rejected pups - help!!

T

TayloredEq

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www.tayloredequestrian.com
Hi all,

have just taken on 7 german shepherd pups which the mum has rejected. They will be 5 weeks old on Friday. She hasn't really been interested in them for the last 3 days or so.

Have got them home and they were all very subdues. Have shown each one the water bowl and they have all had a drink. Have also put out some puppy biscuits for them, which they are now all munching on.

So anything else I should be doing? I have also picked up some puppy milk but do they need it if they are taking the biscuits and they are drinking?

All ideas welcomed.
 
My cousins dog rejected her pups at 4 weeks (some crazy no like 10 of them on a young mother!) they all had tons of energy though.
I think you should nip them down to the vets to get their opinion, they could be ill.
Have you checked for parasites? Did the owners give them any food?
 
puppies should not be subdued, definitely agree with getting them to the vet for a check up, they go down very very fast...good luck and please let us know how you get on
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I wouldn't worry too much about puppy milk replacement, at 5 weeks old they should be fine without. Its perfectly natural for them to be weaned at that age, our terrier usually gets a bit fed up with them once they start chomping on her with sharp teeth!!

But I would give them goats milk or even the puppy milk (as you already have it) with their food, just to soak it a bit and make it a bit softer. Goats milk is great we feed it to our bitch when she whelps and also then feed it to the pups from about 3 weeks old to mix and soften their puppy food. It is easier for them to digest than cows milk.

Also if they haven't been wormed yet then get down to the vet and get a puppy wormer, we use Drontal puppy as OH had problems previously with panacur causing the runs. They need worming every 2 weeks until 12 weeks old then... hmm would have to read the pack as I've forgotten!
Worms could quite easily make them seem a bit subdued, but also if you have taken them somewhere new they might well be a bit nervous anyway!

Good luck, keep us posted with updates and of course piccies!!
 
i agree with the above post ,at 5 weeks they are not really rejected they should be eating 3/4 meals a day of good quality puppy food , plenty of fresh water and milk if you like. they should be fine.
 
I just had a thought, wasn't too painful though
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Has anyone had the mum checked out to make sure she is ok? I wondered if maybe her milk had dried up or she had painful teats which is why she may not let them suckle anymore.

Mind you, 7 huge puppies at 5 weeks may be reason enough to tell them to go hunt their own food down
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I would definitely get them checked out by a vet. I have had bitches that really weren't keen on letting pups suckle at 5 weeks and the pups were fine. Well done for taking them on, but why could the breeder not look after them ? Regarding feeding, at 5 weeks I would be feeding a litter 4 meals a day of soaked complete puppy food. As they are not suckling at all giving them some goats milk or puppy milk might be a good idea but not essential. They should have access to water at all times. Has the bitch looked after them well until now, and were they eating sold food well, if so then they should be fine. They should have been wormed at least twice by now, and should be done again before they go to new homes. Good luck with them.
 
That made me wonder to MurphysMinder, if the bitchowner now thought she rejected her puppies, why didn't they stepped in an took over the care? How come you ended up with them TayloredEquestrian? Is "your" 7 puppies the whole litter, or only part of it? Are you now responsible for selling these puppies?
I probably sound overly curious, but it just sounds a little strange to me that you got them, maybe because it doesn't sound as if you got them because you had a possible foster-mother for them.

But anyway, now you got them. If they're healthy and only a little down because of the move, they should now be eating and drinking and being very perky when awake. As others have said, make sure they're up to date with the worming.

Don't know if this is what you meant with "anything else I should be doing?", but in case it was : make sure to slowly get them used ( continue make them used? ) to normal household sounds, such as radio, hoovering etc. They need toys and dogbones, for many reasons, one is that it gives them something else than each other to play and entertain themselves with. If you can, give them some more unusual, but safe, "toys" to investigate, like a bucket lying on it's side. At times, give them a quick grooming, to make them used to being handled.
If you have the puppypen indoors, don't cover the whole floor in the puppypen with newspapers, have a sleep area with bed/rugs and newspapers in the rest of the space, even young puppies quickly learns to prefer not to sleep in their own pee. There will probably be accidents, and sometimes they get so tired they just fall a sleep on the spot, be it in pee/over a bone/on top of a sibling... But I've heard from others, and saw it with my puppies, that ( if nothing else where to distracting ) they soon tried/prefered to pee on the newspapers.

Good look from Sweden.
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I agree with the others; the puppies are not exactly being rejected. At 5 weeks any puppies should be on solids and most are no longer suckling their mothers at this stage. Not sure why they are living with you? Seems odd that the breeder would not be still taking an interest in them at this stage. This is their socialising/learning period where they should be going outside with the mother and investigating new areas (within the confines of the property obviously as they are not vaccinated yet).

The litter of pups one of my bitches had almost a year ago, at 5 weeks were off their mother, were on mushy solids. I used diluted evaporated milk as couldn't get puppy milk here. I fed them a number of times a day and always left out a bowl of unmushed food too as something for them to crunch on.

My puppies at 5 weeks old had an absolute blast! They were really fun-filled and ran around all over the place - they were an absolute joy to have around. At 6-7 weeks, mine were pretty much housetrained with only the odd accident overnight. They all went to their new homes at this age and all settled in perfectly apparently.

Good luck, and most of all, enjoy them! They really are such fun at this stage.
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Hi all,

Have only quickly read the replies so hope this answers some questions!!

The pups were bred by accident. The owner has no interest in puppies whatsoever. The bitch stopped feeding them and the owner did not want the hassle of the puppies. So I have been asked to handle it all for them and yes the puppies are to be sold.

I have got the vet coming out to them at the end of the week to worm and to make sure that they are ok.

They have been eating puppy biscuits and I have given them some puppy milk. They have also been drinking well.

I don't think they have been very well handled, but we have had our little kitten in with them today and also our dogs (who are fully vaccinated) and they are being very sociable.

They are in the kitchen at night and then I put them in a stable up at the business while we are working during the day.

Hope that answers some questions and explains a few things.
 
Hi again. I have just seen an advert which I presume is for your business in my local Countrywide store, you are not far from me. I think you are being very noble taking on this litter, please pm me if I can be of any help (should add I am not offering to take the puppies, sorry ). Would it be too much to hope that the parents are hip scored, have papers etc? I don't think you will find it easy to sell the pups, credit crunch is hitting puppy sales too, and they will also be ready in the awful pre-Christmas period which is always a very difficult time to find the right home. Sorry to sound so negative, I really hope the pups thrive, and please let me know if I can be of help.
 
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