mom and pups

Question
QUESTION: I rescued a pregnant Chihuahua. She had a litter of 7 pups. I am definitely not a breeder so I have no experience with this. She had the pups Feb 12th. They are doing good. They are plump and active and trying to walk. My question is about the mom and how she is acting. She cares for the pups but not like I would like her too. She is my shadow. She goes where ever I go. So I feel like she ignores the pups sometimes. Like if they are crying she will do nothing. If I go by the pups then she will and she will begin to feed them. If I walk away then so will she. I worry about them when I have to leave or am asleep at night. IS this normal?? I read that maybe it is because the pups nails are too long and it hurts mom. I have a dog nail clipper but I don't know how to cut their little nails. Mom I can do, but I am scared I will hurt the pups. I also read that I should supplement 1 meal a day. With what? and how? And when is a good time to ween the pups?? I know this is a lot of questions is one. The vet said bring them in @ 5 weeks for deworming. I dunno what to do until then. I am not sure whether mom had her shots or not so I am also concerned that the pups aren't getting the immunity from mom that they should get.
Gosh I am in a bind. All I wanted to do was help this pregnant dog have healthy pups. Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Cera. First of all, what you did is a great thing. It's hard to raise pups when you do know how to do it. But to take on a whole litter having never done it before can be scarey. This might be normal behavior for her. I don't know what her previous life was like. She's probably still getting use to her new home, and new person. That's probably why she wants to stay right with you. It's normal behavior for a rescued dog. She may have never had puppies before, and I don't know what her age is. Younger, first time moms tend to not be sure what they're suppose to do. About their nails, use a human finger nail clipper and only clip the tips off for now. The best time to do this is when they're sleeping. That way, they won't try to jerk away. They're just three weeks old today. If they're nice and fat, and don't cry a lot like they're hungry, then I wouldn't supplement them yet. Wait another week. If they cry a lot, and their bellies are ice and round, then you can find a puppy food and soak it with either puppy formula or good old water. When it's nice and smushy, then you can give it to them to eat. You'll have to show them how to eat the first few times. Put a little food on your finger, and put it a pup's mouth. They'll catch on. It'll be really messy though. As for weaning, start out supplementing one nursing a day with food. You can start them in a week. Then up the puppy food to twice a day on the second week. Try to get mom to nurse them for at least one more week if you can. She may decide that she's not nursing anymore. If she does, then you'll have to go ahead and wean them. If they refuse to eat the food, you may have to bottle feed for a bit. But, they usually go right to the puppy food at this age if they have to. I usually start worming at about 3 weeks. If the pups' coats look scruffy, or they just look in poor shape, you need to go ahead and get them wormed. Since you're not sure about mom's shot history, just keep mom and pups away from other dogs. Until they can all get their shots, don't fool with strange dogs. That's all you really can do for now. Trust me, it'll be worth it when they get a bit older and bigger. :-) You're doing a great job! If I can help with anything else, let me know.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: All your advice has really helped. The pups to the puppy food very well. We use Beniful because the Purina just wouldn't get soft. They barely needed any help. Now I am wondering about water. Their urine looks pretty dark to me and mom has pretty much stopped feeding them all together. Do I introduce water as well with the puppy food? I did try and they did not drink any. Do they learn on their own or is there a special way to teach them.
Thanks

Answer
Hi Cera. I'm glad that all of them are doing well. Fill a small bowel with water. You'll have to gently tip the tips of them mouths into the water. They'll lick the water off of the mouths, and quickly figure out how to drink. It may take a time or two, but they'll catch on really quickly. This is the easiest and fastest way to teach them to drink. Holler if you need anything else!