Probably A Dumb Question But Still....

[Trisven13]

Jellybean the 5 1/2 week old mastiff pup was returned to us on Friday. She is a sweet little pup who is quite easy and very active. However, not only was she the runt of the litter but she was removed from her mother at 4 weeks of age maximum, possibly younger. We are still trying to ascertain exactly what happened and may not know for a while so I'm going with possibly earlier.

She is quite underweight & full of worms so we have wormed her and are feeding her small amounts regularly HOWEVER . When fed with the other pups she is, quite understandably, a savage little beast - I have been removing her from the food for a second with a sharp "argh" and then letting her back - tonight she didn't growl at all :rolleyes: . Do you think that is because of what I did or because she is realising that she gets fed regularly or a combination of the two???? Given that she has no mum I have to try to get this very "right" to prevent issues in the future. She is running with the litter of pups I have here during the day (they are about a week older than her) and sleeping with either another pup or an adult dog at night.

Also - with starved pups - do they ever learn not to gorge themselves????? Twice we've fed her during the day with the other pups and she just keeps eating until she looks like she is going to explode. The other pups, who've been raised here their whole lives will stop eating when they're full and leave some in their bowls - she would just keep eating.

She is also very very small for her age and considering the size of her mother. Do pups like this catch up or is she likely to always be smaller?

I know I should know the answers to these questions but I've never had a runt puppy before in my litters.

[Jed]

Pups go through a food aggression stage with the rest of the litter. I leave mine alone to sort it out - unless I think someone is overly aggressive. I also put down and take away food from the litter - but not until they have had their fill - and I correct any aggressive behaviour.

I think you are doing the right thing. I've been doing it for a long time - doing it for a long time doesn't necessarily mean it is right, but it does work, and none of the pups seem to give their owners problems with food issues when they are sold.

She may have been food aggressive because she was starved too - you'll never know - probably a combination of the two.

My experience is that she should reach her genetic blue print, despite being small now.

With the gorging, some pups just gorge.

I generally let them eat all they like at that age - even though they look as if they are about to explode.

I have noticed it in particular with staffy x rescue pups which were wormy and skinny. I figure only they know how much they want. I put the food down, if they eat it and are looking around for more, I put down more. If they finish and there is a little left, that is good. I've never had a problem either in puppyhood, or when they grow up, from this practice. Oh and as the mature the gorging stops. Never had one explode either - although I've had a few whose legs simply collapsed after a meal, and the big belly descended to the floor with the legs sticking out - like bugs legs!~!

Despite people telling me I shouldn't let them eat so much, I still do it - I've never had a disaster, and I figure only they know when they are full, and maybe a pup which has been starved, or which has greater needs does need to gorge. About 12 - 16 weeks is the time to control the amount, if the pup is porky. She may need a lot past that time.

For now, I'd let her eat her fill. :rolleyes:

If you are bothered, give her another feed about an hour after the first one. Personally, I think nature is telling her she needs to catch up, and that is what she is doing.

[*Avanti*]

I go along with what Jed said. I also feel she will benefit from lots of cuddles and contact. I'm not an expert but feel she might be trying to make up for what she has missed from her mothering by eating.

Sorry I probably haven't really answered your question :rolleyes: .

[Trisven13]

Thanks for that Jed! Much appreciated. I'm off to feed them all again now so will see how she goes.