I have a pup in my litter that is 3 1/2 weeks old tat does nothing but cry and whimper.
How can you tell at this age if he could be blind?

He would not be crying and whimpering if he was blind, unless he was in pain. What makes you think he is blind? Is he the only one crying? Is he eating? Is he gaining?

What if he was disoriented, that could make him cry, no?

Puppies navigate from birth by sense of smell. He wouldn't be disoriented even if he were blind; he wouldn't know any other way of life.

You need to start weighing this baby every day. And keep a record , he should gain daily, if not call your vet ! Make sure he is warm enough, and make sure he nurses , I mean sit there and watch. This baby is either hungry or cold, both of which you can fix.

His eyes look very blueish when I shine a light at them, is this normal?
Hazy I suppose.

I will take him to vet on Monday for sure.

Puppies don't see well until they are about 4+ weeks old. They have poor eye/body coordination and can't track well. Even when mom goes back in the box after being away, they act frantic until the nose finds her. They know she is there but find her first with their noses until they can track better. They can't follow a ball rolling on the floor or where you throw a toy. Their eyes are always blue until they are older and can appear cloudy. I agree that there is something else wrong. Is it a big litter? Are there bigger puppies getting all the milk? Do you have them on food yet? This puppy may be hungry as noted before. Have you seen this puppy's bowel movements, are the normal? I would try feeding the litter once a day at first and see if that helps. I find that even when mom is nursing fine at 3 and 1/2 weeks they are hungry and are thrilled to start mush

There are 4 in the litter and he's the whiner.
I'll watch the entire feeding next time.
I know they are not cold or hot.
I have started them on a mixture of yogurt, banana and goat milk to supplement feedings.
Any suggestions for another type mush?

Feeding bananas to a baby puppy, and shining a light into a newly opened puppy's eyes?
Do you have anyone that can help you assess the situation, a breeder friend, (even a different breed), or the breeder of the dam? No disrespect, but these seem like elementary questions. The puppy in question could have gas, coccidia, or any host of other things wrong. Maybe a vet visit perhaps?

IF you read the previous posts you would see that I already said I was taking the puppy to the vet.
BTW it was the owner of the stud that suggested it could be blindness.
I know many breeders that put banana in the puppy gruel.
Please read the thread before making comments

I don't know any breeders who put bananas in puppy gruel - that's for babies! PLEASE just use soaked puppy food, that's all you need to do for pups. Poor thing probably has gas!

Of 25+ years of breeding we have never used bananas or goat milk with our puppy gruel.... Just soak puppy food of your choice in hot water or better yet if you have an extra blender like we do grind a cup of puppy food per 1.5 cups of water. That will be good enough... Yogurt is only used for diarrhea situations which happen hardly ever. Good luck with your baby... Sounds like gas to me.... I doubt the puppy is blind so I'm not so sure the stud owner knows what they are talking about?

You should know more about your puppy's intake and output.

As far as transitioning a puppy, why are you adding food that the puppy isn't going to be transitioned to? Your risking additional digestive upset. To wean a puppy quickly and without complications use puppy food. Chop it up and soak it (in water) or soak it well and mush it up.

If you need or want to use a probiotic use one that's formulated for puppies (http://www.jefferspet.com/bene-bac-plus/p/4157/). Some research studies have shown that too much calcium given to puppies at this very young age can predispose them to orthopedic issues after they leave your care. Yogurt is a high calcium food. At this age here is no need to add any milk at all (goat or cow).

Many well intentioned people try too hard when weaning puppies. Go easy on yourself and the puppies, use puppy food and let them have one transition (not two), that's the best.

Good luck at the vet.

I tell you what, why don't you remove the banana from the baby gruel and see what happens. Truly I have been in Labradors 30 yrs, and never ever heard of anyone adding banana to the baby gruel. The foods you are giving at this age, the puppy cannot , actually it is impossible for him to digest. No milk products ever before 4 weeks of age, and never give banana , ever. This baby likely has a serious case of Upset Stomach to put it mildly. If you need to feed someone to the excess , feed the bitch. Give her cottage cheese, yogurt , boiled chicken [no bones] , and all the Performance Food she can eat. She is capable of feeding this litter untill they are 6 weeks, if she is fed properly, all by herself , no need to feed the babies.

Whoa! No! Do NOT take this advice! Do not make the mother feed these pups until 6 weeks without feeding the pups puppy food! No way! Cruel and unusual punishment! I feel sad for this breeder's dams!Those puppy teeth are brutal! Even leaving the mom in with the pups is cruel! At 6 weeks, the mom should either be done, or go in for a minute, and go out again.

Unless this is a very unusual case or a past history of eye problems is this pedigree, your 3 1/2 week old puppy is not blind. It sounds like he is suffering from digestive problems. The advice about puppies eyes at this age are all accurate....they appear hazy, they appear blue, the puppy can't follow movement easily and I might add they don't have depth perception for several more weeks. Breeders have age old recipes for what to feed newly weaned puppies but I suggest under these circumstances that you eliminate everything but a good quality kibble that is soaked until soft. You can either put it down for the puppies as is or you can grind it up in a blender. Let the puppy's stomach calm down for a week or two and then if you are determined to add additional foods to their diets, do it one item at a time for three days. Then add another, and so on. They really don't need to be supplemented with additional foods though as long as you are using a good quality of dry kibble. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that his digestive tract is not mature enough to handle all these new foods.

Your puppies can nurse and eat kibble for three more weeks. As they are supplemented with kibble, they will nurse less and less and they will automatically begin to wean themselves. There are many "what ifs" and "buts" to this advice but this is my basic routine that seems to work for me.

I would suggest that you don't shine a light in the puppies eyes or force them in any way. I also feel that it is about time to worm them. That will make them feel more comfortable, too. Your puppy will most likely stop his crying and discomfort after a few days of plain kibble. Good luck. I hope all goes well.

It sounds like gas.
I do not feed my pups anything but soaked Puppy food. There is no need to mix anything in if you feed a quality balanced food.
Try crushing up a small piece of a Gas-X and give it to the poor baby.

At that age it's organs are not developed enough to process what you have been feeding it. This is why the discomfort.
I would stick to puppy food gruel and Mom's milk for now. Give the little belly a rub to help release the gas.
Remember all pups do not develop exactly on schedule. Sounds like you are a very loving and concerned breeder to worry and try to care for this baby. Like someone else suggested if it is not looking better and gaining weight a vet visit may be in order. For piece of mind if anything. Good luck.

I didn't see anyone mention temperature... A puppy that is too warm will cry constantly. Some pups are just more sensitive to heat than others. I use 1' square ceramic tiles in the whelping box so they can find a cool spot.

I've always used goats milk. I soak kibble in water, and then mash up with some goats milk to make it oatmeal like. Get rid of the bananas and the yogurt. I am guessing the bananas have given the pup a bad tummy ache. Honestly, in all my years of breeding and the years of research leading up to my first breeding, I have NEVER EVER heard of feeding banana. I don't even give my adults fruit. Not really natural for a dog.

Blind? unless there is a history of blindness behind your puppy I highly doubt it. Yes puppies eye can appear blueish, that is normal. What is not normal is feeding bananas to puppies. Come on now, please use some common sense, get rid of the bananas and EVRERYTHING else that you feel you need to add to your puppy's gruel. As previous poster stated, your puppy probably has a stomach ache from the bananas. Take a high quality puppy food, soak it in HOT water until the food is completely soft then add more hot water until it is very soupy consistancy, graduallly reduce water and soaking time as puppies mature and learn to eat food. Also so not use goat's milk, it's been linked to eye problems in puppies, ask your optomologist.

I start my puppies on puppy chow mixed with water and whirled in a blender. Pour it into the feeding dish immediately after blending and let it sit for a few minutes to make an oatmeal-like gruel. Later I transition to soaked food- no blender. Otherwise I agree with the other comments.

I start my puppies on dry puppy food mixed with canned. They crunch it right up! I used to go to all the trouble of gruel until one of my Havanese litters showed me the error of my ways. I was feeding the dam dry food with a bit of canned (they don't have the same appetite as Labs and she was getting skinny nursing a big litter) when I realized that a couple of 3 week old pups had joined her and were crunching away. If a Havanese puppy can do that, why was I going crazy making and cleaning up after Labrador gruel? Now they get about a week of canned + dry before I switch to all dry. Seems more natural anyway.

Mucho thanks to all the posters.
The baby is on puppy gruel and doing better.
The gas X helped alot.
Still having him checked at the vet tomorrow though.

I have also used a drop of Milicon (human) infant drops for a gassy puppy per my vet's instructions.

We aren't even supposed to use flash photography with 3 to 4 week puppies when eyes are newly open and for at least a week after. Why would the OP put a flashlight into the eyes of a puppy of that age and very possibly damage the eyes? I can't comprehend it or her beginning the topic as Blind Puppy. There are so many problems the pup could be having. I would have had my ass to the vet with that puppy instead of posting here and shining lights into its eyes.

OP--Please go back to reading the books you read before you began breeding and you'll see that over & over & over again. I never forgot it and you shouldn't have either. You're not an opthamologist. What could you possibly think you would see? All pups eyes begin blue, change to hazel and then turn the colour they'll be as adults.

I did have a puppy that I thought was blind as when they opened their eyes I noticed that this puppy always seemed to hug the pig rails to navigate the box and I would place toys that jingled near her path so she would know where she was. I took her to my vet who determined that at that time she couldn't see , she was about 3 1/2 weeks old. by the time she was 6 weeks old I noticed one day while she was outside with the rest of her litter that she turned her head in the direction as my white JRT ran by her and seemed to respond more and more to things around her,toys,chasing after her littermates
It turns out she had a very heavy case of Persistant Pupillary Mebranes, the Opth. told me when she was examined at 8 weeks she should have "stayed in the Cooker a little longer" but that she could see just fine .

No light in pups eys. Wow. Eyes are cloudy for a few days after they open. His stomach aches. NO BANANA. Never, ever heard of that one. Soak puppy food and goats milk is great for digestion. Just read how to use things.

My Vet told me not to use Gas X but to use Simethicone 20mg drops for gas. She said the Simethicone can be used on very young pups too and they can have several doses throughout the day. I used 0.3 for a 2 1/2 month old pup. Check with your Vet for the dosage.

I really wish people would do a little research before they go telling others what not to use, or to use.
Gas X IS Simethicone. It's perfectly safe.
http://www.gas-x.com/pdf/infantdrops-label.pdf

My little guy is fine.
Nothing at all found wrong by the vet.
BTW the vet said bananas are fine, in fact they settle the tummy.
But I have him on puppy gruel and still some whining but doing well and NOT blind.
Thank you guys!

Doesn't matter what the vet said. Don't feed bananas to a puppy. Most vets are not breeders. Are you 100% sure it is not too hot for him? I have found being too hot is the main reason pups will make noise. Also, can the pup get off the soft bedding and onto the hard floor if he wants. Pups that are too hot will settle nicely on a cool floor. Make sure they have to option. Most of the time, the pups will choose the hard floor over the soft bedding to lie on, given the choice.