Puppy care

Newborn puppies are vulnerable and highly dependent on their mother for the first few weeks after birth. They are poor at regulating normal bodily functions and cannot see or hear. Most mothers (even first-time mums) have good instincts that help them care for their puppies. But, if your dog is expecting puppies, make sure you know what puppies need and when to intervene in case something goes wrong.

Puppies: suckling ©Glen Cousquer

It is important to be well prepared before whelping (giving birth) as this will make the first few weeks much easier. The mother will require a clean space where she can whelp in peace and also spend at least the first few weeks with her puppies. This must be large enough for her to lie comfortably, but not so large that it is difficult for her to keep the puppies together. The pen should have sides that are high enough to prevent puppies from escaping, but low enough that mum can jump over to escape. The whelping area should be easy to clean so that you can maintain optimal hygiene to prevent disease. Bitches often prefer to whelp somewhere dark and quiet, so a blanket over the whelping area may help to reduce any anxiety.

Puppies are unable to regulate their own body temperature properly. They rely on contact with their mother and other puppies to keep warm, and the room where they are kept needs to be warm so that they won’t get too cold if they are separated from mum temporarily. Ideally the temperature needs to be around 85.1-89.6°F for the first few days, and then it can be gradually reduced. A heat-lamp over the whelping area can help with this.

As soon as a puppy emerges from the birth canal, the mother should turn and attend to it: licking and chewing the birth membranes from around its face and giving it a thorough clean. This will stimulate it to start responding and move closer to the mother to nurse. If the mother doesn’t turn to attend to the puppy, particularly if she is exhausted from a long labor, some intervention may help. If you need to assist during delivery make sure your hands are very clean. Gently pull the birth membranes away from the puppy’s nose and tear the umbilical cord about an inch from the puppy’s body (tearing the cord leaves a ragged edge which doesn’t bleed as much as a cut edge). Gently rub the puppy’s face and sides with a clean dry towel to stimulate it to breathe. If the puppy has not started breathing it may have some fluid in its lungs. Hold the puppy gently in the palm of your hand with its head toward your fingers, hold your arm straight in front of you and carefully bring your arm down to a vertical position in a gentle swinging motion to expel the fluid from its nose. You can gently clear any fluid or mucus away from the puppy’s nose with a cotton bud. Once it is breathing it should be returned to its mother as close body contact is important to keep it warm.

After whelping is complete, clean the mother as much as she will tolerate using clean water (avoid soap) and remove any soiled bedding. Offer the mother food and water, but do not leave bowls in the whelping area where the puppies could crawl into them: have bowls suspended higher off the floor, or just offer them to the mother every 2-3 hours under supervision.

It is very important that the puppies nurse frequently when they are very young. The milk produced in the first 24-48 hours after whelping is called colostrum. The first 48 hours are a critical time for puppies to nurse as the colostrum, as well as being rich in energy and nutrients, is also full of antibodies to protect them against disease.

The puppies should be either feeding or sleeping for around 90% of the time in the first few days. Well-fed, healthy pups are quiet, plump and content. Restless, noisy pups may not be receiving enough milk. Weighing the puppies every 24-48 hours is important to monitor their progress. They should gain 10-15% of their body weight daily for the first couple of weeks. Check the puppies every few hours to see that they are suckling frequently and are warm. If they are cold, or crying, try to latch them onto the mother’s lower teats/ nipples (towards her back legs), as these are the glands which tend to give most milk. The umbilical cord remains attached at first but will start to dry out and will be lost in the first 2-3 days.

Some mothers are reluctant to leave their puppies at all. If this happens try and encourage her to go out to toilet, using a collar and lead if necessary. Whilst she is out, check her nipples and vulva for any sign of problems. Her mammary glands will be large and full, but there shouldn’t be any pain or heat and the nipples should not be sore or have any discharge. If you see any of these signs, contact your veterinary surgeon immediately, as she may have mastitis. There will be some discharge from her vulva immediately after birth. It is normally greenish-black, occasionally bloody, and can be fairly profuse, but it should decrease and start to dry up after 24-48 hours.

Some mothers want to be with their owners and keep trying to leave their puppies. The puppies are highly reliant on mum for food and to maintain their body temperature, so it is important to keep encouraging her back. If the mother is anxious about being away from you, set up an area near you where the mum can be with her puppies but still be in contact with you.

The mother will need more food than normal whilst she is nursing her puppies, especially if it is a large litter. She should be fed a high-quality complete diet, either formulated especially for nursing mothers, or a puppy diet. When the puppies are between 3 and 5 weeks old, the mother is at the highest risk of eclampsia (milk fever). If this develops she may become weak, unable to walk and have shaking muscles. This condition is an emergency and veterinary advice should be sought urgently.

Initially the puppies should get all the nutrition they need from their mother. Keep careful track of their weights to make sure they are all getting enough milk.

Orphaned puppies, or those not getting sufficient milk, will need supplementary feeding. Cow’s milk is unsuitable for this, and you must use a commercial puppy milk. The puppies will need to be fed at least every 2 hours for the first week and then every 2-3 hours until weaning starts. Hand-reared puppies will need to be bottle fed carefully as they can take a while to pick up this technique and are at risk of taking milk down into the lungs (aspirating) if fed too enthusiastically. Hand-reared pups will also need to be stimulated to toilet by rubbing a piece of damp cotton wool gently around their anus and genital regions after feeding until they toilet, to mimic how a dam would lick them.

Good hygiene is extremely important to prevent disease in the early days. Newborn puppies are very vulnerable to infection and to parasites as their immune system is not well developed. The mother should also be vaccinated and treated for worms prior to whelping (and ideally before mating) to minimize the risk to the mother and to ensure the puppies receive immunity through the colostrum. The puppies will also need to be treated for worms at 2, 5 and 8 weeks of age.

An early health check by a veterinarian to check for signs of ill-health in both puppies and the mother is recommended. Your veterinarian will also check for deformities such as cleft palate which may result in poor growth and development.

The puppies’ eyes and ears should open around 14-21 days and they will start to be able to stand and walk. Puppy eyes are cloudy and bluish in color when they first open, this is normal and will clear gradually over the first few weeks.

In the wild, there are reports of mother dogs eating puppies, however, this behavior is rare in pet dogs. In the wild, predation is a huge concern, and so any very vocal or distressed pups, as well as those diseased or deformed, may be killed by their mother to protect the other puppies from detection.

Try to prevent maternal anxiety by making a calm, secluded area in which she can whelp and raise her puppies. Avoid interference with the mothering process, as too much human interaction can make some bitches reject puppies.

Puppies grow quickly, and from a few weeks of age will start to be interested in eating solid food (as well as milk). Once their eyes and ears open they take an interest in their environment and begin to socialize. They soon become more independent little characters, albeit with plenty more growth and development to come.