2 week old pitbull puppy

My husband and I raised two pit bull puppies, and it taught me a lot about what it takes to raise these wonderful dogs.

Pit Bulls and Their Pups

Do you have a pit bull about to whelp her puppies? Are you planning on breeding your bully? Do you need to know what kind of responsibility or work this will take on your part as the responsible owner?

Reading: 2 week old pitbull puppy

In this article, you will find helpful information on the first six weeks of a pit bull pup’s life, with tips and instructions for each stage. I’ve also included pictures of nine healthy babies, all born between 3 am and 9 am on December 31st, 2010. There were four black and brown (three of those males, one female) and three honey-colored (one male, two females). There was also one white female and one brindle male.

Whelping (Leave Mom Alone)

Don’t fuss over or bother your whelping female too much during the birthing process. Also, unless she is in a horrible place, do not move her once she has given birth to the first puppy. Doing so can cause her to have acute stress, which can delay the birthing process and possibly kill her and the pups.

The First Seven Days

For the next seven days after birth, expect the pups to eat, sleep, poop, and not much else. What’s important at this stage is to be careful with the mother.

Be Very Careful When Handling the Pups

• If the mother is of very docile temperament, you may be able to handle the pups a bit.
• If she seems immensely stressed out over your handling of them, return them to her. Do not force her to growl or do something that may get her reprimanded for behavior, when her behavior is only instinctively to protect her litter.
• You must absolutely keep any and all children or other animals away from the mom and her pups. She may be and may display extremely docile behavior, however, that can quickly change if a child gets grabby, or even falls near the litter.

Whatever You Do, Make Sure Mom Is Relaxed

Stressing the mother out can cause her milk production to slow. With that in mind, I can tell you one thing for certain: bully pups are no small eaters. They eat vigorously and often. Anything that slows that process will cause the mother’s metabolism to work overtime to produce enough milk. You may want to invest in a high protein food for the mom while she is nursing.

If you feel like your nursing mother is overly stressed, consult with a vet on a natural remedy to relax her. The coming weeks are going to be highly taxing on her body. She will need all of the help she can get to reduce fat-burning anxiety.

Remember

Bully pups are no small eaters. They eat vigorously and often. Anything that slows that process will cause the mother’s metabolism to work overtime to produce enough milk. You may want to invest in a high-protein food for the mom while she is nursing.

After the First Week

If the mom was overexcited or overprotective initially, some of that will begin to die down by the end of this first week. However, this does not mean that it’s time to invite over all of the small children in the family to maul the pups in front of her.

Give them another week to grow used to simple survival while the mother can grow used to managing her protective instincts against the noise and chaos of the home, even if minor.

The Second Week

The second week will not differ much from the first with the exception of the pups spending a bit more time awake and a little less time eating (but they’ll also have more vigorous eating habits). Pups are already starting to battle at this point, albeit with closed eyes, for the best position on the teats when mom jumps in the box.

Mom May Want More Alone Time

• Mom will still be willing to clean up well after the pups poop, and there will still be tiny puddles of urine.
• She will want more time away from them beginning this week. She will enjoy some more time alone, and it is as early as the second week when some Dams begin to show signs that they may try to wean too early.
• Try to make sure that mom feeds them every four hours or so. If you do not encourage her, later feeds will cause them to munch more furiously, which can cause scratching and pulling on already sensitive nipples. She will naturally want to avoid this, but unless you are prepared to bottle feed an entire litter, several times per day for another two weeks, make her feed them regularly.

Also Read: Treatment for parvo in dogs

Fun Fact

The pit bull was so popular in the early 1900s that they were our mascot not only in World War I, but also in World War II.

Beginning of the Third Week

As the third week begins, there will be many more waking hours than sleeping hours, as opposed to the last two weeks. Most pups will have their eyes mostly open, although none can see too well, but they will start to recognize the smell of mom when she’s close, and of people visiting their box or enclosure.

When we retrieved a riding lawnmower box from a local store, the mom actually jumped for joy several times in the air as I began placing them in the new blanket-filled box. Seriously, do both of you a favor and get them enclosed ASAP if not done so already by this week.

Get an Enclosure

If you haven’t put them in an enclosure, you are likely half-mad and a bit crazy. Do this immediately! An old playpen is an excellent idea for the next couple of weeks. A huge box even better. Without those things, you’ll have mass chaos and a mother who may be a bit edgy that her pups aren’t gathered in a neat area for check-ups.

End of the Third Week

By the end of the third week, there will be no doubt that living in a box with so many of your siblings can be really hard. Many mini growls and burks (not quite barks) are heard coming from the box at all hours. Closer observation reveals a painfully slow (at least from their point-of-view) process of growing, fighting, eating, and yes, pooping.

• Mom may not be so happy about cleaning up after the pups, as big as they are getting. This week will likely find you washing and rewashing box blankets, pillows, and other paraphernalia. Often.
• They have become the world’s most ferocious eaters. Watching them at this point makes me think that they closely resemble a pack of wolverines nursing. You may have to begin preparing a puppy cereal for them to eat soon.

Puppy Gruel

Purchase a good quality puppy chow and run it through the blender, add puppy formula or goat’s milk, baby rice cereal and baby strained chicken. Mix until it’s fairly thick. After they have mastered that for a few days, start adding softened puppy kibble.

You may need some tips on how to do this, and it does get nasty. Personally, I have what I consider a fairly strong stomach, but the results of nine pit bull pups moshing, rolling, and rooting around in a pile of gooey mess still required me to give it a good strong swallow or two while watching.

The Best Ways to Manage Puppies’ First Solid-Food Feedings

Everyone has a different set-up, but according to what you have available, here are the best suggestions I have for managing these feedings without needing to spend hours cleaning, crying, and growing your slang/rant vocabulary twice a day.

• Garden Tub or Walk-In Shower. If you have either of these, you are golden. It may not look any prettier, but it will save you incredible amounts of time and frustration if you simply feed them via a large, low-sided dish in the center of your large tub or shower. Your regular tub may work if you have a smaller litter. However, if they can’t get a nose into the bowl, this can cause much scrumming and begin to form a food-fiend pile of pups. You do not want any pup to believe they aren’t going to get enough, which will obviously encourage aggressive eating. In a dog this powerful, there is no need to tempt this fate. If you have an immense litter, feed them in shifts.
• The Box. If you do not have a large enough area aside from their box or enclosure, you can use the box and help it to remain somewhat mush and odor-free. Remove all of the blankets and place a piece of plastic, tarp, or even garbage bags in a pinch on the bottom of the box. Toss the low-sided bowl, or even a high-fluted plate in the center and let the scrum begin. Note: If you do not protect the box, i.e., clean up any mush piles, stay tuned, as there is one sure way to get some of the serious grunt work done.
• The…Floor? Really? It can be done, although hopefully you have had a bit better planning, if you have a rescue or an unexpected litter and no huge accommodating box or used playpen in sight, you can certainly let the food scrum occur on the floor. However, I would NOT suggest ever doing this if you have expensive wood, tile or otherwise grainy or textured flooring; do not have an area uncovered by carpeting or rugs; or will cry if your precious faux-linoleum incurs a scratch or a brown mush haze temporarily.

If you are going to feed on the floor, plan to do two things.

1. Section Off an Area, even if you have to use a pile of books, kids toys or even just a couple of long-armed and familiar adults. Tuck them in a corner if alone, you will need to referee the match. Ever the millers, they will eat, roll around in the mush, and in generally roam off while following yet more mush piles on the floor, tub bottom or box. Be prepared to gently nudge them or if brave and not averted by said mush, place them back in the scrum pile.
2. Keep Mom Away. For many reasons, this is beneficial and necessary. Mom definitely needs to know that gruel is for pups. You should not let her overwhelm them while they are learning to eat, nor compete with them for food. Also, this will supply you with the best cleaning partner you have ever had. Once they are done and starting to mill slower, and likely sleepier, set mom loose. She will clean up the floor, albeit in a way not entirely sanitary, and once done with the bigger obvious mush piles, she will turn her attention to cleaning her pups.

Also Read: How to remove dog urine smell from carpet

The floor certainly isn’t the ideal method. The garden tub or a walk-in shower are far more ideal (with a detachable shower head for quick clean-up). However, the other methods will work, and ultimately, you will really come to rely on creating a sort of ritual when doing the feedings so that everyone, even Uncle Eddie, my litter of pup’s stepdaddy, gets to participate in the cleanup.

Also, be sure to sanitize the feeding area after each feeding. Even if you feed them in a box, sprucing up, applying Lysol and a light bleach wash will kill the germs and ensure a cleaner surface for the next feeding. For tubs, a quick bleach wash is usually enough.

The Most Important Thing

Do NOT give them cow’s milk. Goat’s milk is ideal, and puppy or baby formula works too.

Fourth Week Mosh

There sure is a lot of milling around.

• They are probably quite tired of a box if you have them in one. If you don’t, you are probably quite tired of them by now. They are on the go these days in a lot of ways.
• They should have tried the gruel by now, and you should be preparing to supplement a morning or mid-day meal from mom with the gruel mixture.
• They will likely need some roaming time now. This means more messes to clean up, but socialization is important with all dogs, most especially Pit Bulls, at this critical age.
• Everyone is getting around pretty good. There may still be some shaky legs and wobbling heads, but there is certainly no shortage of willpower. Box floppers are more and more common, even using a box that shipped a large riding lawnmower.
• There will be power struggles happening in the box. In or out, they are determined to elicit screams from their siblings at any cost. Must be those weeks stuck together, but they are really letting off steam this week.

Eating Habits by the Fifth Week

The pups should by now have had several gruel meals and their food should be closer to the dry side now, as opposed to the wetter mushy food.

Weeks 5 to 6

These pups are some incredible beasts. Seriously, the most ornery, amusing, mushy sweet, clumsy, wobbly-headed, thick-skinned, love muffins around.

When they aren’t testing out their burk-to-barking skills, they are amok, flopping from the box at high rates. I am fairly sure they have learned to ‘take one for the team’ by letting other puppies stand atop them, so they have a better chance at springing at least a few of their box mates. For most Pit pups who have been weaned on this schedule, this week may be their last in your home.

• You should now begin trying to keep them on a food schedule.
• Prepare yourself, your spouse, and your children for their departure. Prepare the pups too.
• Get them outdoors, rain or shine, cold or hot, and let them muck around a bit. Don’t let their first experience outside of the box be the same one that takes them to their forever families.
• For the sake of their future homes as well, it would be a good idea to start trying to get them to use puppy pads, or take them outside, en masse, for pee parties.
• Bathe them, worm them, collar them, and if you plan to be the one who does it, vet them and get their first shots.

Pit Bull Breeding and Adoption Tips

Please take the time to read over the following set of tips before you allow your female pit to be bred.

Never, EVER breed an aggressive animal. Just like people, character traits are passed on from parents, and although you may think it’s humorous that your 70-pound pit bull female viciously attacks the vacuum cleaner each time you run it, it is not a sign of quality temperament. Please—for the sake of this breed—do what you can do help breed aggressiveness out, not in.

Adopt When at All Possible

I know it can be a difficult choice, and especially with pit bulls, there can actually be times when owning a puppy is the best choice, but not always. I do advocate and personally support several rescues, pit bull and otherwise, but I do also understand the deep need a human pet owner can feel to get a ‘baby’ and raise it on their own.

Also Read: What to feed a 6 week old puppy