When you have a litter of new born puppies, their mother will do most of the hard work for the first three or four weeks. However, it is up to you to make her job as easy as possible.

One of the most important things to do is to make sure that mom has the very best of everything to keep her in tip top condition so she does not lose any weight whilst doing the very demanding job of caring for her babies.

As soon as possible after the puppies are born, you should check each one to make sure there are no problems such as cleft palate. This is where there is a gap in the roof of the mouth and the milk will go into the lungs rather than the stomach. Other things to look out for are deformed limbs, limp or cold puppies and puppies that will not feed. Ten minutes or so spent just watching mother and babies at regular intervals will soon show you if there is anything amiss. You will get to see how mom is looking after her newborns and if there is one that is not quite as vigorous as the others etc.

When the puppies are two weeks old it is very important to worm both the mom and puppies. The mom passes worms to her babies through her milk so it is vital to worm mom at the same time as the puppies to avoid further cross infection. For the puppies it is a good idea to use a good brand of worming syrup. Weigh each puppy carefully and make sure the dose instructions are followed. Using the barrel of a syringe, dribble the worming syrup in to the corner of the mouth. The puppy will probably wriggle and pull a face – after all, he's only ever tasted milk. But try and make sure you get as much of the syrup in him as possible. You should worm mom at the same time with a wormer that is recommended by your vet. Then worm the puppies every two weeks until they are 12 weeks old, after that, every 6 months is fine. Mom should be wormed at the same time as the pups for as long as she is still feeding them.

Each time you worm the puppies, it is a good idea to clip their sharp little nails at the same time. If you keep them short, it will avoid mom getting sore and scratched as she feeds them. Use a set of human nail clippers for this job, they are easy to use and do a good job cutting the nails of tiny wriggling puppies.

If you are in doubt at all about the health of the mom or the babies, please call your veterinary – it could save their lives!