| Re: lots or puppys
Something that you might want to try also if your girl doesn't have enough milk as Jenna didn't for that many puppies is to start them on a really runny gruel earlier as opposed to later. I recall with Jenna's first litter than she was pretty much done with feeding them by 14 days and then we really had to step up with the feeding at that point.
What we tried with success, and have done with each litter since, was to make that white Cream of Wheat porridge and then water it down to nearly soup like consistency with a lot of goats milk and the puppies started lapping and drinking the porridge fairly early and then really started gaining weight. (Funny.....my guys TO THIS DAY....LOVE a bowl of porridge). We started them at about 4 weeks on really soaked dog kibble mixed with pureed meat which they continued with until they left at 8 weeks. My little runt puppy (if you want to call him that) left here at the same size as his littermates who were born larger, and is now a strapping 26" 105lb boy. Also in addition to weighing your puppies daily, also check mom on a daily basis, mastitis can occur literally within hours, and you should also take her to the vet and have her checked over to ensure that her weight is good and also ensure that her nutritional requirements are being met. You definitely CANNOT spare any expense with ensuring that nursing mom has the best of food. With Jenna we fed her each and every time her puppies nursed so she literally ate 10+ times/day when she had THAT many puppies to feed. Of course after she chose to wean them her nutrition was cut back to normal immediately.
You commented that you took a puppy to the vet as it had no temp......are you providing a heat source for your puppies in terms of an area in their whelping box that is quite warm?? What we use is a product called SnuggleSafe they are large pink disks which are microwaved for 3-4 minutes and then are HOT so we wrap them in receiving blankets before setting them into the whelping box.....most times my babies fall asleep on top of them. However you also have to realize that it is possible to over heat a puppy as they cannot regulate their own temperatures and thus we check each puppy at every feeding time to ensure that none are getting dehydrated by pinching the skin at the scruff of their neck.....if the skin stays in a peaked shape after pinching it....the puppy is dehydrated. I always check my puppys mouths as well.....I let them suck on my finger briefly and always check for a warm mouth. I've only ever had one puppy from my second litter that had a cold mouth once and she stopped nursing within a couple of hours and faded shortly after that.....despite everything I did to save her.
Make sure that you definitely require your puppy homes to spay/neuter their babies and also require early puppy kindergarden/socialization classes. Young rottweiler puppies learn valuable lessons from puppy kindergarden classes and it is definitely something I would recommend that you require from your puppy homes.
I'm not sure if this was a planned litter on your part however you have undoubtedly found out already that there is more involved in caring for puppies and a nursing bitch than you may have anticipated. IF you aren't breeding for the betterment or improvement of the breed then please spay your new puppy and her mother and enjoy them for the wonderful pets that they are.
Heather Peters  |