Mother dog not wanting to feed

Question
Hi. I am so new at this and have read lost of things on the Internet about this.I have a momma dog, she had 10 pups. She was a wonderful mom when they were born, She stayed with them and cared for them. Being she had the pups 1 week before Christmas when it was so cold she let us know that she wanted to bring them inside by darting in the door when it was open. So her and the pups have the empty space in the dinning room. Now the problem. They just turned 3 weeks old Friday and I have noticed that she does not stay in the area with them. Her Teats are SOOO full but she wont lay down to feed. they try to latch on while she is standing. But she just moves away. After I observed this behavior I looked closely at the pups and they were not as round. lighter in weight. So I started them today on mush. Puppy chow and puppy formula. I did see her feed once today but not for long. HELP I want the babies to be healthy. what else can be done? Should I lock her in with them?  

Answer

Hi Billie,

Are the puppies nursing at all? When the puppies are somewhere around 3 or 4 weeks old, the momma naturally begins to wean them herself. She will nurse them for shorter periods only, and will often remain standing so that they can't get too comfortable. As the pups nurse less and less, the momma's teats will shrink in size.

If the momma dog's breasts seem sort of hard, look red or feel warm, she may have an infection. You would need to have her examined by a veterinarian to rule out an infection of the mammary glands, called Mastitis. Mastitis can be a painful condition, which might explain why your dog is reluctant to nurse. This can be a very serious condition, so you should not put off having your dog examined. Because they pups are starting to lose weight, they should able be examined.

It's good one of the pups is eating the mush, but they are a little young to eat mush for all of their meals, if they aren't still nursing. You may need to bottle feed the littler for a week or so before they all catch on to the concept of eating semi-solid food. At three weeks old, four feedings per day are quite sufficient. Here are directions on how to bottle feed:

http://www.2ndchance.info/orphanpuppy.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_4421318_bottle-feed-new-puppy.html

Best of luck,
Patti