How long will it take my newborn boston terrier to nurse on his own?

Question

My newborn boston pup (4 days old) still needs my help getting him to mom's nipple. I didn't think he was going to make it, but with everyone's help on this website, he is still holding on. He is doing much better. He does still feel cold sometimes and when he does, I have him with me using a heating pad to warm him up. This seems to help tremendously. He doesn't move around like the other 2. He is thinner and smaller. When I pick him up he is very limp. He doesn't seem to be able to hold up his head quite well yet. When I warm him up, I give him back to mom and I have to express her milk a little bit until he finally latches on. I almost have to hold him upside down before he does this. He acts as if he doesn't know how to nurse. Rather than his tongue being down, he has it up so this makes it very difficult for him to latch on. It takes me approx. 10 minutes before he finally catches on. When he does, he stays on for quite a while. Can someone give me some advise?

I have already informed the vet and they didn't seem too concerned. He was stuck in the birth canal for 1 hour before the c-section. As a result, he has a hematoma on his head and I feel that this is why he is not responding very well.

Answer 1

Here are some helpful sites. Just keep on working with him. I have raised several champions that were fading puppies, just like you describe.>>
http://www.showdogsupersite.com/kenlclub/breedvet/fading.html

this site also suggests giving antibiotics, but i have been successful with just supportive care.>>
Maintain Warmth:It is most important of course to keep puppies warm for the first week to ten days of age. During this time they rely on external warmth to keep them warm, either from the ***** curled up around them, or the bedding. If puppies are not gaining weight and suckling properly, then they should be considered to be abnormal and require investigation. Most health young puppies will double their birth weight in the first 7 to 10 days of birth and then double it again within the next three weeks. Normally, younger puppies have a lower body temperature of 36.5 -37 degrees C., which begins to increase after the first two weeks of age. This is because puppies lose a lot of heat into the environment, and their body temperature is lower. Once they start to generate their own heat from metabolism, and can shiver from about two weeks of age, they maintain a higher body temperature of 37.5-38 degrees C.

It is always a good idea to nurse young puppies that are sick by keeping them in a warm area, as cold conditions weaken their resistance when exposed to chilling. If they move away from a warming light overnight, or crawl away from the rest of the puppy group, it will increase the cold stress and hasten the onset of their deterioration. Lack of adequate nest bedding and a protected area for the *****, also increases the risk of fading puppy syndrome, particularly during the colder months. Besides ensuring young puppies, weak or less active ones in particular, are kept warm,attentive nursing of sick or fading puppies is paramount to their chance of recovery. Loss of body heat and chilling is a common reason for rapid decline in sick puppies. Their large body surface relative to their size, with little hair to insulate against heat loss, increases the risk of hypothermia as they fade.

Monitor Floor Temperature:Purchase an accurate household room thermometer and place it at the level of the bedding, obviously protected from accidental damage as the ***** moves around. It is important to monitor the temperature bedding level, as this is likely to be the coolest area. Warm air rises, and even if there is a warm zone at our head height, it may be colder at floor level.
Maintain Fluids and Energy:Pupies that are under stress of disease, or are losing body weight, have a much better chance of recovery if they are given fluids to prevent dehydration. It is best to give fluids warmed to body heat. This is best gauged by adding clean, warm water until drops of the fluid placed on the bare skin the underside of your wrist do not feel cold or hot. Although a sugar solution, to provide energy and fluids, made up by adding one and one half teaspoons of glucose per 100ml of boiled water (seven and one half percent glucose), is the optimum concentration. It is best to provide electrolytes as well with the glucose drink. A rehydration fluid, such as Recharge is ideal, as it contains glucose and electrolytes in the combined formulation. However, it must be diluted before giving to puppies and extra glucose must be added. >>http://www.wolfweb.com.au/acd/fadingpupsyn.html

More info from breeders>> http://www.cockerspanielinformation.com/puppies/fadingsyndrome.html

http://www.seefido.com/dog-breeding/html/fading_puppy_syndrome.htm <

Answer 2

Newborn Boston Terrier Puppies

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How long will it take my newborn boston terrier to nurse on his own?
My newborn boston pup (4 days old) still needs my help getting him to mom's nipple. I didn't think he was going to make it, but with everyone's help on this website, he is still holding on. He is doing much better. He does still feel cold sometimes and when he does, I have him with...

Answer 4

He should have been able to nurse within 30 minutes of birth. I suggest you speak with your veterinarian about this. It is a sign of serious neurosis. He should be able to fully nurse by 7 days ON HIS OWN. If he can't, you MUST contact your vet because there is a BIG problem (like no sense of smell).

Answer 5

it took my wife 4 years of schooling to be able to nurse on her own. makes good money now

Answer 6

Chetco is spot on so I won't even bother to give you advice as theirs is the best. Just wanted to give you some support and say thank you for fighting for this little guy and not giving up on him. I will say a prayer for him and you tonight.
I don't know if you have ever read this befor and it's rather long but I will post it anyways. It always brings tears to my eyes.


Rainbow Bridge for Dogs Who Didn't Know Love



The little dog arrived at the Rainbow Bridge, and a pack of dogs rushed up to greet him. He braced himself, expecting a fight, but this was the first pack that wagged their tails and kissed him instead of attacking him.

It was beautiful here, and everyone was nice to him. None of them had been born in a puppy mill, like he had, and used for dog-bait fighting and left to die on the street because he was a mix-breed, battle scarred cur and wasn't cute. They explained why they were waiting..... For their humans who loved them.

"What is love?" he asked, and God let him go back to earth, and find out.


Warm and dark, he squeezed in with the others and waited for the day to be born. Scared, he held back as long as he could, but finally got dragged out, by his hind feet. Hands without fur held him gently and rubbed him dry and opened his mouth and guided him to a warm nipple with milk. He didn't get a good hold on it, because one of his big fat brothers pushed him aside. The human hand moved the other puppy to another nipple and held his body, so he could drink.

"Ahh, that's better," he thought, and drank until his jaws got tired, and he curled up to sleep next to his warm, hairy mother.

"I remember this," he mused...."Too bad I'll have to grow up to be hit, left out in the cold and rain, and used for dog-bait fighting, and die as an unclaimed rescue dog. I remember what it's like, being a dog," he thought sadly.

That night, he crawled up to his mother and tried to nurse, but he kept being pushed off to the side. When they were full, the big brothers and sisters got their bottoms cleaned, and he finally latched onto a nipple, but the human hands weren't there to hold him up, and there wasn't any milk in any of the nipples anyway. He was weak and so tiny. It was even hard to stay upright, and he fell over on his back and couldn't right himself.

So he began to cry, and suddenly the human hands were there, holding him up and putting a rubber thing in his mouth. It didn't taste or feel like mother, but it was warm and made the ache in his tummy go away.

He was having trouble breathing.... His lungs weren't fully developed, because he had waited too long to join the others in the womb, as he took one last romp at the Rainbow Bridge. He could feel the heartbeat of the human, who laid him on her chest and covered him with a soft cloth, keeping him warm, and soothing his body with gentle, circling touches.

He kept thinking of his new friends who had been so nice to him at the bridge and asked God if he could go back. God said, "Yes, but not just yet. You wanted to experience love."

So for several hours (seemed like days but it was dark and he couldn't tell what time it was), the human supplemented his feeding and let him experience the warmth of his mother's body and tongue, and the pile of warm, soft litter mates. He got weaker, and the human held him more often, leaving the litter mates to sleep in a pile while he got caressed, kissed, and got to listen to the heartbeat which was strong and loving.

Finally God came back and asked, "Are you ready to come back to the Rainbow Bridge?"

"Yes," he responded, with a little sorrow, because the human didn't want to let go, and was crying.

He pushed the air out of his lungs and floated back to the Rainbow Bridge and looked back to the human, who was still crying and holding the limp body that he had borrowed for the trip.

"Thank you, God," he said. "Love is beautiful, and I will wait near the Bridge and let the human know, when she arrives, that I loved her, too."



~unknown