What to do if my 4-week-old pug puppy is tiny, weak, and not growing?

They do tend to want to nurse even if they have been weaned off milk, so I wouldn't worry too much about this. The puppy food should be sufficient, but If she is eating less than the daily recommended amount (as seen on the bag of food), then you can supplement milk replacer. You would have to buy a special dog milk replacer at the pet store, because the regular cow's milk is different. Below is a link to a good article that explains how to properly wean a puppy off milk and on to solid food. https://www.petcoach.co/article/weaning-puppies/ I hope that helps and all is well with Bulma.

It sounds like the smaller puppy may have ‘failure to thrive’. This is especially common with puppies from large litters and not surprising since the mother dog is refusing to feed them. It sounds like the bigger pup is doing great and you don’t need to worry about him at all. You should get a small scale (like a gram scale) so you can weigh the smaller pup everyday to ensure she is gaining weight. It is a little early but you could try to start introducing puppy food her as well. You can mix the canned food with milk replacer or moisten kibble with the milk replacer and see if she prefers this. If she is not eating much it makes sense that she is not pooping as frequently. Continue to stimulate her to defecate several times a day. You should also have the puppies dewormed at this age as well. If the puppy continues to refuse food after trying the above suggestions, you may need to take her to the vet to be examined. Your vet can also instruct you on how to safely syringe feed (or possibly tube feed) the puppy to ensure she is getting proper nutrition. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck!

Runts of the litter are definitely common and often have a hereditary problem, or illness causing them to not grow as well as the others. However, they can simply be outcompeted by the others, so making sure it gets mom's milk (the best option), or formula may be helpful. It's also good to have a vet check her to see if anything is causing her to remain smaller than the other pups. I hope that helps and all is well with the pups.

This one likely has a medical condition that is keeping him from being as strong as the others. The best thing to do is have him evaluated by a vet. There may be something that can be corrected. It's very important for them to have the mother's milk, so the best thing you can do is remove the bigger ones every three hours (day and night) to allow the little one to suckle. You should also get some milk replacer for dogs at the pet store. There is feeding guidelines on the box. Sometimes mom may be dry, so if the pup is suckling for a long time (over 5 minutes), then he's likely not getting enough milk from mom and you should offer the milk replacer. Feeding can be reduced to every four hours when he is four weeks, and transitioning to puppy food can happen at six weeks. I hope that helps and the pup turns-out OK.

At 4 weeks they are still fully nursing so you will have to supplement for forumla. 4 weeks is s good time to start introducing puppy food. You can start with canned food with some water added to make it thinner and softer and place a small amount in his mouth to get him interested in it. Once he starts doing well with that you can decrease the amount of water and start soaking dry food to add to the canned until he is fully weaned. They do make a supplement called Nutrical that is helpful for young puppies that are weaned but not eating great

Poor Muffin! I'm not sure when you say she isn't eating well if she isn't eating a much as usual, or is having trouble eating. Both of those could be a sign of a medical illness, such as infection, systemic disease, or inflammation. It could also be a sign of teething. I would take her into the vet for an exam, it's not good that she isn't eating well. Eating enough is important for her health, and medical cause should be ruled out. I would make sure she is eating a puppy formulated food, and you can try to make the dry food more tempting by soaking it with gently warmed low sodium beef or chicken broth.

You can try supplemental feeding with dog milk replacer and keep him warm and next to the mother and others if possible. Sometimes there is an underlying medical problem with the runt and in spite of your best efforts they do not survive. Dogs and other animals have litters with several pups because there is often one or two that don’t live. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Lucky.