Edwards Danes News If it's not a Dane. It's just a Dog.

So we have been using Ebilac Puppy formula to feed our pups.  And the part that sucks is that almost all of it we get is bad.  We had to have cleaned out all the Harrisburg pet stores of the Esbilac – more than half of which were bad!!  So we ordered 2,  5lbs bags from our vet, and it comes directly from the manufacture… guess what… that was bad to!  That was the worst we have gotten.  I called Petag and left a message for them to call me back.  No response.  Not really a surprise.  What would have happened if we would have fed our pups this bad formula…  Would Petag cover the vet cost… probably not!  I don’t know what is going on with their puppy formula but everyone should really be careful when using the Esbilac, make sure it is good before you feed it to your pups. 

But… all is not lost.  I talked to our vet and he told me of the “Leerburg Puppy Formula”.  So we got the ingredients to make that (I will include the recipe after this Post).  Dave ran to Wal-mart at 10:00pm because we had no other option… None of the Esbilac we have is any good.  It is actually going to be cheaper to feed the Leerburg Formula, and Dave and I feel it is actually probably healthier for the pups because it is all fresh ingredients.  The Puppy’s really do seem to enjoy eating the new formula.  The pups are averaging 4 – 5oz of the new formula. 

When we get time we will be devoting a whole page on our website about bottle feeding Great Dane puppies.  It is so hard to find anything out there on the web about bottle feeding Great Dane pups so we want to share what we have experienced while bottle feeding. 

Please visit Leerburg’s website for the recipe of making the Puppy Formula. 

http://leerburg.com/bottlefeeding.htm

The Puppies eyes are starting to open.  They all have little eye lashes, it is very cute.  We will not be taking pictures this week of the pups because of their eyes just starting to open.  Bright lights can really hurt them, so we feel the flash on the camera will not do them any good.  So everyone will just have to be patient for the new pictures to be posted of them.  We will update with new pictures as soon as we are sure the pups will be handle the flash. 

The puppies are becoming very more active.  The are trying to walk.  Most can take a good 5 – 10 steps before they fall over.  The pups are craving human contact, now when people go in to get ready to feed them they get very excited.  They are looking to humans for food and comfort.  They really do like to be cuddled… well that is after they have some food in their little tummies.  Most of the pups are eating any where from 3 – 5 oz of formula each feeding.  So they are eating very well.

The puppy formula is getting very expensive we are going through a 28 oz dry formula container every day!!!  But we have to do what we have to do to keep our puppies healthy.

Well Oreo finally came home she is doing well, but our vet says we are not through the woods yet.  She is finally eating and drinking now that she is home.  She would not eat for the Vet, he said it was probably because she was depressed.  We are feeding her turkey and rice and Purina canned puppy food.  We try to feed her every hour, so hopefully she will gain weight quickly.  She has lost almost 30 lbs with everything she has gone through.  It is very hard to see her as thin as she is, but we know in time she will get better quick. 

She is doing well with the puppies,  we are trying to keep her separated from them until she dries up since she is on antibiotics. The Vet is keeping her on them for the next 20 days to make sure the infection is completely out of her system.  We will be seeing him once a month for the next six months to make sure everything is going well.  We will probably not breed her this heat cycle but breed her the one after that.  It will all depend on her health when we will breed her again.  Oreo’s health is our most important thing to us.

Sorry it has been so long since we posted anything, but it has been a crazy couple of days.  Oreo is at the Vet due to an infection, she is being treated and doing very well.  She will be comming home on Monday.  But due to the fact she has an infection and is on antibiotics she will no longer be able to nurse the pups.  So as of Thursday we had to step in and start bottle feeding.  The good news is the Puppies did get 4 good days of mothers milk. 

The pups are doing really well with the whole bottle feeding thing.  There has not been too much fighting from them over eating from the bottle.  The hardest thing seemed to be finding the right nipple to use to feed them with. 

If anyone out there has any advice on Bottle feeding we would love to hear from you.  Please post a Comment or contact us through the ”Contact Us” page.

Oreo with 10 days to go

Well folks!!  Oreo only has 10 days to go until she has her puppies and she is bigger than she was 3 days ago.  Everything is going very quickly.  She is doing very well and resting alot.  She is going to be an excellent mother.   I will try to post another picture today or tomorrow.