Q&A for How to Care for Newborn Puppies

Purchase some female dog replacement milk (Lactol) and make the powdered milk up as directed on the tube. Feed the puppy every 2-3 hours, until he is around 4 weeks old. Then, you can go down to 4-5 feeds a day. Start early weaning by teaching him to drink milk from a saucer at around 4 weeks of age, and then make a gruel with canned puppy food. Be sure to wipe his rear end with damp cotton wool after each feed, as puppies hold onto their toilet until stimulated to go by the mother's licking. Keep the puppy warm but not hot.

Puppies are born deaf and blind. Their eyes and ears start to open anywhere from 7-14 days of age (on average, around 10 days).

Yes, if the puppies are in the same litter and it's for the same feed. However, be sure to sterilize the bottle teat in between feeds, since milk residue encourages bacterial growth, which could be dangerous to the puppies.

Newborn puppies feed every 1 to 2 hours. When with a nursing mother, she is best left to feed the puppies. However, orphan pups need feeding at least every two hours, day and night.

Hopefully, their mother is there to take care of them, so sit tight and wait for her to act. However, just like human babies, puppies cry when they are hungry or in distress, such as being too hot or too cold. They also might cry because they don't know where their mother is. Check to make sure the room is a comfortable temperature, they are safe, and their mother can get to them.

Before touching a newborn puppy, always wash your hands. This prevents the spread of germs. From Day 0-3, the mother is still bonding with the puppies and she may be upset if you handle them. However, some mothers are relaxed and don't mind, so this needs judging on a case by case basis.

For the first two weeks of life, puppies are unable to thermoregulate. This means they can't generate their own heat to keep warm, and rely on the environment to stop them getting chilled. After about day 13, most pups are not so reliant on being kept warm and will venture away from their mother.

If the mother doesn't have enough milk and you need to feed the puppies, always use a milk replacement that is the same makeup as dog milk. There are several of these available commercially, such as Canilac or Lactol.