[philsue39]

My shihtzu gave birth 4 days ago to 6 pups but she is not a big eater and is bot producing enough milk for all of them 2 seem to be crying all the time she is tired with trying to feed them all please help

[mogrann]

I have read others posting that there is a milk you can feed the pups. I would call my vet and ask them. You could also take mommy in for a check up to make sure everything is OK with her(never know the vet may have an idea of what to do about the lack of milk being produced)

[Lucky098]

What are you feeding mom? Sometimes the moms don't make milk right away. Feed her a high quality puppy food. Keep in mind anything you feed her goes right through her body and goes towards her pups. Puppy food helps produce milk, keeps fat on the mama and also plumps up the puppies.

A Vet will give a hormone shot. Take her in and see if they feel its necessary to do this. You should take her and the pups in anyway to make sure everyone is OK. Sometimes the vet won't give the shot and just let nature take its course. Dogs don't produce lots of milk right after birth. They create more milk as the pups get older.

I'm sure she is producing enough milk. Take her off them for about an hour and try and milk her and see what you get. Puppies (especially new borns) will keep her very drained. If you take her off for about an hour, she should bag out pretty good.

The puppies that you feel arnt getting enough food, you can supplement them. I don't really like the store brand milk. I think it's a bunch of crap to be honest. There is a good recipe for home made milk... Its goat milk, yogurt, egg yolk and sugar water. Get a "new born" human baby bottle and nipple and make sure that its very soft and easy to get stuff through. Puppies will exhaust themselves trying to get food. Keep the puppies on mom and just check on them every once in awhile to make sure that they have full bellies. Some puppies can be cry babies too.

Even though your dog is a first time mom, dogs do know how to take care of their babies. She's learning on what to do just as much as you are. She'll take care of them. Just keep an eye on her and them and help out when needed.

[philsue39]

Hi thanks for that I have just sent for a supplement just in case, I glad I know the milk will be more productive as the pups get older. I will use the receipe for home made milk you printed thank you. The mum is doing great. Thanks for your time x

[Lucky098]

Leerburg | Bottle Feeding Puppies

Here is the actual reciepe for the milk and additional information on orphaned puppies.

[Emily94]

It seems this question already has a great answer, but I'd like to add that my vet has "puppy bottles", you don't have to buy the supplement you cam just buy the bottle, I think it would be best to use that since it is very small and won't confuse the pups too much about moms nipple and the bottles nipple. If the pups start to loose weight chances are mom is not producing enough, but if there gaining weight and look healthy there fine. Buy a scale you weigh food on, it worked wonders when my ferret was a baby and I needed to see if I was feeding the fatty too much (he ate about 1 1/2 cups a day and he was only the size of my hand!)