puppies are dying

Question
my rott had puppies a week ago and when she started having them she was fine but when she was all done....after 14, she started trying to kill them. She would not let them eat. I start feeding them myself and they seemed to be doing very well. This morning when my husband and I got up to feed them, there  were 2 dead.I noticed last night that some of them had very runny feces. I can't figure out why they are starting to die. I thought that since they made it the first couple days they should be fine. I just dont want to end up losing all of them. Yesterday, instead of just using water to clean them we started putting some dog shampoo in the water to get them cleaner than just the plain water? Do you think that the shampoo is doing something to them?

Answer
Hi Cindy. I don't think it was the shampoo, although I wouldn't use anymore of it. Plain warm water is good enough for them right now. You said they have runny stools....that may be what's going on here. They may be dehydrated. Are they good and warm? You have to keep them warm, don't ever let a cold puppy eat. You can lose puppies at any time, that's what makes this so hard. My best advice would be to get them to the vet to see what's going on. If they are dehydrated, then the vet will most likely want to give them some fluids under their skin. This will help a lot. Then, you guys will need to figure out what's causing the diarrhea, in order to keep them from getting dehydrated. Diarrhea can be the cause of many different things, from over feeding, to worms, to illness. That's why it's so important to let the vet have a look at them.