Dogs and Puppies

L. asked:


My female Chihuahua just had 6 puppies and now we want to get her fixed. I don’t want to do it too soon because she is still nursing. Puppies are now 4 weeks old.
Thank you.

mary asked:


My 2 year old female chihuahua gave birth to her first litter of 6 puppies about 2 days ago. 2 of them already died because they were so small and weren’t able to eat very much. Now there are 4 left, 2 of which seem to have gained a healthy weight, 1 is starting to gain a little weight but is still skinny, and the last doesn’t seem to gain any weight at all. For the two smaller puppies I’ve been helping them to their mother’s breast so that they can be fed because they can’t seem to do it on their own. I direct them towards the breast every time the other puppies eat. But even then they never eat very much. What can I do about this?