young newf mother w/4 10 day olds

Question
Mom is only 13 months old. Had 7, 2 breech and 1 very small didn't make it. 4 remaining are growing, active, not overly noisy and seem to be doing well. Mom only spends 5 to 10 minutes at a time nursing now, often nurses sitting up. Feeds when pups start to vocalize. We sit with the mom in whelping box to get her to stay longer. Anything we can do to encourage longer nurseings? Is this normal for young mom? When should we consider supplemental feedings? Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi Diane. She is super young to be having puppies, still a puppy herself. That's probably why she doesn't want to stay with them. There's not a whole lot that you can do to get her to stay with them longer, you may have to end up bottle feeding them. I'd get her to feed them as much as you can, and then offer a bottle if they seem to still be hungry, to top them off. When they're three weeks old you can offer soaked puppy food. If the pups are fat, gorwing well, and seem content, then they're most likely getting enough milk at the moment. I'd go ahead and get some bottles and puppy milk to have on hand just in case. Good luck!