4 week old pitbull

[yayajewls]

I just got a 4 week old puppy from a really poor man who said the mother died. The puppies were all in terrible condition, ours is covered in fleas and has a couple booboos. As it was, we weren't really prepared to buy one (we were actually just passing by when we saw them), but we couldn't leave him. So now, we have a very young puppy, and little prior experience with raising dogs. ANY advice as to how to proceed would be much appreciated, because I'm rather worried about him. I'm taking him to the vet in the morning, but in the meantime, how do I get him to eat, and what do I feed him? I've been attempting feeding him milk through a straw (lack of preparation again) but he's not really loving it, obviously. Thanks!

P.S. I looked online for the proper way to bathe him at this age, cause those fleas were making him suffer. Didn't get them all off, but it helped a bit. Anything more I can do to make him a little more comfortable tonight?

[Krista]

What kind of milk are you giving him? Puppy milk I hope? You can mix the milk with warm water and add a bit of puppy food and he should be able to lap that up.

Just make sure there are no chunks of puppy milk in there if it's the dry formula. I hope everything checks out OK at the vet!

[pookie!]

I just got a 4 week old puppy from a really poor man who said the mother died. The puppies were all in terrible condition, ours is covered in fleas and has a couple booboos. As it was, we weren't really prepared to buy one (we were actually just passing by when we saw them), but we couldn't leave him. So now, we have a very young puppy, and little prior experience with raising dogs. ANY advice as to how to proceed would be much appreciated, because I'm rather worried about him. I'm taking him to the vet in the morning, but in the meantime, how do I get him to eat, and what do I feed him? I've been attempting feeding him milk through a straw (lack of preparation again) but he's not really loving it, obviously. Thanks!

P.S. I looked online for the proper way to bathe him at this age, cause those fleas were making him suffer. Didn't get them all off, but it helped a bit. Anything more I can do to make him a little more comfortable tonight?

I got my pup at 4 weeks old. I went out and bought a high quality kibble for him and the matching canned food, soaked the kibble in water so it got soft and mixed a small amount of the wet food in.
If you get a good food (I use Taste Of The Wild) you wont need puppy chow or milk.
Bear has grown up fine and thats what he was on from the age of 4 weeks and a little before.

Just bathe him like a normal puppy, making sure not to get water in his ears.

[nc_pitbullmommy]

I would add a little plain yogurt to his food also. The weaning food I've fed my puppies in the past is canned puppy food, yogurt, rice baby cereal. At four weeks old he should have some teeth so it doesn't have to be completely smooth just no big chunks.

As far as bathing that young use Dawn dish liquid. Most flea shampoos say at least 6 weeks of age. Start at the head and work your way to his butt, otherwise all the fleas will run to his face and get in his mouth and nose.

ETA: Make SURE he is not around any other dogs or people with dogs (people in general actually) until he has had his shots (first one at 6 weeks)

[cliffdog]

Hope he pulls through till you get him to the vet. :(

I'm not the "fur-parent" type, nor am I over-emotional about dogs. But, I would have done the same thing (tried to save the puppy). You did a good thing. I'm wishing you both well.

[PeytonLove]

I would add a little plain yogurt to his food also. The weaning food I've fed my puppies in the past is canned puppy food, yogurt, rice baby cereal. At four weeks old he should have some teeth so it doesn't have to be completely smooth just no big chunks.

As far as bathing that young use Dawn dish liquid. Most flea shampoos say at least 6 weeks of age. Start at the head and work your way to his butt, otherwise all the fleas will run to his face and get in his mouth and nose.

ETA: Make SURE he is not around any other dogs or people with dogs (people in general actually) until he has had his shots (first one at 6 weeks)

I'll second the Dawn dish liquid. We've used it several times at our barn when finding feral kittens etc covered with fleas, it works pretty darn well.

[yayajewls]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone! Really appreciated it, it's been quite helpful. Hope he grows up beautifully so I can become a frequent visitor to this site!

[ZeeAvi10]

Yes, please stick around...great advice here...Keep us updated.

[BugattiDaPit]

Same experience here, i got my pup at 4 1/2 weeks old. go to the pet store and buy soem puppy milk. they have the powder form and actual milk, get the milk form. Get a baby bottle there as well. And you pretty much bottle feed it 3-4 times a day.

Make sure he gets a comfy place to sleep, and a nice warm blanket.

[Krista]

How is the puppy doing? :)

[luckilylovinlyfe]

Same experience here, i got my pup at 4 1/2 weeks old. go to the pet store and buy soem puppy milk. they have the powder form and actual milk, get the milk form. Get a baby bottle there as well. And you pretty much bottle feed it 3-4 times a day.

Make sure he gets a comfy place to sleep, and a nice warm blanket.

you dont need to bottle feed at 4 weeks old, he should be getting weened by then

[CelticKarma]

We just weaned a litter at 4 weeks because they were tearing the bitch up. The first few days I mixed canned puppy food in buttermilk, after a few days of seeing they could lick that up I substituted the buttermilk with cottage cheese, then when they were doing good on that I started softening dry kibble and mixing it with cottage cheese. They are almost 6 weeks and on nothing but kibble now.

Yogurt is also very good, make sure to get the full fat kind and make sure it has not artificial sweeteners just plain full fat yogurt. I am sure the vet will worm the pup when you take it in.

As far as fleas the dawn works great and you can add a little Avon Skin So Soft to the rinse water to help keep the fleas away until it is old enough to get reg flea meds.

Keep the puppy warm with a nice cozy place to sleep, keep it's area clean and it should be fine. Hope he/she does well for you:)

O and pics here are a must ...:D

[yayajewls]

Thanks for all the help everyone, just thought I'd give you an update. Boxer is doing spectacularly! We took him to the vet and found out he was only 2 weeks old when we had him, which was even scarier, but he's been healthy and happy. He's getting so big, oh my! I've only had a chihuahua before so he's a lot different. He's very excitable, adorable, kinda aggressive when playing, but hopefully that's not permanent. I'll put up pictures in a bit, some of when we first got him, and some of him today. Honestly, thanks for all the support and advice, I couldn't have done it without y'all <3

[yayajewls]

These are all of him on the second day we had him, when he was still 2 weeks old. I don't have any recent pictures on my computer, so I'll take some more when I get home.
By the way, he's now about 2x the size of the stuffed animal on the right.

[brindlexpitt]

that is a fluffy puppy

[ewhonest]

He's adorable glad he's got a good forever home now

[Jamielvsaustin]

We picked up one of our cats at about 4 weeks. We were lied to (sounds like you were too) we were told he was 8 weeks. We also had a flea problem, we tried the bath-didn't work. Then I read mixing equal parts water and vinegar would work...nope, then we just had a stinky flea ridden cat. Glad you didn't have to go through that :)

Did you have to help the pup go to the bathroom or was he able to go on his own? Our cat had to be stimulated (Bailey helped out with this).

Good luck, hope he turns into the healthiest happiest boy ever :)

[Pink]

He's a cutie!

[bostonitis]

WOW! I cant believe 2 weeks and he made it after the condition he was in. Congrats on the new addition! Stick around there are plenty of differences between a chi and a pitbull :)