Newborn Bichon puppies need especially careful temperature control. The ideal room temperature is about 20 to 25?C. During this period, caretakers need to watch them closely. If a puppy moves away from the mother, it should be returned under the mother's abdomen promptly. Likewise, if a puppy is accidentally pinned beneath the mother, it must be taken out immediately. In general, this is a period when owners need to be very attentive.
Newborn puppies should receive colostrum as early as possible and should drink enough of it, because it provides essential antibodies. It is also important to help each puppy find and keep a fixed teat. If the puppies do not nurse from stable positions, stronger puppies may take food away from weaker ones, leading to uneven growth and a higher death rate. Frail puppies in particular should be helped to nurse from teats that produce more milk so that the litter develops more evenly and has a higher survival rate.
Bichon puppies grow very quickly, and the mother's milk alone gradually becomes insufficient. Supplementary feeding should begin from about the tenth day of life. Water supplementation can start around ten days. As for food, owners should choose high-quality, nutrient-rich, and easy-to-digest foods such as millet porridge, milk, or rib broth. At around fifteen days, rice soup can be placed on a small plate for the puppies to lick. Around twenty days, soft porridge can be introduced, and by about twenty-five days, feed can be mixed into it. The amount of supplementary feed can gradually increase from about 20 to 30 grams a day up to 200 to 300 grams, divided into three to four feedings daily.
One extremely important point is environmental management to prevent disease. Good daily care, hygienic surroundings and drinking water, and high-quality food are all essential. Before the mother gives birth, the whelping area should be thoroughly disinfected. The nest should be lined with soft, clean bedding. Special attention to hygiene is needed when the puppies begin eating and at weaning. Deworming and vaccination must also be done at the right times. Usually the first deworming is around 20 to 25 days of age, the second around 40 to 45 days, and the first vaccination at about 45 days, followed by another dose about two weeks later, for a total of two to three shots depending on the plan.
It is not enough to care only for the newborn puppies. The nutrition of the nursing mother must also be strengthened. The mother's milk production directly affects the puppies' development, so she must receive fresh, high-quality, and easily digestible food to ensure an abundant milk supply. Once the puppies are weaned, the owner can finally relax a little.