Nursing For A Month And A Half

Either if the mother is breast-feeding her puppies or if you are doing it directly by means of a baby bottle, the puppies must drink milk for at least one month and a half. After the puppies are already one month old, you can start feeding them chopped meat and boiled rice, not much, but simply enough for them to go getting used to other foods. If there is still being breast-fed (which is the normal case), and you want to give them their food, you have to separate them from their mother as she might eat all the food herself or the puppies might not want to separate themselves from their mother's breasts; however, if you have separated them for a couple of hours from their mother's side, they will be hungry and will avidly eat what is set before them.

When you make the food for the puppies, prepare it in bowls and recipients that are not used for human food or for the food of the adult dogs. From the very beginning, try to avoid any kind of infection that can be provoked this way. Also don't allow any visiting dogs while your puppies are still under two months old.

You must make sure that the area where the puppies and the mother are is clean and free of fleas. Before touching the puppies, you, as well as the rest of the members of your family, must wash your hands. Remember that at the moment of birth and for the next three weeks or so, the puppies are immune against many diseases; however the germs that a visitor might have brought to your house can live longer than three weeks. Therefore, it is not advisable to allow the presence of strangers in your house when the puppies have just been born.
