[QuestionMaker]

Ike its young but the mother no longer feeds.. its A 3 week old chihuahua and dachshund mixed (Chiweenie) and i need to know what can i feed it for nutrition goods etc.i want it to grow to be a healthy pup. please help

[tonyshunnybear]

I've heard goat milk is the closest to dog's milk, but double check with the vet.

[Anna H]

At 3 weeks you can start giving the pup a tiny amount of ground meat on your finger. If he takes that then mix ground meat into a slurry with a puppy milk replacement. He will learn to lap from a dish.

Please have your female spayed. There are already tens of thousands of cross breeds killed in pounds every week. Back yard breeders and puppy mills are responsible for the over population of dogs and there are no homes for them.

[NAVPAL S]

At three weeks, you need to get a milk re placer. It can be found in any farm store, or check with your vet as to where you can get it in your area. Then at 5 weeks, you can start by mixing kibble with warm water/milk re placer into a mush and offer that.
With something like this, it's always a good thing to have your vet on speed dial.

[Tink]

Call some local volunteer groups (look on line or at pet store where there is usually some sort of list or call humane society or SPCA) but this puppy is high risk for dying soon. This puppy even needs it's Momma to help it go potty, too. You have to stimulate the area with a wet paper towel.

There is a lot to learn about raising a puppy without Mom and many seasoned rescue groups will admit that they struggle and often loose some. You've got to get in touch with someone from a local rescue group asap for help.
No on line answer will work as well as someone that can offer hands on help. It is a little tougher than just giving it proper milk.
Good luck and hope you find a rescue group to help before it's too late...
Hope it all works out for you and the puppy!

[its just me]

Get some puppy milk replacement from either your local vet or a pet supply store and then GET YOUR PUPPY TO THE VET and get the momma spayed. You're breeding mutts and to add to that your momma is not being a good momma and shouldn't have puppies again. There are millions of dogs just like these in humane societies everywhere be killed because there are more dogs than homes and you are just contributing to this problem!

[james J]

a bit search in the net might help

[twentyten88]

Hi Alexis, the first thing that you need to be aware of is that puppies should be with their mum and litter mates for the first 8 weeks of their life. This is not only for food from the mother, but also to learn appropriate social habits from the other puppies. You may have some problems down the track but at the moment the main thing is food.

The first thing that you will need to do is buy a lactose-free puppy milk from your local pet shop. Make sure that it is definitely lactose free and not just low lactose. Otherwise puppy will probably get diarrhea and become dehydrated. This is the last thing that you want. You can feed the puppy milk to her in a bowl, doesn't have to be in a bottle, but would be beneficial if you can get hold of one. She should be fed this about 4-6 times a day (and night), or as recommended on the back of the tin.

Next step is to buy a natural puppy food. I personally like Holistic Select, but depending on your country it might not be available. Although a good quality puppy food might be expensive, remember that a 6kg bag will last for up to 6 months.

At the moment, however only give her puppy milk.

In a couple of weeks:
So breakfast: 1/5 cup biscuits soaked for about an hour in warm puppy milk. Mix in beef mince.
Lunch: 1 small handful of chicken mince (can change to chicken wings when older)
Dinner: Same as breakfast, but every other night, add an egg or some feta cheese.

There are many possible diets that you can choose for your dog, but nothing beats raw meats and natural (preservative free) puppy food. I would probably go to the vet and ask what he/she thinks, as I am not a vet I might have the quantities wrong, but she will only eat what she needs.

[klacc]

Alexis comment is definitely what I would support here. The information that she is providing has the greatest amount of depth.