Taking Care of a Puppy Without Its Mother

A mother dog typically nurses her puppies for six to eight weeks after birth. During this time, a puppy cannot yet eat solid foods and relies on its mother's milk for important nutrients to grow into a healthy dog. However, circumstances arise that prevent some puppies from feeding from their mother's milk. Whether you have a runt that cannot feed or have a young puppy without a mother, you can take care of the young dog on your own, using nursing supplies you can purchase from a local pet store or veterinarian.

Things You'll Need

  • 25-watt metal work light
  • Thermometer
  • Clean towels
  • Puppy bottle
  • Puppy milk formula
  • Pan
  • Alarm clock
  • Clean sponge
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Instructions

    • 1

      Keep the puppy in a clean, warm box. Suspend a 25-watt metal work light over a cardboard box and place the puppy inside. Place a thermometer in the box to monitor the ambient temperature. It should be between 90 and 95 degrees during the puppy's first week. During the second week, reduce the temperature to 85 and then reduce the temperature by 5 degrees for the third and fourth weeks. By the five week and beyond, keep the temperature to 70 degrees or room temperature.

    • 2

      Place clean towels at the bottom of the box to make the environment more comfortable and easier to clean. Remove and replace the towels as often as necessary to keep the puppy away from waste, urine and vomit on soiled towels.

    • 3

      Make enough dog milk formula according to package directions for one day and refrigerate it until used. Warm the formula in the bottle in a pan of water until about 98-100 degrees. Be sure to clean the bottle and nipple after each feeding.

    • 4

      Lay the puppy on its stomach for feeding. Hold the bottle in front of the puppy's mouth and allow him to take hold. If the puppy does not take to the bottle, you may have to place the nipple into the puppy's mouth or try tube feeding the puppy, which is only recommended if bottle feeding fails. Hold the puppy upright or over your shoulder and pat its back to burp it. This needs to be done during and after each feeding.

    • 5

      Prepare to spend less time sleeping while you raise an orphaned puppy. Use an alarm clock to both wake yourself and serve as a reminder for feeding times. During the first three days, you need to feed the puppy every two hours; the rest of the first week you must feed the puppy once every three hours during the day and every four hours at night. During the second week, feedings should occur every four hours during the day, with an interval of six hours at night. During the third week, you can begin to feed the puppies a soft puppy food three times a day along with bottle feeding.

    • 6

      To make the puppy food, add 2 cups of a high-quality dry puppy food with 12.5 oz. of puppy formula to a blender and fill the rest of the container with hot water. Blend until it is the consistency of baby food. This will make enough for about six to eight feedings.

    • 7

      Stimulate the puppy to eliminate immediately after feeding. Puppies lack the ability to both urinate and defecate during the first three weeks of life. Mother dogs aid the pups by licking the puppy's anus and genitals to stimulate a bowel movement and urination. Stimulate the puppy to eliminate by dampening a clean sponge in warm water and wiping at the puppy's rear repeatedly for as much as three minutes until the puppy eliminates.

    • 8

      Snuggle with the puppy before and after feeding. A puppy needs gentle stimulation for nurturing and to prepare it for socialization. Occasionally take a damp towel or sponge and run it gently over the puppy to clean it and get it used to the idea of licking itself.