my son brought home a 6-week old puppy it looks really skinny what do we feed it.....besides pup?

Question

besides puppy chow....i think he is to young

Answer 1

Get Canidae all life stages; it has no empty fillers which a young pup does not need. Their tummies are small and they have a hard time holding their daily nutritional needs, without putting useless (to a dog) wheat and corn in there. An additional advantage to this food is that you will not have to switch him over to "adult" food as it is for all life stages.
http://www.canidae.com/dogs/all_life_stages/dry.html
Pups can be started on moistened kibble at age 4 weeks. At age 6 weeks you should not have to wet it. Or at least not have to wet it much. Plan on feeding smaller more frequent meals, probably 4-5 times a day for now.
No cow milk as it could give him diarrhea. If he is on a quality kibble he will not need supplements.
I would make an appointment ASAP to have him vet checked also get his first round of puppy shots and also try to take in a stool sample as the skinniness could be because he has worms. They get them through their mother's milk, it's pretty standard to worm a new pup..

Answer 2

He's too young for puppy chow. Go to the pet supply store and get mother's milk. It's a replacement formula for puppies. If they don't have the bottle there you can purchase a small one from the store but open up the nipple a little so it's easier for them to drink. Otherwise you can try adding this on a plate and see if he'll lap it up and even mix in a little wet food (Iams) with the milk after you see he will take it this way. Do not give him cow's milk. Dog's do not digest cow's milk and it can be bad for their health. You can also try putting a hot water bottle or heating pad under a couple layers of towels in a box for the puppy to lay on. Make sure it's just slightly warm. If the puppy is restless also try a wind up alarm clock and put it under the towel as well. The warmth will be comforting to him and the clock is rhythmatic like his mother's heart beat. Check over him to see if you can see any signs of fleas. This can cause anemia and other health issues. (DO NOT us any flea products on the puppy.) Simply bath in warm water and use a flea comb to extract the fleas. Be sure to dry throughly. Get him seen by a vet. If the puppy was outside it can also have other issues like worms or even more severe parvo.

Answer 3

At 6 weeks old he should be able to eat soaked puppy food. Give him 5 small meals per day to get his weight up. Don't give him milk as this could cause darrhoea. Most puppy foods are formulated now to give him all the nutrients a growing puppy needs.

Weigh him once a week to check that he is putting on weight. At this age he should be putting on at least 2 ozs. per day. After a couple of weeks if he is doing well you can then reduce his meals to 4 per day. then at 3 months he can go to three meals per day. At 6 months cut him down to 2 meals per day . Feed him the correct amount for his weight according to the instructions on the packet.

Good luck with your puppy. Don't forget to have him vaccinated at 8 weeks and again at 10 weeks.

Answer 4

The puppy should have stayed with it's mother until at least 8 weeks old. I would say take it to the vet for it's puppy shots and worming. I fed my pup Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul mixed with canned and water. I microwaved it for about 8 seconds then stirred it up.

Do not feet the puppy grocery store brands. THey are garbage full of fillers and nasty by-products.

Answer 5

We had a puppy that was a runt, and when we put him on solid food we used Chicken and Rice because he wouldn't eat at first. At 6 weeks you should be able to introduce solid food.

We bought the whole chickens that are inexpensive and large bags of white rice ( also inexpensive) You just boil the chicken until the meat falls off and then add in cooked rice.

When we were ready for him to eat dog food, we mixed in less and less chicken and rice and now he eats strictly dog food.

Answer 6

If I was you I would take the puppy to the vet and get professional advice. Usually it's very important for puppy's to have a strict diet so they will grow up healthy.

Answer 7

Offer some wet food, or moisten it a bit. And check your local feed and seed or pet supply store for replacement milk: If this baby has been weaned yet, it would be just barely.

Good luck!

Answer 8

Replacer Milk....

http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?familyID=6052

Answer 9

milk replacement, then in a week or two, puppy food. Take him to the vet also, to have a health check-up

Answer 10

you should buy the puppy milk and take to the vet when you see that its tummy is getting a little better because that milk has fat like the mothers milk