The puppies are two weeks old today, and… wow… it has been a rough week. I am very disappointed to share with you all that we lost two puppies this past week. The remaining five puppies and Oakley seem to be doing well now, but we will be monitoring everyone very closely. I will give you all a glimpse into the reality of the world of animals. Nature isn’t always kind. When working with animals, you can do all the right things, and yet losing some is inevitable.

It started last Saturday evening when the puppies were seven days old. We had been gone a good portion of the day, but when we got home that evening, we saw one puppy that was very weak and lethargic. It was surprising, since the litter had been thriving up until then. Also oddly, it was one of the biggest puppies of the litter. It was clear it had been a long time since he moved or nursed. Because he had been lying in one position for so long, his back legs had become very stiff, and he was unable to use them.

Because of the fact that he couldn’t move his back legs, we initially thought he had incurred a spinal/hip injury, perhaps by Oakley stepping on him. He had been okay in the morning when I changed the bedding, so it seemed very odd for a large, healthy puppy to decline so quickly. An injury made sense to us at the time. I spent the next couple hours massaging his legs, which did seem to help him regain some movement. I helped him latch on to nurse, but the outlook wasn’t great.

During the night, I got up with him several times to make sure he could move and nurse, but it was apparent within a few hours that he was too far gone to save. He passed away Sunday morning.

Jump to Monday, and I noted another puppy that was lethargic. When I weighed her Monday morning, she had lost weight from the previous evening. She had little interest in nursing, even when I helped her latch on. She seemed to be fading as quickly as the first puppy.

After making some phone calls, we decided to try treatment for “bad milk.” This was something I had heard of from other breeders before but never encountered myself. It seemed like a very odd phenomenon, but the symptoms matched.

It typically begins around day 6 or 7. Puppies, often just one or two at a time, begin to “fade.” They don’t act like sick puppies normally would, or at least ours didn’t. They don’t cry or show outward signs of illness or distress. They no longer have an interest in nursing, and they become dehydrated and lethargic. They will latch on but stop sucking after a few seconds, seeming to be more content just snuggling against mom and sleeping. Once they begin to show signs of lethargy, they deteriorate very quickly. It often (though not always) starts with the larger puppies, and then slowly spreads through the litter.

It is thought to be something in the mom’s milk, likely a bacteria that is harmless to her but slowly overloads the puppies’ systems. (This is why the bigger puppies who are consuming the most milk are often the first to get sick.) Oakley was showing no signs of illness- no mastitis, fever, diarrhea, lethargy, ect. She had a good appetite and was producing plenty of milk, yet something seemed to be slowly poisoning her babies. The symptoms matched up, so we immediately began treating Oakley with an antibiotic to clear out any bacteria in her milk.

I also tried to bottle feed the second sick puppy, but she had no interest in eating. I began syringe feeding her in hopes we could save her. I fed her around the clock, yet she became more weak by the hour. She finally passed away Tuesday morning after 24 hours of syringe feeding.

Meanwhile, two more puppies had lost weight from Monday morning to Monday evening. However, by midday Monday, the antibiotics were in Oakley’s milk. We are extremely thankful this came in time for them. They were still vigorous and regained their weight Monday night into Tuesday morning. Since then, all the puppies have continued to gain weight.

We will continue the course of antibiotics into next week. Once we stop them, we will very closely watch the puppies’ weights during the following days. If any of them begin losing weight, we may have to continue with a longer course of antibiotics; but, Lord willing, the remaining five puppies should be fine.

Some times, being a breeder means spending several nights up every few hours trying to save a puppy. It means making formula, feeding around the clock, carefully heating formula in a syringe, and painstakingly dispensing 1/2 a milliliter at a time. I don’t say any of that to pat myself on the back, but to show the effort breeders put into their puppies. I know many other breeders who put the same level of care, effort, time, and sacrifice into their dogs and puppies. When you see a litter of beautiful, thriving 8 week old puppies, I hope you can see the hours of sacrifice, care, and sometimes tears that got them there.

To end on a positive note, the prognosis for mom and puppies is very good. Once the antibiotics do their job, momma and babies will do fine from here on out. I will give them extra probiotics for the next several weeks just to make sure their digestive systems stay settled after the antibiotics.

Here’s a picture of Oakley and her babies. As you can see, they are growing and pudgy, and we are grateful to see it.