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The following was in response to a post on the Pap-L mailing list - a list member had recently obtained a young Papillon, which suffered from hypoglycemia & dehydration - dying before it reached 9 weeks of age. The new owner did not know how to adequately care for the puppy, and the breeder did not bother to give the owner complete care instructions. This response by long-time Papillon breeder & judge, Charlotte McGowen, is printed here with Charlotte's kind permission, and contains excellent advice about young Papillons. Please read it!
Sad Ending for a Small Pup Charlotte McGowan The story of the unfortunate puppy that became dehydrated and died is one reason why I would urge people to consider the difficulties of raising toy dogs. I feel very badly for the owner and wonder about the puppy being sold so young. My own experience is that Papillon puppies ought to be under breeder supervision for a minimum of three months. Even at three months, some Papillons are very small. I tell people they are like small birds - they eat a lot for their size, they need to eat often, and they are easily debilitated if they become dehydrated. I have a friend who has a litter of another breed and she called to say her pups seemed sick. I told her to go to the vet immediately and to make sure they were not dehydrated. Sure enough, they were. She had gotten very cavalier about having the mother feed them. Instead of having the mother in with the pups constantly, the mother was lolling on the couch away from her pups and when they had a chance to nurse, it wasn't enough to fill them. How do pups become dehydrated? There are a number of reasons. First they need food and water. When I have a litter, food and water are available nearly constantly for newly weaned puppies. By the time they are 3 mos. old., they are on 3 meals a day. Earlier, they have food available more often. Food is changed often so it won't spoil. Water is always fresh. Very young pups often have worms. If pups aren't wormed as needed, they can easily become debilitated. If pups get diarrhea for any reason, they can easily become dehydrated. If the diarrhea is combined with vomiting, you should run, not walk, to the vet for fluids intravenously. With very young puppies, it is far better to err on the side of going to the vet too much as opposed to waiting for improvement. I have found that raising toy dogs is far more difficult than raising larger breeds. While breeders of larger breeds can easily wean pups early and disperse litters at 7-10 weeks, I think doing so with Papillons is not in the best interests of the dogs. While this is all my personal opinion, I hope those searching for a dog and those starting out as breeders will consider the need to hold puppies long enough to be sure they can be successfully managed by less experienced people. I also think it is very important to give owners complete instructions and to make yourself available to deal with any problems that arise. In this way, incidents like the sad tale of a young puppy dying may be avoided.
Charlotte McGowan (c) June 26, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All photographs on this site are copyrighted to the photographer, even if they do not contain a copyright logo. All articles contained herein are used with permission of the authors. Website © Firerose Papillons, 1999 - 2009, all rights reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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