How to tell if 3-week-old puppies are getting enough milk from mom?

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Those puppies look very healthy. The only way to make sure they are getting enough milk is to weigh the puppies every day and make sure the puppies are gaining weight. Neonatal puppies should have a weight gain of 5-10% of birth weight daily --they may lose a little the first 24 hours, but after that we need to see this weight gain. If they are not gaining at that level, they need to be evaluated, and if otherwise normal, supplemented with formula and tube feeding to achieve this weight gain. Sounds like everything is going great with Juliet and the puppies. Remember to feed Juliet puppy food during this time because her nutritional requirements are very high during lactation. Good luck

The length depends on how hungry they are and how much milk she has. If your puppies are not gaining weight and do not have round full bellies after nursing, she may not have enough milk for them and you may have to supplement them with puppy milk.

Hello. Just from your pictures, everyone looks happy & healthy. I have never seen a dog produce so much milk that it smeared all over the puppies face. Most of the time it looks exactly as you describe. You can buy a little gram scale & weigh each puppy once a day & as long as there is no weight loss, all is good. The signs to look for are crying, distressed puppies, crawling away from mom, cold & pale. Your picture shows a very contented mom, & round, pink puppies, so I think all is good right now. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Weigh the puppies daily. They should be gaining weigh every day, and if they are not, then they are not getting enough milk and Heaven's milk may be drying up. In that case, you will need to bottle feed the puppies with puppy formula.

If the puppies are latching and nursing then stop to sleep with firm tummies they are more than likely getting all the milk they need. If they seem distant or cold to the touch and not trying to Nurse you can always bottle feed one to measure the amount they are getting.

If the mom is not producing enough milk then you need to supplement and bottle feed them with a puppy milk replacer. You should also be weighing them daily to monitor their weight gain. If the puppies continue to have problems then they should be examined by a vet to determine the cause.

Every puppy milk replacer will have slightly different guidelines on how much to feed, so start by reading the directions. If you have more questions, then get a picture of the instructions so that we can officially tell you how much to feed. For example, Esbilac instructs that you use 30ml of reconstituted powder for every 115g of body weight per day. So for your puppy, he would need around 25ml per day. Divide this up into your daily feedings, which should be every 2-3 hours. So if you feed every 2 hours, then you would feed 2ml per feeding. Here is some more information on raising orphan puppies: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=576