Puppies not eating mama's milk?

Question

Mother runs away from the dogs, they are barely three weeks old. I bought them milk from the store, but they don't want to eat it. What kind of food can I buy for them? (they have no teeth yet.) One puppy tries to eat the mothers hard food, but he can't chew it. Any suggestions? I feel they are not eating enough. Thanks!

Answer 1

At three weeks I grind puppy kibble in the blender and then mix a little bit with warm (wrist temperature) puppy formula or evaporated milk. I serve it in a large flat dish so the pups can reach it easily, the first time or two I bring them over and gently dip their chins in the mix. Usually the first few feedings are pretty entertaining (and messy). Gradually make the mixture thicker until they are able to eat soaked kibble.

Answer 2

NO milk OR baby formula, EVER. Milk is designed to feed a 200 lb calf, I would never feed this to a puppy, let alone a human infant before the age of 1 or 2. Baby formula is derived from milk. I would never feed formula to an human infant either. There is puppy formula which is specifically designed to nourish puppies. I have seen it at Wal-Mart and Safeway, but can surely be found at your local pet/feed store. Are the puppies gaining weight? You should weigh them every day, nature did not intend for you to know exactly how much they are getting, so if they are gaining weight, developing properly, and are generally active and not very noisy... (a hungry puppy is a NOISY puppy) then they're likely getting plenty of milk.

Answer 3

Try the canned milk instead, using a bottle with the finger tip of a rubber glove on the end. If they have no teeth then obviously don't let them try to eat large chunks of food.
Canned milk is what we ended up raising ours on when the mother refused to feed them. Living on a ranch we had many litters lol. It works for puppies and kittens. Don't dilute it either.
As for the nipple, just make sure its something soft, but what works the best is the rubbers gloves for dishwashing, and don't make the hole very big, only a couple needle marks as they actually need to be able to pull the milk out themselves.
To help them feel comfortable while they are eating, keep the bottle elevated slightly, not level or down on the ground, and it helps them to sit on a rolled up towel, something soft and warm that can immitate mom. You can tell when they get enough because they will literally pass out. Oh, and make the milk slightly warm. Do not reuse the milk because it will go bad after that. Each puppy is different, but they will want to feed at basicaly the same time so try to get someone to help you feed them. They are 3 weeks which is really early for the mother to be weening them, so you may still need to feed them every 2 - 3 hours, including nights! Once their teeth come in, it will ease up. Thankfully dogs grow very quickly.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Well I'm no expert but there have been incidents when the mother dog won't want feed her puppies. If that happens you should try to either give the puppies store bought food or soften up the hard dry food with warm water or warm milk. If the puppies won't eat this the first time then don't feed the puppies for 1-2 days and then try to give them either the store bought milk or the softened dry food. Since the puppies haven't eaten for 1-2 days they'll be so hungry they'll eat anything.

Answer 5

Mom is trying to wean them already but don't panic. You can make a yummy, nutritious puppy gruel that they will love. Use puppy replacement milk (never cow's milk) to soak some premium puppy food until it is a thin gruel consistency. Your puppies will lap this up but be warned, they will be a mess! lol Over the next two weeks, gradually decrease the milk you put on the food to soften it and by week 5-6 they will be eating hard food just fine. Good luck!

Answer 6

I started supplementing my pups with a good quality dry food when they were almost 4 wks old. What I would do is grind up the food with my hand blender until it was a powder and then add some evaporated milk (or puppy formula) to it to make like a gruel (kinda like the consistency of canned food) as they got older I started grinding the food up not as fine leaving little chunks in it and then eventually just soaking the dry kibble in the evaporated milk by the time they were 6 - 7 wks. Between 7 and 8 wks they were eating the dry without the milk.

I fed my pups Innova EVO and they loved it and were extremely healthy.

Answer 7

There is puppies milk you can purchase from pet store and feed the pups with a bottle. I had to do this with my dog till he was old enough to eat regular food. Even used the powdered baby milk for a little while until I found the correct stuff at the pet store.

Answer 8

At three to four weeks, puppies should begin eating some solid food. You can try mixing three parts food with one part water or puppy replacement milk . This will make the food easier for the puppy to digest. If your puppy begins eating a little solid food before they leave their mother they will have an easier time adjusting when you bring them home. One way to tell if a puppy is ready to come home with you is if it prefers human company over their mom or siblings.

Answer 9

Have you called the vet? You should really have a professional guide you in this as you obviously are not an experienced breeder. Once the mom is able to, PLEASE, have her spayed. There is no reason for her to produce puppies when you can't care for them properly.

Good luck and I hope that you able to get some correct help before something bad happens.

Answer 10

may have to try bottle feeding. get milk replacement for puppies do not feed regular milk as this is not good for them. Your mama dog is trying to wean the puppies too soon you need to supplement for the nutrition.