My mama dog still hasn't weaned her 10 wk. old pup. The pup was the runt, but am I supposed to help?

Question

FYI -- It's a Chihuahu and I am not doing "backyard breeding". I unknowingly adopted/rescued a dog that we were told was chubby and 6 days later went into the closet and had 2 puppies!! The bigger puppy was adopted out and doing wonderfully.

Oh, and the puppy is also eating soft food and drinking water.

Answer 1

If mama dog is still ok with letting her nurse, she has a reason for it. I wouldn't interfere. Just provide soft food and water for the puppy to have.

If you just take the puppy away without letting its mom slowly wean it, the mom could get a painful infection called mastitis.

It will not cause the dog any problems to let it nurse as long as the mother will allow.

Thank you so much for adopting a homeless dog. Now please get her spayed asap.

Answer 2

Since she only has the one pup, I wouldn't worry about it. She may not even have any milk left. Some of my dogs will let the pups nurse for a long time like that too. If you really just want the pup weaned, you need to keep them seperated for a few days and the mama dog will dry up.

I had a tiny chihuahua pup, 9 oz at 9 weeks. She had refused to eat any dog food or anything until she was nine weeks. The mama dog had weaned the other pups at 6 weeks. I had another chi at the time that had 1 pup, 3 weeks younger. I put the tiny pup, Skeeter, on the other mama dog. The other pup was twice as big as Skeeter......lol The foster mom fed her until she started eating her puppy food.

Answer 3

I think some of the reactions on here are quite funny. I have personally owned and been around wolf dogs and mixes in the past. I don't like how people breed them, but if you already have the pup best thing to do is train it well and make it a good citizen. I think you should read up on training a bit. Look up NFL training methods because your going to need it with a dog like this. You CAN train this dog, but its going to be hard work because of the type you picked. Please don't be lazy or give up do some research and work with her. She will get it. When potty training don't rub her nose in it. Simply take her outside in the same area every time and wait for her to go potty. limit water and food intake, if she eats and drinks all day she will go potty all day. Try having her on a schedule. Use a crate when you can't watch her and when you can keep your eye on her 24/7 that mean even if you have to tie a leash around you and the dog. You need to be there to correct her if she goes inside the house. If you see her doing it say NO and take her out asap to the same spot outside. When she goes praise and reward. Again this will work if your willing to let it. Make sure to socialize the pup a lot while she is young with everything you can. Letting her in the house is a good thing because dogs are pack animals and need to be with there "pack" so to say. I wouldn't let her up on the furniture she needs to know who is boss from the get go. Again study some pack leadership NFL training methods, work with her and you should be fine. Not all pups are the same sometimes training is hard work! Give it a go :)

Answer 4

Is the puppy eating any soft food? He shouldn't need mom after this. Most of the time if it is the only one still nursing, mom isn't making enough milk just for him. The thing you need to worry about is those tiny sharp little teeth. They can cut mom and give her a bad infection. (Usually if this happens, mom will snap at him and let him know it's time to quit) Plus, I've seen pups that nurse too long on mom and she ends up sagging. If he is eating on his own, seperate him a little each day, increasing the time more and more. Some people just takes them away and that is ok too. It's your dog and pup, you should know how to handle it.

Answer 5

at around 3 or 4 weeks you are supposed to start putting food out for the puppies so they can get used to eating on thier own. THe pup is going to keep nursing as long as the mom lets him and no food is put out especially for him. Once he starts chewing on her nipples she will make him stop trying to nurse. It might be a good idea if you were to seperate them for a few hours each day right around the time that you normally feed the mom. I am surprized that at 10 weeks he hasnt tried to eat food by himself.DId she only have the one puppy or more?

Answer 6

the puppy should have been weaned around the six wk old mark. get some puppy chow and put some water in with it and microwave it until it is warm and absorbed as much as possible. offer this to the pup twice a day if possible and separate the puppy from the mother so that her milk will start to dry up. make sure that the puppy has lots of water available.

Answer 7

Contact your vet for appropriate information for the health of your female and the pup. The pup should also be on formula by now if not on solid kibble....

Sounds like this is a novel experience for you. I would strongly recommend to you that you leave breeding to professionals. We have thousands of unwanted dogs in shelters and thousands more with behavioral problems due partly to poor breeding.

The city of San Jose is proposing to pass a bill to ban backyard breeders and to enforce spaying and neutering - professional breeders would require a special permit. If this is successful, hopefully other cities from other areas will implement it as well.

weaning puppies: http://www.barkbytes.com/care/weaning.htm

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/weaning-puppies/page1.aspx

http://www.petcaretips.net/wean-puppy-drjane.html

Answer 8

yes you need to wean the puppy your self. she should have been weaned already.you need to take the pup away from mom and keep mom away from the pup because you will have a hard time selling the pup if she is still nursing. you don't want people knowing that she still nurses on mom and the new owners won't be able to get her to eat when they take her home. so you need to take the pup away from mom amd keep them apart till you get this last pup sold. this pup should have been weaned at 6 weeks not 10 weeks.

Answer 9

Oh yes. That poor dog. Keep the puppy off of her and let the poor dog dry up. As long as the puppy is eating a good quality puppy food on its own, there is no need for milk from the mother. Are you keeping the puppy or finding it a home or what?

Answer 10

just make a soft puppy food available and put the puppy in front of it once or twice a day. dont force it to eat. it will see the other pups eating and nature and mama will do the rest in their time. m