[dawniekakes]

My dog had a litter of five 4 dogs a lot bigger then one thought it was just the runt of litter but now see mother is not feeding it a bought formula for dog and a bottle but the puppy barly takes any in is it too late to save this puppy it is almost 3 weeks old but very weak

[bushg]

I saw an article with a feeding scheldule for puppies that are the weaklings. I will try to find and post it. I hope you have taken it to a vet, if the puppy is ill maybe the most humane thing would be, is to allow the vet to put it down.
You are probably finding out that raising puppies is expensive and can be time consuming and heartbreaking, maybe the best option would be to spay the momma.

[bushg]

I 'm sorry but I could not find the site however I found this. You should be feeding it every 2-3 hours and at 3 weeks should start feeding a samll amount of moist dog food they also said that turkey or chicken baby food could be fed. There has been a vet on here in the past maybe she will see this question and give you some advice. Good luck

[jcdill]

Hello Dawniekakes,

Unfortunately, you are witnessing first hand Survival of the Fittest - nature's way of weeding out the weak. Nature knows that not every puppy will be strong, and not every puppy should be allowed to survive to contribute to the gene pool. It is nature's way that if the runt can't fight its way to the nipple it will weaken and die. The mother is instinctively programmed to let the runt die so she can focus her energies on raising her healthy and strong puppies. If the mother was instinctively programmed to put extra effort into raising the weak puppies, over time the species and breed would become weaker rather than stronger.

You are fighting Nature when you try to save this puppy. Sometimes it can be done, but you need to think about why nature's way is to let the puppy die so you can think through the entire problem and make sure you are making the right decision.

Without vet help this puppy is not likely to survive. Even with vet help this puppy may not survive. Even if it survives it will not be as big, strong, healthy as its littermates. It definitely will not be suitable for adding to the gene pool and should be sold for a nominal price on a spay/neuter contract, not sold as a show or breeding prospect. The money you put into saving this puppy will not be recovered by selling the puppy. You are likely to put more money into saving this puppy than you will make by selling the entire litter.

I don't mean to make this all about money, but you have to consider the financial implications of your choices. What happens if you put a lot of money into trying to save this puppy, a stronger and healthier puppy needs expensive vet care? Will you have the resources to save that puppy too?

If you take this puppy to the vet and the vet can help save it, once it no longer needs the vet's care you will probably need to hand-feed it for several weeks. A healthy 3-week old puppy can get by with 4 feedings a day, but this is not a healthy puppy. You will likely need to feed it 6-8 times a day. You may need to get up in the middle of the night for one of these feedings. Your vet can give you the exact schedule based on your puppy's condition. You may need to buy different formula, different bottles, etc. from the supplies you already have. Your vet can advise you if the items you already have are sufficient or not.

I know this is a hard decision to make. {{{hugs}}}

Jc