How to Care for Newborn Poodles

If your female poodle is a new mother, that means you've become a poodle parent as well. While the mother will feed and take care of her newborn puppies, there are still tasks you have to do as a pet owner to keep the babies safe and healthy. In the event that the mother rejects one or more of her poodle puppies or if she is not producing enough milk, the care of these tiny dogs will rest on you alone. Consult your veterinarian in this situation to make sure you are providing the best care for the puppies.

Things You'll Need

  • Whelping box
  • Heat lamp, heating pad or hot water bottles
  • Newspapers
  • Old towels or bedding
  • Scale
  • Puppy formula (if needed)
  • Puppy bottle or eye dropper
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Instructions

    • 1

      Keep the poodles' environment warm and cozy; newborn puppies are not able to regulate their body temperature, and have lower temperatures than older dogs. The puppies should be kept in their whelping box, which should be maintained at 90 degrees Fahrenheit for the first four days of their life, then gradually decreased. Use heat lamps over the whelping box to keep the puppies warm, place a heating pad under blankets in the whelping box or place hot water bottles wrapped in towels next to the pups.

    • 2

      Check on the poodles frequently throughout the day to make sure they are feeding and growing properly. The puppies should eat about once every two hours for the first week. Weigh the puppies once a day and keep track of their growth; if they aren't gaining 10 to 15 percent of their birth weight each day, or about a half ounce each day for a poodle, bottle feed them a puppy formula supplement purchased from your vet or a pet store.

    • 3

      Feeding of puppies who don't have access to a mother's milk should be done via a bottle about six times per day. Use a special puppy bottle and feed it with room temperature puppy formula. Avoid bottle feeding your puppy on its back or in an upright position, as the dog could aspirate the milk or choke on it.

    • 4

      Change the bedding in the whelping box frequently and lay down fresh newspapers and blankets. Puppies can't urinate or defecate until they're about three weeks old, so the mother will help them eliminate waste by licking their backsides. If you are taking care of orphaned puppies, you can rub a warm, wet cloth on the poodles' urinary and anal regions to stimulate them to defecate.

    • 5

      Feed your puppies solid food mixed with liquid by the time they reach about four weeks old. Combine puppy food with a small amount of water or milk to make it easier for them to digest. Give the puppies regular solid food by the time they are seven or eight weeks of age.