Cross Breeds

golden retriever had puppies?

my golden retriever gave birth to 6 cute little golden puppies some are really fat and some are on the smaller side they ahve to be eating because its been 6 days since they were born and i ahve also been feeding them some puppies milk only a little they dont seem to want it though and since its been 6 days my dadhas been worrying that one might die because she had 2 pups that didnt make it and hes worrying that they wont eather but they all seem to be healthy and what can i give themom dog to produce more milk i have been feeding her dog food mixed in with cottege cheese

Public Comments

1. the puppy milk mixed with the dry food is a good bet. also make sure she is still moving around, going outside ect. Plenty of fresh water near by helps. If you can find it goats milk is a good supplement for puppies, some feed stores and pet stores will have it. All in all, it is natural selection. if the puppies have an underlying problem the mother can usually tell and will refuse to nurse them. Taking them and the mother to the vet is the best advice you can get.
2. If they are gaining weight and not crying constantly and look round in the belly then they are probably fine. You can try taking the big ones away for 20 minutes here and there to let the small ones nurse without being pushed off. The more the puppies feed on her, the more milk she'll make.
3. a brood about to have a litter and onwards through milking stage should actualy be feed on the same food you intend to feed the puppies when you start them on dry food ie a high quality puppy food, this will be suficient to give her the proteins and nutritients she need to maintain both herself and feed the puppies, that is as a diet, you also need to get some calium powder that you mix into the food you give her (wet the food and mush it it makes her easier to take up more of the nutritients, a brood need a litle extra treatment when she is feeding more then herself) be sure to follow the box recomendation for your broods size/breed or whatnot also you should mark them (use non toxic marker), so you can tell them apart, then make a list and weigh them every few days to make sure they are gaining weigth they if you are going to feed them need to be fed from a very small plastic syringe, the type you use to give kids chough med with when small like this http://www.tedpella.com/embed_html/115-50.jpg you need to boil it between each use so your sure its sterille always also talk to your vet if conserned, they may have some recomendations on what to feed or how to treat puppies who have fallen behind, if the puppy milk replacer is not enough you may need something stronger here we dont have anything customed for dogs, but sertaint brands of calf milk replacers and piglet replacers for even fatter suply is recomended, however not all of these are suitable so you need to talk to someone who know and can point you to the corect type of brand if so. Be warned piglet replacement is really heavy, and the puppies will get quite round and well weigthed (all of ours in the litter we used this on got a heavy bone build structure, some of course must been genetic, but it was obvious they also had not at all had a lack of nutritients) oh and also if you want to balance things out, the tits furthest back has the most milk, so pick the big pups of these and let the small pups have those (normaly if left alone it will be oposite because the big ones are stronger so they push of the small ones to get to the best tits)
4. The only way to know if your pups are thriving is to weight them twice a day. Keep track of their weights, and use a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. If a pup fails to gain weight, you can give them "stat" a high calorie puppy supplement in drop form, and you can supplement -- I would supplement with tube feeding, not bottle feeding. Your vet can show you how to do this. If the pups are gaining weight, if only a little a day, you're fine and so are they. Make sure mom has food at all times -- I give a combination of foods -- grilled chicken breast, boiled hamburger, rice, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, etc., but regardless of what else I have for her, a bowl of dry puppy kibble is always available 24/7 to a nursing mom for more snacking if when she's finished with the good stuff!
5. If you are feeding the Mother a good quality Food for Lactating Dams and Puppies then you shouldn't need to add anything to it as it has been specially formulated to give all the nutrients and vitamins she needs to feed her puppies to give them good bone and growth. By adding extra protein to her diet you are upsetting the balance. She should be having 4/5 meals a day now to keep her strength up to feed the pups and you must allow her access to water 24/7. This helps with her milk production. If she is getting enough to eat then the puppies will be getting enough. Just make sure you put the smaller ones on her back teats more as they contain the most milk. The more the pups suckle on the mother the more milk she will produce. Don't forget that the pups will need worming when they are two and a half weeks old and every two weeks after that until they go to their new owners. You should worm the mother 1 week after the pups each time as she will have ingested their worms when she cleans up after them. Good luck with your litter.