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puppy teeth? Does anyone know if it's possible that a puppy won't nurse much b/c of teeth coming in? Our little girl (4 weeks old) has lost interest in nursing. She has a few teeth that are about to erupt. I realize at this age, it's normal to not nurse as much, but she's not really replacing it with food either. We have been offering the typical gruel, which she will lick for about 3 seconds, and then she's done. When mom is nursing the little boy, the little girl kind of sniffs around her mom, she might nurse for 10 seconds, then just walks away or tries to cuddle with her. This morning she weighed 28.4 oz, and just now she weighed 27.8 oz. Her brother has been smaller than her, and has caught up, b/c he gets all the milk. Thanks |
How is she this morning? Teething should not effect them wanting to eat. How are her stools? Have you tried leaving a bowl of ground up kibble in her pen? If she is still not wanting to eat I would get her to the vets. She could possible have coccidia. Also if she is getting hypoglycemic she would not what to eat. You could give her a little nutri-cal or karo syrup and water. Please keep us posted. |
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Man, is there a trick to weighing them? - they are such wiggle worms! A few minutes ago, she weighed a bit more than last night, but I can't be precise, b/c she wouldn't stop moving. The least was 28.5 oz., so at least she gained a bit since last night. I don't know if you remember our poopy problems of not going without the warm water enemas, but now that they go on their own, we don't do that anymore. So, they go once/day - usually. Sometimes they miss a day. I don't think that's normal at all, but it's not diarrhea, just typical puppy poop, although they both strain a bit. My friend/vet doesn't seem concerned. Is that just the body learning how to do it on its own? My friend also suggested trying canned puppy food instead of the dry. She seemed surprised that they had tried the puppy food just a few days ago. When we had rotty puppies, they had teeth at 3 weeks, and were introduced at that age. I read that 4-ish weeks a good times for small breeds. Is that right? Thanks for your help! |
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Your pups should be pooping at least two or three times a day. I have 6 week old pups now that have been eating the ground up dry food since they were 4 weeks old. It could be that your pups are pooping more than you think and momma might still be eating it. I highly recommend just grinding up the dry puppy food until it is real fine and leaving it in the pen with the pups and a bowl of water. I like to use the small double sided bowls they sell at Wal-mart in the pet department. Put the food in both sides and use a separate one for the water. |
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I know it's hard to believe, but believe me when I tell you that Cassie does not get in with them unless we put her in there and pet her to let the nurse. When they try to play and cuddle with her she looks the other way and looks like she would rather be any place else than there. She is not licking them at all. I have come to realize, that she has had a hard time adjusting to mama role, when she has been in the baby role for so long. She is very old, and nature just doesn't plan it this way. She even tries to leave with me when I go out, and will jump in my van. And, as normal as that may be for 4-week old pups, she has been doing this since the day they were born. :confused: Do you moisten the food it at all? We left some in there (crushed and moistened with water) for a few hours yesterday evening. They had no interest, so I put Cassie in there hoping that they would catch on with what they were supposed to do, and Cassie sniffed it, and looked at me like, "What the heck is this?" LOL. It's the same food she eats, but it was really squishy, so she was not pleased. LOL How do you get them to not spill the water when it's just left in the pen? I'll go check out the double-sided bowl today, b/c I am going to Wal-Mart to get some canned food. Thank you! |
I just give my pups the ground dry food during the weaning process but my mommas always like to nurse their babies until they are 8 weeks or older. I feel that it is important that you continue to make sure the pups nurse from their momma at least 4 times a day. How is her milk supply? You can take a little canned Pedigree Lamb and Rice puppy food and mix it with the ground up puppy food so it is just moist and crumbly. Some people might suggest you offer them some puppy formula also. It is just best when the weaning process is slow. It is less stressful on the pups that way. The bowls I use are not very deep so it is easy for the pups to just walk up to them and eat and drink. When the pups get older then the fun begins because some of them learn how to flip the bowls over but that does not usually happen until the pups are quite a bit older. |
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I absolutely agree about the slow weaning process. Don't even ask me how long I nurse my kids; so I totally agree about doing it slowly.:p Her milk supply is good right now - definitely slowing down though, which I know is normal. I plan on getting the canned food, so I'll mix it in with the ground food, and since they don't have teeth yet, I'll add in a little formula for the next few days. You should have seen our kitchen floor when our rotty puppies were learning to eat. It was a mess, they were covered in it, we were covered in it! :animal36 Good memories - and oh, so different than these little ones! Thanks again for your help! |
I also think mom may not have enough milk or the other pup drink it all. I had a pup who wouldn't eat and she was getting weaker and weaker. We had to take her apart and let her feed on mom first before mom took care of the others. I think the other pups were drinking all the milk too fast for her to get some. It worked ok to get her to drink first and we had her on moist food as soon as she accepted it. |
I learn sooo much just reading all the threads. I know I will be in the same spot in a couple of weeks so I always try to "study" ahead so I can be prepared! Thanks for all the wonderful info! :) |
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We have tried letting her get one first, and would you believe, she only gets on when the boy is on? He has gotten so big, that he just takes over everything, so we thought she would like some time to herself, but she won't get on alone. How long does it usually take for them to accept the moist food? Thanks! |
Update - The little boy lost a little bit yesterday, and now they are both up .5 oz since yesterday. Girl: 1 lb 13.2 oz Boy: 1 lb 13.5 oz It's funny to worry about such big pups losing weight, but I still worry, b/c I know it's not normal.:rolleyes: They're not even on the puppy growth chart! My son says the boy has rolls on his rolls!:laugh: This is a full-time job! The little girl will only nurse when the boy is on, so she won't take the advantage of getting on by herself. But, she is definitely more interested now. We just have to physically position her to nurse. Her teeth came in, so maybe she broke the rules there too!:confused: She only has 5 working nipples - is that normal? Two others are inverted, and although had milk initially, it was too hard for the pups to get it, so they dried up. I had to express a bit every time they nursed, so she wouldn't get mastitis. I have had that twice, and it's the sickest I've ever been! I'm sure Cassie's milk supply is decreasing, which is to be expected, so these little guys better pick up an interest in food quickly! The boy will lick the bowl a bit, then walk away. The girl will sniff it, and walk away. They will both lick it from our fingers. I asked this in someone else's reply, but in case someone didn't see that: How long does it usually take them to accept the food? |
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My situations seem to be where to learn everything what doesn't usually happen! :tounge6: :snow: - Just coolin' off on a hot Texas day! |
It sounds like they are doing fine. Since there are only two pups the 5 nipples is plenty. Most females have more working teats that that but 5 will do. Like I explained before I just put down the finely ground food at 4 weeks. It takes about a week before they are eating it pretty good. By 6 weeks they are doing even better. As long as mom has plenty of milk and is nursing them I would not worry to much about them eating the solid food. It is a slow process. Are the pups walking very well now? |
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Oh my gosh! They're running (mixed in with lots of tumbling over)! It's so funny! The little girl will play with absolutely anything. They have toys in there that they love, but she also loves to take one of the pee pads in her mouth and drag it around the pen - ewwwww!!!! They are doing so well with potty training. Since they were 3 weeks old, every time they would get up from a nap, we would take them from their box and put them on their pee pads (which are on the other side of the pen), kind of like crate training. And, they would always 'go'. The little boy will sometimes go in their play area, but usually goes to the pads to potty. The girl will stop playing to go potty on the pads. What smart babies! Thanks for your help. |
Awww, I bet they are adorable. I loving just sitting and watching pups play. Have you given them and little stuffed toys yet? I have used the Pedigree canned food for over 12 years and it is the only canned food I will ever use. I don't like all the Pedigree canned foods but just the Lamb and Rice puppy and the chopped chicken or the Healthy Digestion. I know there are probably some better brands out there but for what is available here at Wal-mart the Pedigree is all that I buy. I don't give any canned foods with beef in them, my dogs are not use to beef and I don't like to do anything that will upset their digestion. I do not give a lot of canned food. I feel their main diet should be a quality dry food. I just add enough canned Pedigree to add a little flavor. Right now all my dogs are on Canidae. Sometimes I buy the dry Chicken Soup Puppy food. |
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Right now toilet paper rolls are a favorite. I pull them out, before the paper is used for obvious reasons. :cool: Okay, I was just wondering about the food, b/c when Cassie was pregnant and wouldn't eat much, I resorted to canned food, so she would eat something. Natural Life has no by-products, fillers, etc. I'm liking the price of Pedigree though - .63/can compared to $1.50/can! I did get Pedigree though per your advice. ;) And, what's up with dog food with corn as the first ingredient? :confused: Even as a vegetarian, I won't feed my dogs anything that doesn't have chicken or lamb as the first ingredient. But that's a whole other topic!:animal36 |
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It's been a while and I could be wrong but I think they start eating moist food around week 6 or 7. That's why you normally don't send them away before 8 weeks. The pup I had was so weak I think I started her at 4 weeks. One day I saw she couldn't hold her head. She was going down really fast. We got her to feed on mom first before she went to feed the others but I also got some food on my finger and put it in her mouth. She'd spit a lot but the little she got in helped I'm sure. I remember having her with me most of the time because the other pups would throw her around, poor thing. The vet could not see anything wrong with her and I never found out why she was so weak but we saved her :) She got to be a healthy dog but it was iffy for a while. |
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Absolutely - out in the wild, they would eat whatever they could find. I just tend to be such a health nut, that I 'try' to pass it on to my dogs - I don't think they agree with me though. Although, the adults do love fresh veggies. They know when it's time to feed the guinea pig and cockatiel, and they beg for her veggies. :) |
My pups are 7 weeks old now and they've been eating more and nursing less. I still put Zoe in the pen with them at night and she does let them nurse here and there. I'm surprised how patient she is with them. If too get playing too rough she gets involved and distracts the one that's playing rough. She's such a good mommy! But I just wanted to jump in and say that mine did not go thru any periods of time when they would not nurse even when they were teething. As for toys.... isn't it amazing that just like kids, it's the things that cost nothing that they enjoying playing with the most? Paper, toilet paper rolls, shoe laces on your shoes are their favorites right now! |
When my husband's socks get old and have a hole in them I will just tie them in a knot and let the puppies have it to play with. Of course the only problem with that is in the morning when he is putting his socks on he has to be real careful not to lay them down or a dog will grab them and take off.:) |
My problem was when I would let them out of the x-pen to play, they thought that shoes were the best toy to play with. I went through 2 pair in 2 days. Needless to say, I learned my lesson. |
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My mom went to Peru one time and brought all the kids teddy bears made from rabbit fur (personally yuk! for me!). The dogs loved, loved, loved them! I mean, they really loved them! :eek: EWWW! Luckily the kids didn't care much for them. :cool: |
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