weaning puppies

[frostback]

Ok the pups are 5 weeks old and getting around a lot and are now getting out of the house and the female is playing with them way to rough. How do you wean these things. Have only done cows. They have been eating ground up pup food for a couple of weeks now also. Frostie

 

[DFSC]

Our female kind of weaned the puppies for us. Is the mother still wanting to nurse them all the time? We would limit the puppies to only nursing twice a day. Then 2 or 3 times a day we would give the puppies canned dog food. What breed of dog?

Jordan

 

[jlingle]

Generally the mother will let you know when it's time to wean them.  You might want to supplement that ground up food with some buttermilk or milk replacer for a few weeks.  Just about any soft food will work well, but we nearly always put some milk or something in with it initially.  Putting lard (wal mart sells it as "manteca") in the food helps as well.  As soon as the mama shows you that it's time to wean, separate them.  If you're feeding the smaller pups, we always feed AT LEAST twice a day, sometimes 3 times.  It ain't all that hard, but remember every mama dog is a little different in how they go about weaning and at what age. 

 

[frostback]

They are English Pointers. The bitch is very young and has done a great job till now. I just dont like what I saw with her playing with the pups. I am worried that she will kill one. She had one by the back leg swinging it around like a toy. I just need to know if I can take her away and just bring her to them a few times a day? They are getting the slop twice a day but I could do it more if need be. They are all growing well. Frostie

 

[OH Breeder]

I use to raise Jack Russell's.I would start them on Gerber Rice Cereal with warmed milk as soon as they could get around. Once they had their teeth I transitioned them to puppy chow. As I increase the availability of the puppy chow I seperated them from the mother. The Rice Cereal puts an excellent cover on them and gets them started early on something else besides mom. By 8-10 weeks when they were ready to go to homes they were eating puppy chow only.

 

[sjcattleco]

Just put them in a separate pen and let the female dry up.   Feed the pups some cottage cheese for about a week. slowly mixing in some puppy food.  They would be weaned in about a week to 10 days.

 

[jbw]

Start them on canned dog food, or just soften puppy food with water, feed them twice a day, get them eating well before you wean them. I have had the best luck weaning at 49 days, 7weeks. I would highly suggest deworming acouple times in there as well.

 

[VJ]

About a week before she pups I switch her over to Diamond puppy food, full feed. she gets the extra calcium and goodies she needs to milk like crazy. Make sure she has food at all times in a dish the puppies can reach too. At about 3-4 weeks the pups will start nibbling on the food and by 5 weeks eating a lot of it. The Diamond puppy food is very small and easy for them to eat at a young age. Also at 5 weeks I start weaning them. Mom is out all day. When I chore at night she gets 10 minutes to nurse them and then out again. At 6 weeks I wean them completely.

 

[kanshow]

Soften some good high quality puppy food in milk replacer and feed that to them.  Also put out the same high quality puppy food dry and leave it out 24/7 for awhile.    Let the mother in 2 - 3x a day so the puppies can nurse while you watch.  It will take just a few minutes, then take her away.  Reduce the number of times she is with them over the next few days until you don't need to put her back.