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Can my newborn puppies get sick from my human cold or flu?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Rough Collie | Female | unspayed

Hi I'm a breeder of 9 years and I've never had such a problem, so I'm just trying to find answers. I had a litter of 9 rough collies and with in the first week we lost 3. All possible intervention was taken even a vet trip with one, they were even still feeding. I'm just wondering (as silly as this may sound) if new born puppies could be affected by a human cold/flu? As we have had a sickness in the house for a while.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on September 19th, 2020

First off, I'm extremely sorry you lost three puppies. That is terrible and please accept my condolences for your loss. It is extremely rare that a puppy or dog could catch the flu from a human (not a silly question!), so it's unlikely that is the cause. Unfortunately puppies are quite fragile, and there are some that do not make it. You sound like you have been very lucky to have never lost puppies like this before! It truly can happen, and there is nothing you could have done to prevent it. Nine is a big litter too, and these puppies may have just been more fragile than the others, or weren't getting enough milk. Again, I'm sorry.

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