need info for young pup

[Martyvez]

Hi, my name is Martin and I live in an isolated community in the north. I adopted a 4 week old pup today, half st-bernard and half inuit sled dog. I know 4 week is young to leave from the mother but the owner was tired of them and told me to pick it up now or she would get rid of him. The owner of the mother said the mother would not feed the pups anymore due to the pups teeth. The puppy will be 4 weeks in 2 days exactly and weighs 3.6lbs. Does that sound healthy? What should I feed him, is regular puppy chow ok? Should I give him milk? any suggestions would be great.

Thanks.

[LavenderRott]

Hmm. Do you have access to a vet?

Puppy chow is really bad food, ingredients wise. I am assuming that you don't have any good pet stores that carry the better foods, so here goes - look for a food that has at least two meat products in the first 5 ingredients listed. Meat by-products do not count. Try to find a food with no corn or soy in them. If they do have corn or soy - the further down the list, the better.

After you find a food, you would probably be better off grinding it up so that when you mix it with some milk, it makes a mash. You can get mother's milk replacement around here, but I live in a big city so I doubt that you can find it. I would mix the milk and dog food until it makes an oatmeal like consistancy.

You are going to have to get your pup some shots and see if you can find someone who has a female dog that has a litter (maybe she will foster your pup) or has had a litter because your little guy is going to need to learn a lot that he/she would have learned if he/she had stayed with the litter for the next 4 weeks. Remember to socialize with dogs that have had all of their shots - your pup needs to stay as healthy as possible right now.

[Martyvez]

Hi, thanks for the reply, I don't have access to a vet so no shots for now. The only dog food available here is Purina puppy chow and Purina dog chow. They both have corn and soy. I suppose I could order some better quality stuff from down south. What do you think of raw caribou meat? Alot of locals feed their dogs with caribou. Would it be ok to feed it puppy chow for now with milk? How many times a day and how big should be the portions? This stuff is all new to me, any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[LavenderRott]

I haven't weaned pups in 20+ years! LOL!!

Yes, you can use puppy chow with milk. If you have a blender, you can grind up a bunch in there and I would start with about a half cup of dried food, then add milk until it is kind of soupy but not real runny. If the pup eats all that up and still acts hungry, try a little more.

Personally, I think I would do this 6 times a day. If at one meal, the pup doesn't seem hungry, you could cut it back a bit. Like I said, it has been a very long time since I have dealt with puppies that young.

Raw meat is fine, but dogs really require more then just meat and since this pup doesn't have access to the supplement of his/her mother's milk - I think I would stick with the crappy dog food for now.

[BMDLuver]

No milk please... they will not tolerate it.. do the following:

1 can carnation condensed milk
2 cans water
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. corn syrup
5 drops mineral oil

Take this mixture and add it warmed to some puppy chow in a blender. Pulverize it and offer it on a saucer. If the pup won't eat it then take a bit on your finger and put it on the roof of the pups mouth. This will encourage them to eat. Each week, reduce the volume of milk replacer formula adding more puppy chow.

The key is to make sure that the pup gets plenty of fluids and is kept warm. Take a blanket and an old sock. Fill the old sock with rice and oatmeal. Tie the old sock up and heat it in the microwave for a maximum of two minutes. After the pup has fed, place him in a box with the blanket and warm sock. You'll have to do this every 2 hours for the first week, then every 3 next week etc.. Make sure you stimulate the pup to do his business.. take a warm face cloth and gently rub the private areas to help the pup relieve himself. It's a lot of work but the pup will make it if you are diligent.

[technodoll]

if you can give the pup some ground-up raw meat with ground-up bones, supplemented with raw eggs, milk, mashed cooked fish, some cooked oatmeal (not all at the same time of course!) then you should be fine. don't forget the organ meats either. if you can't grind the bones, you can use a calcium supplement or powdered eggshells.

let me know if you need a resource on weaning a puppy on raw, i have great info for you.

i would stay away from the crappy, unnatural puppy chow... poor thing doesn't need the digestive stress

good luck!

[Martyvez]

Thanks for all the advice guys, really helpfull. I have been feeding him the carnation, egg, water, corn syrup and mineral oil since last night and i started adding a bit of raw caribou meat this morning. He seems ok, he's playfull, his poop is not too hard, not too soft. Someone told me ground corn beef, is that good?

Thanks again for all the help.