puppie food Plus suplimenting her .. We feed our Mamma dog from conception till the puppies are weened a mamma food plus the Probiotics and Calcium pills .. there is soo much to raising puppies ..Dont let ppl touch your puppies Think about how when you go to the Dr. you come home sick .. over protect you puppies at the vets I have a Spay bottle at my door with 50% watter and 50% bleach to protect my fur kids from nastys I can pick up walking .. I am only telling you a few things that pop up .. theres so much in raising yorkies .. Look up liver shunts .. the blood tests are not that expensive .. I dont let my fur babies out side untill two Five way shots .. Watch out for Shots with Lepto .. Yorkies dont do will with Lepto IMHO.. Hand sanitizer it also important .. I hope this has been helpful ..


at 4 weeks to poops about to hit the fan LMAO they wont start pottie training for a while .. there is some good info on starting the pottie training in here .. but newspaper is great .. just non colored paper B/w ..