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wikiHow to Socialize Orphaned Newborn Puppies

Three Parts:Caring for Newborn PuppiesWatching over the Pups After Two WeeksSocializing the Puppies after Four WeeksCommunity Q&A

Puppies are weak and vulnerable when they’re born, and are completely reliant on their mother for care and nourishment for the first several weeks of life. In situations where a litter of puppies has been orphaned, you will need to care for the newborn pups as their mother normally would. In addition, newborn pups—and all puppies up to 16 or 20 weeks of age—are very impressionable and need to be socialized by experiencing other pups, people, and life situations.[1] While the orphaned puppies will play and socially interact with one another, you will need to watch over them in the outside world, and be responsible for their feeding and socialization, as the pups’ mother would usually handle these responsibilities.

Part 1
Caring for Newborn Puppies

  1. 1
    Limit handling during the neonatal period. The neonatal period extends from birth through two weeks. During this period, the pups’ eyes and ears will not be open, and they’ll be limited to the sense of taste, smell, and touch. The mother dog (dam) would normally watch them closely at this time, so the responsibility is now yours.[2]
    • Touch the pups when necessary—primarily to feed them—and allow your scent to imprint on the pups. This will help them develop an emotional bond with you, as the surrogate dam.
    • Since the pups will be largely immobile during the neonatal stage, they are too young to be handled by children. To help prevent injury or disease, restrict the number of adults that handle the pups. Were the puppies not orphans, only the dam would interact with neonatal pups.
  2. 2
    Keep the pups isolated in a warm dog bed. In a natural setting, the pups' mother would confine them to a den or bed, where the pups would stay during the neonatal stage. Keep the temperature in the room warm, and you can leave the lights off, since the puppies won’t be able to see.[3]
    • Choose a wooden or plastic box without holes. You can use a whelping box purchased from a pet store or online. You can also reuse a plastic crate, as long as it is big enough for all of the puppies. Do not use a laundry basket with holes, as puppies might get stuck in them.
    • You can keep the box warm by placing a heating pad one side of the box. Set the heating pad to its lowest setting, and cover it with one or two towels so that the puppies are not lying directly on top of it. Keep half of the box unheated, so that warm puppies can cool down if needed.[4]
    • Do not use many blankets or towels in the box. One or two is sufficient.
  3. 3
    Bottle feed the puppies. Since the dam would normally breastfeed her pups, you’ll need to manually feed the orphaned puppies. Feed each puppy while it is lying on its belly, and let it suck on the bottle nipple until full. During the first 72 hours of the puppies’ lives, feed each pup once every two hours. For the duration of the neonatal period, feed the pups every four hours during the day, although you can leave the pups unfed for 6 hours at night.[5]
    • Puppy feeding bottles should be available for purchase at your local pet store. Also purchase a puppy-specific brand of formula, as puppy formula will provide the nutrients that the pups need. Do not feed your puppies cows’ milk or goats’ milk.
    • Ask your veterinarian if they have a preferred type of bottle and a preferred brand of puppy formula.
    • Always follow the directions on the label of the formula for preparing and feeding the puppies.
  4. 4
    Help the pups urinate and defecate. During the neonatal period, puppies are unable to eliminate waste on their own, as they lack control over the corresponding muscles. Were the pups not orphans, their mother would stimulate urination and defecation by licking the puppies’ anal area. Since the pups are orphans, you’ll need to provide this stimulation. Use a warm, damp washcloth to wipe the pups’ anal and genital areas, and clean up any excrement that the pups produce.[6]
    • You’ll need to facilitate the puppies’ waste elimination until they’re roughly three weeks old. After that point, the pups will gain the necessary muscle control to urinate and defecate on their own.
  5. 5
    Weigh the puppies to monitor their growth. Place each puppy on an electronic kitchen or postal scale twice a day to see how they are growing. You should do this either before or after they eat. They should steadily increase in weight. If they start losing weight, call the vet.[7]
  6. 6
    Take the puppies to the vet to be examined for health problems. Your vet should examine the puppies shortly after birth to make sure that they have no significant health problems or defects, like cleft palates. If the puppies stop eating, lose weight, or continually cry, call your vet, as these may indicate a problem.[8]

Part 2
Watching over the Pups After Two Weeks

  1. 1
    Briefly handle pups during the transition period. This period covers from two to four weeks; the pups eyes and ears will open, and they’ll begin to walk and take a few tentative steps around the bed where they’ve been kept. It’s important that the pups are handled during this period, so that you can imprint on them and the pups gain familiarity with humans. Stroke and hold each pup for only a couple of minutes every day.[9]
    • The pups will begin walking during the transition period, and will be quite clumsy. Keep a close eye on the pups, and don’t let them out of the room with their bed.
    • If the puppies are outgrowing their whelping box, you may need to get a larger one.
  2. 2
    Groom the puppies. Grooming is another behavior that the dam would usually perform for her puppies; since the puppies are orphans, you’ll need to groom the pups. In addition to providing basic hygiene, grooming also plays a role in the pups’ socialization by providing physical warmth and contact. You should at least hold and brush the pups once every couple of days; this will help the pups’ brains develop more quickly and will form an emotional bond between you and the puppies.[10]
    • Depending on the breed of dog, the pups may require more or less grooming. If you’re unfamiliar with the breed’s grooming requirements, ask your veterinarian how you should groom the puppies.
  3. 3
    Transition the pups to eating solid food. While the puppies will need to be bottle fed during the first 5 weeks of their lives—the time during which they would normally be breastfed by their dam—by the 6th week, the pups’ teeth will have developed enough for them to begin eating kibble. If you have the time, you can help the pups transition by providing “puppy mush” between 4-6 weeks as an intermediate food. You can make puppy mush by placing kibble, puppy milk formula, and warm water in a blender.[11]
    • In case some of the pups’ teeth are slow to push through the gums, you should also make soft, canned food available, in case some of the pups prefer this food.
    • Wipe down each puppy's face after they eat with a warm, damp cloth to remove any mushy food from around their mouths.

Part 3
Socializing the Puppies after Four Weeks

  1. 1
    Let the pups play and roughhouse. Although the puppies will be small and weak when newborn, they will quickly become curious, playful, and active. Between 4 and 12 weeks, the pups will begin to socialize with one another, often through playful “wrestling.” The puppies will also begin to explore their environment and engage with the humans they encounter.[12]
    • Once the pups reach about five weeks of age, you can let them out of the room in which they were kept following birth. Let the pups roam through your house or apartment—but keep a close watch on them, especially around stairs and electrical wires.
  2. 2
    Let the puppies experience the outside world. Between three and twelve weeks, pups go through a period of critical socialization, during which they need to be exposed to new experiences, sounds, and people. If pups are inadequately socialized, they may be hostile towards unfamiliar people and animals, or may react with fear to all new situations.[13]
    • Around five weeks of age, you can take the puppies on brief five minute walks around the neighborhood you live in. This will allow them to hear traffic and outdoor sounds, and let the pups overcome their initial fears of the unfamiliar outside world.
    • Keep puppies away from other dogs and people until they have been fully vaccinated.
  3. 3
    Expose the puppies to other people. Show the puppies to your friends and family members, and invite them to gently play with the pups. The puppies need to learn to inhibit their urge to playfully bite, and should develop social skills with people. Take the pups to a dog park or regular park, and ask a couple of friends to meet you there to play with and cuddle the pups.[14]
    • The pups should be exposed to a range of ages (from children to the elderly), and need to meet people in a variety of settings. If possible, take the puppies to work or school with you, and allow anyone interested to pet the pup.
    • Make sure that all of these interactions are positive and fun for the puppy. If the pup shows signs of fatigue or anxiety (for example, hiding in a corner), remove the pup from the situation.[15]
  4. 4
    Socialize the pups with other puppies and dogs. This is an important aspect of socialization: even though the orphaned pups have each other to play and socialize with, exposing them to other puppies, grown dogs, and other animal species, will help your puppies develop social skills.[16] Also consider taking your puppies to a “puppy class”: a large group of puppies gathered by their owners to socialize. These classes are often facilitated through pet stores, such as PetSmart or Petco. [17]
    • If you have friends or family members who own puppies or dogs, invite them to bring the pups to your house or apartment. Be sensitive to differences in age and size, however; your tiny pups could be accidentally harmed by an energetic large dog.
    • Before allowing your puppies to meet other animals, make sure that your pups have all been vaccinated, and that the other animals have been as well.
  5. 5
    Take the pups to the veterinarian for vaccinations around six weeks of age. At this point, the pups will be old enough to transport safely, and will have developed physically enough to allow the veterinarian to assess their overall health. Make sure the vet knows that the pups are orphans, and ask if the puppies are ready to begin receiving standard vaccinations.[18]
    • If you are concerned about the pups’ health prior to six weeks—especially if they display concerning symptoms like vomiting, crying, coughing, or diarrhea—call the vet and schedule an appointment or a house call immediately.

Community Q&A

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    • If you plan to sell or give the pups to other owners, wait until the pups are about eight weeks old. They’ll be able to eat hard food at this point.
    • Explain to the pups’ new owners that the litter was orphaned, and clarify that the new owners need to continue to socialize the pups.

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    Categories: Puppy Socialization | Newborn Puppies


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