When Should a Breeder Supplement Feed Newborn Puppies?

 Above photo courtesy of KTW Wraps and Knotless Hair Wraps

Your newborn puppies finally arrive. What next? Warmth and nutrition will be most important. Puppies cannot survive without proper body temperature to adequately digest their milk. For Shih Tzu puppies I found that optimum room temperature is 80 degrees. I also think supplementing the box with a pet warmer is ideal. Another great way to warm up newborn puppies is to place their box near an infrared heater. 

Large litters sometimes require help from the breeder for supplemental feeding. Other situations such as a dam who is sick may require the breeder to supplement puppies, or there might be a puppy not as strong as the others that will require extra help.

You might want to supplement if:

• the litter is very large and for example, you end up with more puppies than the dam has nipples
• you have a puppy with some kind of nursing impediment like a cleft palate
• your dam is a first time, nervous mom
• your dam has metritis or mastitis
• your dam dies during birthing process

To be sure your puppies are thriving, weigh them frequently. Weigh them immediately after birth, then twice daily at the same time each day. Thriving puppies will gain weight quickly. If you notice any who are not gaining weight, it is time to supplement.

Don't worry too much if puppies lose or do not gain weight for the first 24 hours while the dam's milk is coming in. After this time period, puppies should gain weight steadily, and they should be rooting for and obtaining vigorously dam's nipples for survival. Healthy puppies nurse with "gusto." They should latch onto and suck out their milk vigorously. Some puppies will even put their little paws on the dam as if "milking her" to get more milk out for themselves. You can hear slurp as well occasionally! Milk should not come back out of their nose. If puppies are latching on vigorously and still not gaining weight, definitely start supplementing.

What is the best supplement milk to feed newborn puppies? I personally like Esbilac. You can also find recipes online of homemade milk you might choose to feed.

What is the best way to feed newborn puppies? There are a variety of puppy feeding choices on the market today depending upon what breed of puppy you are feeding. I found several brands on Amazon.