Cross Breeds

my 3 week old pit bull puppies wont eat watered down dog food with milk. can anyone help?

my 3 week olf pitbull puppies arent able to nurse on their mother, she wont allow them to, i tired watered down food mixed with milk but thier not taking to that at all. i also tired bottle feeding they arent adjusting to that to well either. anyone as any other ideas?

Public Comments

1. If you mean milk milk, count yourself lucky. You don't want the mess that would cause. If you mean dog milk replacer, then just keep trying. If you can't get anything in them by tomorrow, consult your vet. You don't want them to dehydrate.
2. What kind of "milk" are you using? At three weeks old, puppies should be able to start eating solid food and drinking formula from a bowl. I prefer a homemade puppy formula over commercial puppy milk replacer. It offers more calories and puppies prefer the taste of it. Cheaper too! ~10 oz. of canned evaporated milk or goat's milk (not pasteurized cow's milk - this will cause scowers - dogs cannot drink normal cow's milk) Goats milk is by far the best to use. ~3 oz. sterilized water (baby water or boiled water) this is not needed if using goat's milk ~1 raw egg yolk ~1 cup of whole yogurt (avoid skim or fat free if at all possible) ~1/2 Tsp Karo Syrup or Corn Syrup (NOT HONEY !!!) If I were you, I would be offering the formula (in bottles or from a bowl if possible) about every three hours, and some puppy mush three times a day. Puppy mush is basically the same as soften puppy food, but it's ground up first and then soaked in the formula. It's an easier transition to solid food. To make the puppy mush, put your puppy food and your formula in a blender and blend! Then serve in dishes. If puppies are reluctant to eat it, try putting a little on your finger and letting a puppy eat it off of your finger...then guide the puppy's snout to the bowl with your finger as it searches for more food from your finger. You can also try to just "push" their mouths in the bowl gently. Be careful not to drown them though! Good luck!
3. Usually I'm an advocate of holding a bitch down to allow puppies to nurse, but I'm not sure I would in this case. The puppies still need to be supplemented at this age.you might want to try trimming the tips of the puppies nails so they're not so sharp. Sometimes it's that simple. If the dam still wants nothing to do with them & you can't force her to nurse, then you're going to have to be more persistent in bottle feeding. Breeding and raising a litter is exhausting at times, but I assume you did enough research to know exactly what was involved and chose to make that commitment anyway. Take away the gruel for now & re-introduce it in another week. As a breeder you should know better than to give puppies milk. When you start them on it again, just grind up dry puppy food & mix in warm water so it's the consistancy of a thick stew. Make sure you put it in a shallow pan & you'll need to dip the puppies' noses in it about 3x a day before they get the point in a few days. You still need to either let them nurse or bottle feed until around 5 weeks. Ask your mentor when you should start weaning.