How to Care for Newborn Puppies - Helping the Puppies Learn to Nurse

1. Help the puppy latch on to the mother’s nipple. A newborn puppy is blind and deaf, and is not able to walk until it is about 10 days old. It wriggles around to find its mother’s nipple and nurse. Some puppies may need a little help in learning how to latch on.[19]
- To help the puppy, first wash and dry your hands. Pick up the puppy and place her against a nipple. The puppy may make exploratory movements with her mouth, but if she is not finding the nipple, gently guide her head so that her lips rest on the nipple.
- You might need to squeeze a drop of milk from the teat. The puppy will smell it and should latch on.
- If the puppy still doesn’t latch, gently insert a finger into the corner of her mouth to open the jaw slightly. Then place her open mouth over the teat and release your finger. The puppy should start suckling.[20]

2. Monitor the puppies’ feedings. Make a mental note of which puppies feed on which nipples. The rear teats produce more milk than those further forward. A puppy who nurses on a front teat may be getting less milk than a puppy who nurses on a rear teat.
- If a puppy is not gaining weight at the same rate as the others, try to get the puppy to nurse on a rear teat instead.[21]

3. Do not mix nursing and bottle feeding. When a mother nurses her puppy, her body will produce milk. When nursing is reduced, milk production also reduces. If there is less milk production, there is a risk that the mother’s body will stop producing enough milk to provide ample nutrition to her babies.[22]
- Only try bottle feeding if it is absolutely essential. This might occur if the puppy does not have enough physical strength to compete with its littermates to nurse. Another reason might be if the mother has birthed a large litter and has more puppies than teats.

4. Keep food and water in easy reach for the mother. The mother will be reluctant to leave her newborns, so make sure she has easy access to food and water. Some bitches will not even move from the box for the first 2-3 days. In this case, offer food and water inside the box.[23]
- The puppies will be able to observe the mother eating her food.

5. Allow the puppies to investigate their mother’s food. The puppies will rely solely on mother’s milk for their nutrition for 3-4 weeks. Towards the end of this time, they may start investigating their mother's food, which is part of the weaning process. At this age, they are no longer considered newborns.[24]