puppies illnesses

Question
My dog had a litter of 8 puppies last friday the 5th of June.  Since then
they have been dyeing and I dont know why.  I thought that the mother was
just not feeding them but Im not sure.  My other female dog had a litter
of puppies In May so I have been having her try to feed the remaining 3
puppies.  My husbands friend at work said that same thing had happened to
him with a litter of boxer puppies.  He said that the mother had a virus
in her nipples and the puppies got it and died.  The mother was fine and
didn't have any signs of the virus.  My questions is this,  People eat
yogurt to help with (poisons, Illnesses) of the stomack.  Will the yogurt
help the puppies and let them eat and get better?  Please let me know your
opinion.

Answer
Hi Peggy!  I am so sorry you are going through this!  Yogurt, although good for dogs, would not be healthy for pups this young, and would not improve any illness in pups this young either.
Death of pups this age could be due to vitamin deficiancy.  Often times, the mother dog will develop a calcium deficiancy problem, therefore leaving her pups in need of calcium.  Do you know who the "father" of these pups is?  Often times, canine herpes virus will be contracted through mating.  The mother dog most likely does not show any symptoms or signs of this virus, but the pups will get the virus during birth.  A puppy that is a bit older would be able to make it through this, but puppies this young do not have a functioning body thermastat.  Therefore, they can not spike a fever, so their temperatures just plunge, causing death.  There are many canine viruses that can be contracted during birth that will cause the puppies to die. And, as what happened to your husband's friend's dog and pups...this is always a definate possibility when multiple deaths occur in a litter, and although everything may look normal on the outside, there may be a problem you can't see on the inside.'
Your best bet would be to have the remaining three puppies and the mother dog examined by your veterinarian.  If one or two puppies had died, that can sometimes be normal, but since 5 puppies have died, some sort of infection/bacteria/virus/defect, ect. must be present to cause this to happen to this litter.
Unfortunately, without seeing the pups, this is all the information I can give you.  Please let me know what your veterinarian says, and give all those pups and mama dog kisses for me!
Hilary