Feeding Orphan Puppies

While the majority of female dogs are wonderful, loving mothers, certain circumstances, such as the mother being very young or having milk failure, may lead her to reject her litter of puppies. In these cases, humans must step in to ensure the health and safety of the puppies.

Things You'll Need

  • Small cardboard box or dog bed
  • Blanket or towel
  • Heating pad
  • Pet nursing bottles or baby bottles
  • Bottle nipples
  • Puppy milk formula
  • Puppy kibble
  • Water
  • Food processor or blender
  • Scale
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Instructions

    • 1

      Line the small cardboard box or dog bed with a blanket or towel for the puppies.

    • 2

      Turn a heating pad on to the lowest setting and place it underneath one end of the box or bed. You can also use a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel. Monitor the temperature of the puppies' living space carefully; it should be warm but not hot.

    • 3

      Purchase a commercial canine milk replacement, bottles and nipples made for nursing puppies or premature human babies.

    • 4

      Mix the puppy milk formula according to the directions. According to the Pet Education website, newborn puppies should be fed every two hours for the first 48 to 72 hours, then every three hours, with the exception of two four-hour stretches at night, for the remainder of the first week. The puppies should be fed every four hours during the second week.

    • 5

      Warm the milk before placing the puppy on its stomach; avoid feeding a puppy lying on its back. Insert the nipple into the puppy's mouth gently and squeeze the bottle very lightly so that it release one or two drops of milk. This encourages the puppy to suck on its own. The Pet Education website notes that a puppy that weighs 8 ounces should consume 30 milliliters of formula in 24 hours.

    • 6

      Continue bottle feeding the puppies until they are a month old. At four weeks, begin transitioning the puppies to solid food with "puppy mush." Add 2 cups of puppy kibble and 12.5 oz. of puppy milk formula to a blender and fill the rest of the blender jug with hot water. Blend the ingredients together until the puppy mush is the texture of baby cereal; this amount should feed between six and eight medium-sized breed puppies.

    • 7

      Feed the "puppy mush" to the puppies between four and five times a day while gradually reducing the number of bottle feedings. Give the puppies small amounts of the puppy mush at first and increase the amount as you reduce the bottle feedings. The Pet Education website states that, by six weeks of age, puppies can be completely transitioned to solids.