GO BACKFEEDING YOUR PUPPY
I wean my puppies on Diamond's
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul - Puppy Formula. PetCo and PetsMart carries it throughout the United States. You will get a bag of kibble with your puppy. I prefer you stay with this brand for the life of your dog. If you prefer to switch, do it gradually. When changing your pet's diet, gradually mix food over a 5-7 day period, increasing daily the amount of new food added so that 100% of the new food will be provided to the pet by day seven.Not all puppies like to eat whole dry kibble. Food may be served right from the bag or moistened with warm water, if desired. Young puppies seem to eat more at mealtime if the kibble is softened. Spoiling a baby puppy should be the least of your worries. Getting your puppy to eat is more important than what they eat at this stage in their life. Switching over later on is not a problem. If you find your puppy isn't eating at least 3 times a day. give them 1/4 cup of whole milk a couple of times a day. Eating issues such as the above should only be a problem during the first week your puppy is getting used to being in a new environment. After that, they should be eating dry kibble just fine. Keep them on puppy food until 8 months of age at which time you can switch to adult kibble.
Let your puppy eat as much dry food as he/she wants as often as he/she wants. Always leave dry food down for your puppy. A young puppy will not eat on demand. They eat when they want to so there has to be something down whenever they decide to eat. You can put dry kibble in a baggie and hit it a few times with a hammer. You can leave this down without the worry of it spoiling. During the first few weeks after bringing your puppy home, you might have to feed moist, soft food 3 times a day. Moist food will spoil very quickly so only leave down the broken dry kibble. Start with 2 heaping tablespoons. You can adjust the amount when you see how much your puppy eats at a meal. At 12 weeks of age, you can pick up the water bowl at night to aid in potty training but have dry kibble accessible always until you see a pattern of your puppy's eating habits. Then you can feed your puppy when you know they usually want to eat. Not all dogs require the same type of food so you could find yourself in search of another brand, just make sure you read the labels thoroughly. Please do not feed a food with corn meal as the first ingredient. Corn just bulks up an animal and has very little nutrition value. They do need carbohydrates but I prefer rice or potatoes.
There are many great foods these days. Below are a couple I particularly like:
Diamond:
Chicken Soup for Puppy Lover's SoulNutro: Natural Choice Puppy
Leave dry kibble down in his play area so he can eat when he wakes up from naps, in the morning and in the evenings or just whenever they want to eat. Making a schedule for your puppy to eat, doesn't usually work. For the first several weeks, they will pick their own times to eat so make sure they have access to food at all times. Sometimes a puppy is stressed due to changing environments and won't eat enough the first week. If your puppy doesn't eat for a period of about 8 hours, give them 1/4 cup of whole milk. REMEMBER THE WHOLE MILK. I leaned this from a toy poodle breeder and it works great for keeping the blood sugar up. It may cause some puppies to develop a loose stool. If this happens, do not give milk anymore.
Make sure your puppy has access to water ALL DAY LONG. Don't put down too big of a bowl of water, they will probably climb in it and you want them to stay warm and dry. At 12 weeks of age, you can start picking up the water and food bowls at night to aid in potty training but have food and water accessible all day.
If you have to leave your puppy home alone all day, leave 1 cup of dry kibble puppy food (crushed if necessary) down along with a swallow bowl of water while you are gone. Feed softened puppy food before you leave and again when you get home. After a few weeks you can probably eliminate the soft feedings. Keep him in a small enough area so he can easily find his food and water. THEY CAN NOT FIND THEIR WAY THROUGH THE HOUSE TO WHERE HIS FOOD /WATER IS LOCATED. In time they will but at first they need to be secured in a small area when you aren't playing with them. The size of a baby playpen is perfect. They will eat and drink when they want to, not when you want them to. So they need to be able to find their food, water and potty paper very easily.
PLAYING WITH YOUR INFANT PUPPY
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PUPPY AREA
Provide a safe, quiet and warm place for your puppy to sleep, eat/drink and potty that is out of drafty areas such as a bedroom with a ceiling fan. This can be a baby playpen or any small area that has been partitioned off so your puppy can't wander out. An area the size of a baby playpen is fine.
NEVER LEAVE YOUR PUPPY IN A SMALL CRATE DURING THE DAY.
Leave down food and water for them during the night. You can not train a
puppy to eat when you want them to until they are at least 12 weeks of age.
Also, a puppy younger than 12 weeks of age sometimes has a hard time holding it
all night long. Have potty paper accessible too. After about 12 weeks of age,
you can start putting them in a training crate at night time. No food/water is
necessary in this small crate. Take them to potty right before bedtime and first
thing in the morning. Now is the time you can start housetraining on a serious
note. Never leave your puppy outside by himself.
NUTRI-CAL SUPPLEMENT
What is Hypoglycemia?
Hypoglycemia
(low blood sugar) occurs mainly in toy breeds between six and twelve weeks of
age.
Often it is precipitated by stress.
The first sign are those of listlessness, wobbling, glassy eyed, depression and vomiting.
They are followed by muscular weakness, tremors (especially in the facial
muscles) and later convulsions, coma and death.
The entire sequence is not always seen, the dog may appear to be
depressed or may be weak, wobbly and jerky; or the puppy may be found in a
coma.
Hypoglycemia can occur without warning when a puppy is placed in a new
home or while being shipped.
It might appear after puppy missed a meal, chills, becomes exhausted from
too much playing or has a digestive upset.
These upset's place an added strain on the energy reserves of the liver
and bring on symptoms (if the dog is susceptible).
Treatment
Treatment is directed at restoring blood sugar levels of glucose. Begin at once. Prolong or repeated attacks can cause permanent damage to the brain. If puppy is unconscious, place a dab, about 1/4" of NutriCal on their tongue and hold their mouth closed for 1 minute. Use ONLY NurtriCal. The sugar in this product will enter the blood stream through the veins in the mouth. Wrap the puppy in a warm blanket and immediately take to the nearest vet or an after hours emergency veterinarian hospital where an intravenous solution of dextrose can be started.
Preventing recurrent attacks
Feed puppy a high quality kibble diet.
I like lamb or chicken as it is easier for them to digest.
If your puppy isn't eating dry food, a good quality canned puppy food would be
suggested. See that puppy eats at least every 4 hours.
If puppy skips a meal, give 1 tsp or 1" of Nutri-Cal in place of
meal.
Offer 1/4c whole milk a couple of times a day between meals.
Do not let your puppy become chilled or overtired.
Provide a quite area for naps throughout the day.
Anytime you have to take your puppy to a vet for other than routine exams, I ask
that you please call and tell me what is going on. I am not a vet, but I have
been watching every move your puppy has made since birth and there is a good
chance I can help.