5 week old pup does not like water alone

by Sarah
(Canada)

We call her Ewok

I have a puppy who is half mixed pug (from mother) and not sure who the father is. I'm guessing its mixed with German Shephard cross. I had her since she was 4.5 weeks because the mother ran away.

For a while I fed her milk but was told that it was bad for her, so i switched to small dog soft food and then found puppy formula. I realized that she was not drinking any water. I tried dipping water on her nose and pointing where she could drink it from. the only way she has water is when its mixed with the puppy formula soft food.

i'm worried that she isn't getting enough water and also when she's done eating she makes a whopping cough sound and also when she wakes up she has a clicking sound when her mouth is closed.

her feeding schedule is 7am, 1pm, 7pm and 2am. once she eats, she plays around for about 15 mins and then wants to sleep for a couple hours and wakes up and wants to eat again. it's a on going schedule.

I would take her to a vet but people say that its normal for a pup, but i don't think so because she wasn't supposed to leave her mother til she is 8 weeks.

Any help/suggestions on whats normal or not?








Hi Sarah
At 5 weeks old your pup is very tiny baby, but she is old enough to be eating puppy food and drinking water. She is also old enough not to need to eat in the middle of the night.

For now you could keep a 4-feeds-per-day schedule, but make them at 7am, 12 noon, 5pm, and then a drink of formula at 10pm if you think she needs it. By 8 weeks she will only need to be fed 3 times a day.

Although she's not wanting to lap her water it could be just because she hasn't learned how yet. It takes pups a few tries to get it right. I'd recommend mixing some formula with the water and offering it to her in a shallow bowl and give her a chance to figure it out for herself. Once she'll lap the formula/water mix, switch over to plain water.

It's perfectly normal for a pup of this age to do nothing more than eat, play for short periods, and take a nap.. then to start all over again. Puppies need lots of sleep as that's when they do most of their growing. As she gets older she will sleep less and play more.

The coughing, and the clicking sound aren't necessarily normal and I would definitely have her checked out by your vet to make sure that she doesn't have a problem with her soft palate (ie the roof of her mouth).

Short-nosed breeds such Pugs, Bulldogs etc. tend to have more palate problems due to it being shortened. As your pup is eating okay and has obviously been able to nurse from her mom well enough then if she does have something wrong, chances are it's fairly minor. But it's important to make sure.

It's possible that an issue like this could make it difficult for her to lap, and maybe that has something to do with her reluctance to drink. But it may be totally unrelated. Your vet can figure it out for you.

Hope this helps, best of luck with your little 'Ewok', she's adorable.