Anytime a puppies temperature drops below 94 degrees he develops a paralysis of the digestive tract. Another thing with chilled puppies is their esophogeus, instead of being a tight tube, is a big sack where it completely relaxes. There is no way that the pup can nurse, there is no suction. Then we give them warm formula and end up killing them, why? Due to paralysis of the digestive tract, the food doesn't go anywhere it stays in the stomach.
The critical thing is to warm the pup up before putting him back on the bitch. You'll note, a dam tries to save a pup before she culls him, she uses her warm tongue to raise his body temperature, also the tongue jiggles to turn the body about.
We can suspend him in water the same as his body temperature, then gradually add warm water. This process is time consuming. So we place the pups on heating pads or infrared lights and cuase them to die, why? Because it's warming them too fast. Warm pups slowly from the outside in. The best way to do this is to put him in an inside pocket, close to your body, and go about your work. When the temperature goes to 94 degrees or above the bitch should reclaim him.
Diarrhea can kill and it can occur when a nursing mother is on antibiotics or has an infection in her milk.
If the bitch is on antibiotics, and is still nursing, the pups may get diarrhea. Live cultured butter milk or live cultured yogurt reactivate normal bacteria needed in the intestinal tract to maintain proper digestion and produce normal stool.
Overfeeding can cause diarrhea. A loose yellow stool indicates a mild overfeeding, a greenish stool indicates moderate overfeeding, and a grayish stool indicates a severe problem. You can give two CC of milk of magnesia every three hours and supplement with start. Bac a vitamin- Bacterial paste or Lactinex, which can be obtained from a druggist.
Glucose, honey, Karo syrup or finally table sugar are helpful in overcoming this problem.
So called "activated sleep pups" are sleeping puppies which are sleeping pups sleeping and jerking all the time. Some people say that the pup is dreaming, this is not so. Puppies that jerk while sleeping is a sign that you can feel safe about his future. If activated sleep stops 24 hours later you will have a sick pup. Activated sleep is really good sign.
Another good monitor is weight gain. A good, vigorous pup should gain weight everyday.