Newborn puppy care is something that should not have to concern most humans.
This is because newborn puppy care is performed by the mother of the pups. However, there are always sad cases in which a mother dies or abandons her puppies. In such cases, people have to take over the role of caring for newborn puppies or else they will die.
If you ever have the responsibility to care for a newborn puppy, here are some things that you need to do:
Bottle Feeding
Newborn puppies normally suckle at their mother for the first six weeks of life. As the mother is not available, you will have to feed the puppy yourself from a bottle, very much the same way that you would an infant. The puppy will have to get a formula that you can get at your local pet market. A veterinarian should also be consulted in such a matter for help. He or she will instruct you on which type of formula to use. The formula will satisfy all of the nourishment for the newborn puppy until he or she is six weeks old.
A newborn puppy must be fed every few hours, much like a newborn baby. You can gradually increase the time periods between feedings as the puppy gets older. If you have an entire litter of puppies, this can get time consuming, but is necessary for the litter to survive.
Cleaning
Normally, a mother will teach her puppies to clean themselves by cleaning them often. She will lick them with her tongue. Since the mother is not around, you will have to clean the puppies so that they can learn to clean themselves. No, you do not have to lick them with your tongue. But you can use a damp towel or sponge to wipe them down every so often. Make sure that you dry them as well. They will get used to this feeling and try to emulate it as they get older.
Vet Care
You will have to take the puppies to the veterinarian after two weeks for shots and check ups. If you have a litter of abandoned puppies, do what you can to keep them alive and enlist help from other animal lovers. Do not be too devastated if one of the puppies in a newborn litter dies without its mother as this sometimes happens in nature. Make sure that you do your best to take care of the helpless animal or animals for the first six weeks of life, the time when puppies are usually with their mother, so that they can then thrive into healthy dogs.