My 3-week-old puppy cries during bottle feeding. What should I do?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! 3 weeks is young. I’d recommend a puppy milk replacer and bottle feeding for another week or 2. Then mix the puppy milk replacer in with canned puppy food and gradually add dry food over a couple of weeks. I like Purina proplan orhl’s puppy foods. Good luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I recommend starting early weaning on bottle fed puppies as formula can cause GI problems (diarrhea and/or constipation). I would start with some canned puppy food mixed with formula and offer it three times per day and continue bottle feeding. If the puppy eats the mixture well at each meal then I would only bottle feed 3-4 times per day. If he is slow to eat the puppy food then I would continue bottle feeding every 3-4 HOURS. Decrease the bottle feedings each week as you increase the puppy food feedings. By 5 weeks I would start offering dry mixed with canned and stop all bottle feedings by 6 weeks. How much you feed of the formula at each feeding depends on the brand you are feeding. Usually the can/box tells you the volume. You can repost with the brand and I can try to helps you Good luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! At 4 weeks you can start to wean bottle feeding. I would start with soft canned puppy food for 1 week then mix in wet dry food over another week. By 6 weeks the puppy should be able to eat dry food or moistened dry food. I hope this helps and I wish you and Cujo the best!

I would be concerned that there is a functional issue such as a cleft palate or other problem that is preventing him from being able to suckle, or that may be causing him discomfort. If he is losing weight, unable to suckle and has the symptoms of pneumonia, then it is best to seek out veterinary care immediately as dehydration and lack of nutrition can quickly kill a puppy. Once he has been checked out by a vet, you can return to trying to bottle feed him. Keeping him on his belly may help with aspiration if he has a hard time, however your vet can recommend additional options depending on their exam. Most puppy formulations will also have feeding instructions on the can so you know how much to give and how often (usually every few hours until they are older, and then decreasing as they transition to food around 4-6 weeks of age.)

It's fine to start introducing puppy food at this age, but it will take 2-3 weeks before they will start to wean off of milk. It's best to feed wet food at this age. If you have the dry dog biscuits, then you can add water to them to make them soft. It's best to only give a little at a time, or they can get diarrhea. I would start by only offering a teaspoon to each pup twice a day. It can be gradually increased from there. Here is a link that gives additional information about weaning puppies: https://www.wikihow.com/Wean-Puppies I hope that helps and all is well with the pups.

At this point mom has generally begun to wean her puppies. Offer water, regular dry kibble, kibble soaked in warm water and canned food. This does need to be a large breed puppy formula for the food. There’s a brand that makes a food specific for weaning puppies called Royal Canin and I recommend to pick some up at the pet store or online. You may need to smear some of the food on the puppy’s mouth so that it gets the idea. Also allow him to see mom eating so that he has the desire to copy her. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

And in terms of the food -- he should be willing to eat wet food, if not dry food, at this age. So if he's not, I would highly recommend a check up with your vet to make sure everything looks ok. He may just need more time to adjust, but with such a young guy, he can get low blood sugar and dehydration very quickly, so it's important to act sooner rather than later.