puppy success story

[KingstonTodd]

For those that are not on other breeders forums as well, I posted this there but thought there may be some here who would enjoy this story of mine as well

"I want to share a success stroy regarding our most recent litter and a pup we thought was not going to make it. This little guy was th 8th puppy born in a litter of 9. They are ranged from 380 grams to 450 grams at birth. He wa 400 grams. The next morning he was 400 g, then the next 330 g, then by the end of that day 300 g. He had lost 25% of his birthweight and he never had that full distended belly you see on the rest of the puppies. So we tried to bottle feed. We have had much success with this before helping a pup gain weight. Well thi little guy would chew and chew and chew the nipple but when he tried to suck nothing came out. We could tell he was starving. We checked for clleft palate agian, he is fine. We talked extensively with our vet about bottle feeding, and decided it was too dangerous a technique. I chose to give him multiple subcutaneous injections of lacteted ringers (has 5% sugar for energy) that evening. I got him to 330g. Alive but not good. He was weak and getting limp, although he still fought for a nipple but just couldnt get it to work. For his last bottle attempt of the night I had a eureka moment. You know when they are sucking, their mouth kinda smiles and the inner cheek layer, the bright red one, forms a tight seal with the nipple / teat to create a vacuum. When they suck under vacuum, the milk comes out. Well this little buy's mouth was too big, he wasnt making a seal! I used my thumb and index finger and pressed gently on the corners of his mouth, it made a seal, and his arms and legs shot straight out!!! CHUG CHUG CHUG. He drank 30 mls of milk so fast. His belly was huge and full. He slept soundly for 2 hours, and we repeated. Bottles every 3 hours for a day, he was up to 368g, then 414 g, then 470g. Now that he is a little bigger he seems to be able to do the right thing with his mouth on mama and is feeding on her as well. He's gonna make it and be fine.

I wish my vet told me this trick when we talked about his sucking problem. I'll let her know about it if she doesnt. I have a few dairy farmers in the family and one of them said "well of course, I do that with calves all the time". HELLO!, why didnt you tell me that when I told you about what was going on with the pup! Anyway, I thought I would share in case you don't know this trick, and if you do to tell anyone having a pup with trouble getting a good drink on. "

[M&Tdoodles]

Todd,
Very heart warming ...so nice to hear ofyour success after much attempt....very very nice.....
Its not so easy to breed and then have difficult feeders...we had a similar experience with 3 from a a litter of 13 . The last 3 were only 3 lbs each and we had to feed them. Bu what I used was a 1 cc syringe and I would drop tiny drops of milk on their tongue at first then they wuld suck sucing the end of the dropper well on their own.. I was lucky thathey could do it on their own without much assistance...and it was so nice to see them gain & not lose weight....
Good luck with that pup..he is very lucky to have you caring for him so well...

[Jac]

I have known of this struggle for the tiny one and I was so worried...and I must admit that Todd's a genius! I don't think I would have considered this but you can bet that it will be the first thing I try if I have fading puppies in the future (God forbid.)
I love this miracle story...and that pup is such a lucky boy...Todd is a fabulous breeder!

[Raleighsmom]

I know absolutely nothing about breeding Todd, but I sure did enjoy your story, and am so happy the little guy bounded back and is doing so well!

[MaxandMe]

TODD i love this success story and you using COMMON SENSE!!!!
and who knows, with this post you might save other puppies for other breeders in the future!!!

thank you soooooooooooo much for sharing your success story!!!!

[sheamusmom]

Todd,
What a heartwarming story. I've used a similar technique feeding premature babies in the neonatal ICU!

[Lucky Me]

Wow....lucky puppy & smart dad!
Wish I had known that trick...I have had to do it the hard way with a dropper, then bottle till it could nurse. It is ALOT of work, but very much worth it when the puppy starts to come around!