Paptacular! Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Portia was really sick of spending all day with the pups by the time they were about 3ish weeks old. I made sure I took her back to the box every few hours to give the pups a chance to feed (Darwin wet season litter, didn't need her body warmth by that stage!). As long as someone was sitting there close by she was pretty good and would happily leave again once they had their feed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLF Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 She has formed a bit of a pattern on her own. She spends the morning away from the pups, they sleep from 7am to mid afternoon (at times I check to make sure they are still ok as they are so sound asleep) ...mid to late afternoon she goes in and cluster feeds them, and stays in with them untill about 9pm. She then hops out and sleeps nearby watching over them but not in with them. The are not cold, or too bothered by this so it seems to be working for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilaryo Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Forcing the bitchc to go back into the box and forcing her to lay there and feed the pups, when they are not restless, crying or dehydrated is unwarranted and quite frankly boarders on being cruel to the bitch. The fact that she has healthy, content babies speaks volumes for her care of her pups. She's being shuffled from lounge to laundry and back agaid and clearly this is upsetting her to some degree. Pick a spot, stick with it and have a bit of faith in the bitch to raise her babies The pups are only 10 days old - not 3 weeks old. Sure she is a bitch that wants to be out and about earlier - that's fine. I am just saying that she should be taken in to the feed the pups at some sort of regular intervals or she will stay away too long. The pups may (and I say may)start to slow up on their weight gain and the bitch may start to lose her milk. Most of Australia has been experiencing higher than average temps. No fluid intake for long periods throughout the day would worry me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLF Posted January 20, 2013 Author Share Posted January 20, 2013 So the pups are now 17days old, and my bitch would much prefer to spend the day (daylight hours) away from them...she is still cleaning and toileting but not at all fussed by having to feed them. I am wondering at what point to I step in? I dont want to upset the whole thing, but I dont want the pups to suffer either. During they day they are fine, sleepy squirmy pups. Eyes open walking around, enjoying some sunshine. They are fat and dont appear to call out except for when the bitch is with them and she wont sit or lay down. She stands to clean them so they cant latch on. If they latch on and begin to feed she will tolerate it a short minute before getting up and moving away. She will feed them when its dark, but I cant keep them in the dark! She isnt ill, no mastitis even though it looks like it takes a wahile for her milk to let down...as far as I can tell anyway. I would love some more advice (yes both the good and the bad). Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 My bitch stopped feeding the pups when they were 3 weeks old. She was relucant to be with them for a few days before that but I made her get in and feed them, she looked so miserable I soon gave it up and started feeding the pups from 3 weeks on. She still cleaned them for another week or so and was happy to play with them but the feeding stopped. Mine went onto 5 - 6 meals a day with no ill effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRG Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Start to teach them to lap rather than suck. You can use slightly thickened Puppy Milk (from the Supermarket) thickened with a tiny amount of baby cereal (to the thickness of cream). Just a small teaspoonful to start with and feed it SLOWLY from the spoon just a drop at a time. Don't pour it in or they will choke. Remember, the 'secret" is to get them to use their tongues differently to lap rather than suck. Try the action yourself and you will see the difference I am talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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