What do I do with a Pit that has 14 nursing puppies? They're 3 weeks old and she's getting mean to them and trying to wean them. She looks like a skeleton and looks extremely tired and stressed. Please help.
By Tammy
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First, to answer your question:
Your dog has fourteen lives dependent on her for nutrition. They are literally sucking the nutrition straight out of her body. All the food is going to her milk production and none of it is going to her. Your dog is rejecting her puppies to save her own life.
First, nursing dogs require high-nutrition dog food. Don't just feed her more of the cheap stuff, that won't work. You'll get more waste (poop) but she won't get all the nutrition she needs out of it. Your dog needs special food for nursing mother dogs. You may have to feed it to her 4 or 5 times a day for a while.
Another problem you are having is that your dog has too many puppies. A dog has 8 to 12 nipples with 10 being the average. So your dog could be up to six nipples short. That means the biggest, strongest puppies are getting fed first and the little ones are getting what's left over. This means you'll need to provide supplemental feedings to the smallest puppies. You'll need puppy formula and tiny bottles. They'll need 2-4 supplemental feedings per day.
Hopefully when the pressure is off the mother and she doesn't feel like she's starving to death she won't continue to reject her puppies.
Now, I'd like to ask you a question- why are you breeding this dog? Is this a very valuable papered, pedigreed animal? And the father, too? Are you a licensed breeder? If not, consider that you've just endangered your dog by not having her spayed. Some of the puppies may also not survive. If this is a housepet, there is no reason to breed her and every reason to have her spayed. Just because friends or neighbors want puppies is no excuse. And never sell or give pit puppies to people you don't know personally- not even a "friend of a friend." That's how they end up tearing each other to pieces in vicious dog fighting rings. I'm certain you didn't think of where you were going to find fourteen good, loving homes for these puppies to live the rest of their lives. Please have your dog spayed as soon as she's weaned her pups.
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