We have 4 day old puppies at home. How in the world do you keep the little wiggleworms in the scale tray when you weigh them? Good grief! They move around so much that I have to hold on to the tray (which affects the results). I have learned not to let them feel my fingers because that entices them even more to move around.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

How about a small basket on the scale. Tare/zero the scale with the basket, and go from there.

How about weighing them when they have recently nursed? Than they are full and happy...

Putting the puppies on the scale after their feeding is giving you an inaccurate reading. That would not give you the actual weight of the puppy. That is like weighing yourself after a large steak meal. It is best to weigh in the morning before the puppies feed.

Take a food scale, put a bowl on top of the scale, and tar it. Then put your baby in there.

I pick them up when they are sleeping and quickly weigh them. I have an inexpensive baby scale.

Just way them about the same time everyday a four day old puppy is going to be nursing around the clock, not stop at night so it will not matter. I put a wash cloth in a basket and zero it out on the scale, that seems to work long enough for me to get a weight then we switch to a canvas tote and fish scales when they get bigger, that works great! Just have to have a fisherman in the family! LOL

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Not actual weight

Putting the puppies on the scale after their feeding is giving you an inaccurate reading. That would not give you the actual weight of the puppy. That is like weighing yourself after a large steak meal. It is best to weigh in the morning before the puppies feed.

Take a food scale, put a bowl on top of the scale, and tar it. Then put your baby in there.

Isn't the main purpose of weighing puppies is to see weight gains and the amounts per puppy and time frame? If you stick with weighing them when done nursing at the same times of day, you'll get an accurate difference weighing them in that fashion. Why stress a puppy with an empty belly? Of course they'll wiggle around smelling for a milk filled teet.

At the recommendation of a long ago post on this forum, I found a food scale at Target that has a rather large bowl. The scale allows you to set it to zero with the bowl and a nice soft towel in it.

The bowl has high sides that captures all of the little squirmers and they fit in it well beyond the point that I don't bother weighing them anymore.

As I recall I paid something less than $15 for the scale.

Thank you all for your replies. The "tray" for my scale is actually about 3 inches deep, 4 inches wide, and about 7 to 8 inches long. I do put a towel inside and zero out before I weigh.

One thing I thought of is the size of the base. It is only slightly larger than the tray so when the puppies scoot to the edge, the scale wants to tip over. I'm telling you, I need 3 hands! Hahaha!

These pups are never lethargic. If I pick them up while they are sleeping, after they have eaten, they are still squirming.

Oh well, I'll figure something out. Perhaps a scale with a super-heavy base? I'll have another look at another Target. I didn't see anything at the one here in town.

Thanks again!

Try putting a cake tray within your current tray. That will help by allowing the puppies to not wiggle to the edge of the bigger tray.

I use an old baby scale that weighs up to 25 lbs. Unfortunately it is not digital so I have had to over the yrs get real good at reading the dial,especially with a wiggley puppy. But it works real well. I am not sure if they even make these anymore?
Julia

If you are in this for the long run, ante up for a baby scale. They cost around $80 and are worth every penny. The chance of dropping a puppy is too big a risk. You can find one on eBay.

I'll have a look on eBay. I might even try Babies R Us. Good idea!

I have a photo to share; how do I get it to appear here.

$10 food scale and a plastic shoe box with a towel inside.

http://www.theshoppingchannel.com/pages/productresults?nav=Ny:1,Ntk:siteSearch_S001_en_CA%7CLuggage%20scale%7CAllPartial%7C

Not sure if you can go to this link but after so many tries I settled on a "Luggage scale" You place the pup in a sling or a basket and there ya go. Worked well for me....this is in Canada but I'm sure if you Google luggage scale you could get the same thing.

My first puppy scale was only slightly larger than the tray as well... I didn't like it so had another on order. In the meantime I used a basket with a towel in it and used velcro on the bottom of the basket and on the scale.. It really helped. I also weighed my litters after their morning meal when they were drifting off to sleep, and the same time each day. Never had a problem doing so...