How to Care for Newborn Puppies in 6 Steps

5 Common Newborn Puppy Health Issues
Newborn puppies require extensive monitoring and care to develop healthily and safeguard against potential health problems. Here are some common health concerns to be aware of:

1. 1. Congenital disabilities: Newborn puppies can be born with congenital disabilities (like cleft palates), which may require expert medical attention. Shortly after their birth, take your new puppy to the veterinarian for an initial health evaluation.
2. 2. Illness: Most young puppies can’t receive vaccinations until six to eight weeks of age. To prevent your unvaccinated young dog from catching potentially harmful illnesses, refrain from bringing them to the park. Avoid contact with other unvaccinated dogs until they receive all of their shots.
3. 3. Low body weight: If your puppies fail to gain weight in their first few weeks of life, take them to the vet to check for underlying health issues that could be causing this problem.
4. 4. Insufficient milk: If your puppy comes from a large litter, they may experience difficulty reaching their mom’s teats to receive proper nourishment. This lack of nutrients and physical contact can impact their size and body temperature.
5. 5. Temperature regulation: New puppies struggle to regulate their body temperatures, putting stress on their developing immune systems and making them vulnerable to different illnesses.

Newborn puppies require a lot of work. Here are some routine steps to follow when caring for newborn puppies:

1. 1. Get routine check-ups at the veterinarian’s office. If you deliver puppies at home, take the newborn dogs (and the mother dog) to the veterinarian for a health check-up shortly after birth. The vet can screen for congenital disabilities or complications impacting the puppies’ and mother dog’s health and advise you on how to care for them properly. When the puppies are around four to six weeks old, take them to the veterinarian’s office for the first time to get vaccinations and dewormed. Additionally, take the puppies to the vet if you notice abnormal behavior before this point.
2. 2. Create a safe environment. Give the newborn puppies (and their mother) a safe area to sleep and rest, like a whelping box, a large closet, or an area enclosed by baby gates. Fill the area with soft materials like pillows and blankets to keep them comfortable.
3. 3. Provide enough food. Until your puppies start to wean off their mother’s milk, ensure that they receive enough food to support healthy growth. Supplement their mother’s milk by bottle feeding them puppy formula if necessary. After they complete the weaning process, begin feeding them vet-approved solid food for puppies.
4. 4. Keep puppies near the mother dog. If you can, keep your newborn puppies as close to their mother as possible. Check on them frequently to ensure they’re latching onto their mother’s teats and maintaining their body heat. In your puppies’ first few days of life, contact with their mother is essential because she produces colostrum (a thick milk-like substance) that contains nutrients and antibodies vital for their health. If a puppy’s littermates keep pushing them away from their mother, adjust their positioning to provide each one with enough access to the teats.
5. 5. Keep them warm. Newborn puppies cannot regulate their own body heat, so providing them with a heat source is crucial. Insulate your puppies and their mother with plenty of blankets, a heating pad, or a heat lamp to help them maintain healthy body temperatures.
6. 6. Monitor weight gain. Closely track your puppies’ weight gain in the first weeks of life to ensure healthy puppy development. In the first two weeks, your puppies should double their birth weight. If this does not happen, visit the veterinarian to receive a professional diagnosis.

Your dream of having a dog who understands words like “sit,” “stay,” “down,” and—crucially— “no” is just a MasterClass Annual Membership away. The only things you’ll need to train up a well-behaved pup are your laptop, a big bag of treats, and our exclusive instructional videos from superstar animal trainer Brandon McMillan.