Supplemental puppy feedings

Question
QUESTION: My sweet little Boston girl (Domino) gave birth to 8 beautiful healthy puppies( her first litter) on 12/18.  We were not expecting 8! I would like to know if I should help mom out with the feedings?  She is not big enough to feed all 8 at once.  She looks to be rotating them for feedings. LOL  I plan to do a weigh in on the pups.  How often should I weigh them? Thank you in advance for your help.


Puppy Feeding   ANSWER: Hi Pam.  Wow, 8 new Boston Terrier Puppies!  How fun.  

Yes, I recommend helping mom, if she doesn't seem to be stressed by your help.  I also recommend K-9 Gold for both mom (dry - as an additive to her food) and mixed with water as a feeding formula for the puppies.

I weigh all my puppies at birth and then each day at the same time.  This is the only way you can tell if they are growing.  To weigh them, I purchased a postage scale from the post office.

Good luck, and please send me photo's of the puppies - I'd love to see them.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions, and feel free to visit my website.  You might find answers to some of your questions on my site.

Sicnerely,
Penny DiLoreto
www.puppies-dot-com.com



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Mom and babies   QUESTION: Mom is such a sweety she has no problem with letting me handle her babies as long as I give them back within a few minutes.  In fact she came to find me to bring me back to keep her company between the birth of puppy numbers 3 and 4.  I was so touched.  I have included a picture.  I will be ordering the K-9 Gold on line if my locale pet store doesn't have it.  Thank you so much for the tip on using a postage scale too!

ANSWER: Oh my gosh - what a great looking little family.  Please keep me posted at to your progress.  As you can probably tell, I am a Boston Terrier Breeder and lover :)

You will love the K-9 Gold.  All my puppies are so fat, and people are always commenting on how healthy they look.

Sincerely,
Penny DiLoreto
www.puppies-dot-com.com



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QUESTION: Hi Penny!.  Thanks for all of your encouragement and help.  I have an update for you.  I just did a check on mom only to find 10 puppies not 8.  I am totaly mystified.  Being as though you breed Bostons have you ever seen a 20 lb Boston only 16 inches tall at the shoulder have 10 puppies?  They are all warm toasty and have little round bellies.  Mom is feeding them all.  She actually feeds some and then moves them out and puts others in their place.  Please tell me this is normal.  I am going to try and video this. I would not believe this if I had not seen it with my own eyes.  I am still going to try and help her feed them.  How often should they be feed.  Once again thanks for all of your help.

Answer
Wow, what a great little momma you have there.  Yes, I have heard of a Boston Terrier having 10 puppies.  A friend of mine brought her female to me for stud service and her female ended up having 10.  Later that same year, another friend brought her female to me, and she ended up having 9.  

I have bred that same stud several times before and after and have never had more than 5 puppies in my litters.

If you are weighing the puppies daily, and they are gaining weight, then I would not worry about supplimental feedings.  I am a big believer in leaving mom alone if she is doing good.  Some new mothers can become stressed if you offer too much help.  This stress can lead to lots of complications such as her milk drying up, or rejection of the litter.

If one, or more of the puppise, begin to drop in weight, then I suggest you give mom a hand.

I can't wait to see your video.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,
Penny DiLoreto
www.puppies-dot-com.com