Introducing pups to food? When to take mom away? - Page 1

I have a question for breeders out there... When do you start feeding your young pups? What is a good food to start a young pup on? I have a friend with a litter of pups, they are 3 1/2 weeks old. Momma feeds them but they seem to be hungry, should she start supplementing these pups soon? Another question, when do you take (wean) the mother completely away from the pups (what age?) and they are on their own? I appreciate your input. Thanks, Arrakis

It just so happens I'm doing this right now!! I usually like to introduce my pups to goats milk/meat somewhere between 4 and 5 weeks, sometimes a bit earlier. I feed raw so I also am giving them chicken wings or backs to experiment with... they are very funny to watch and listen to!! My litter is 5 weeks today and they are pretty much off their mother.. I do like to let them nurse as long as Mom is ok with it but found a mammary tissue wound 2 days ago..... that does it for me... when the little pirhanas start ripping momma to shreds... it's time.. When you feed raw, moms seem to have plenty of milk and can usually nurse longer except if there is an injury like this one... Funny thing, she will still go in with them and let them hang off her which is how this happened.... If pups aren't growing steadily and thriving, then it is probably time to start supplementing..... As for food preference, I feed raw so I'm not much help with the type of kibble.. 2whatever it is, it should be soaked until it is mushy (or blendered) and mixed with goats milk or Esbilac or some similar product.....to start with an then as they learn to actually chew - less and less liquid.. I also use cottage cheese and/or yogurt in puppy meals.... Hope this helps

My liter is also about 5 weeks(will be Tues). My puppies had top teeth in by 19 days and bottoms we in by 22 days. Needless to say momma does not have a pleasant time with feedings. I started at 20 days with plain yougurt mixed with water - so they were basically drinking this, then 22 days gave cottage cheese and water. At 24 days I added can puppy food with cottage cheese -- 26 days gave same mixture with dry puppy food that had been soaked in water to make it soft. Now at almost 5 weeks I am not moistening the mixture as much so they are getting a little crunch when they bite. As far as weaning goes the mom will let you know when it is time, she will not allow the pups to feed anymore. You just need to watch the younger pups to make sure she is not weaning too soon and make sure the puppies are gaining weight daily. I would say by 6 weeks they should be fully weaned. At that time you could separate the pups from the mom for longer periods of time, this will help the milk dry up because the pups will not constantly be trying to nurse. Good Luck, German Shepherds are usually great moms and do most of the work themselves.

Hungry is not bad as long as pups are still well fed and doing ok. 3 1/2 weeks is an age at which you can start to supplement regular food. I have stopped starting them on the milky stuff a long time ago, just too messy. If you use a good quality food (ie Eaglepack), they should do fine being put on regular puppy food right away. I have never had problems with pups getting the runs by putting them onto that food directly. They adapt well to it and eat it well too. IMO you should not add anything to a ready made puppy food, because you are then interfering with the formula especially developed for a growing pup and adding other foods can affect absorption of certain nutrients. Especially the calcium : phosphorous ratio. Every breeder uses something different though. 10 breeders will likely give you 10 different methods or opinions. Your friend needs to find out what works best for that situation. To start pups feeding I put the dry puppy kibble in the blender until it has turned into a meal. Then I add luke warm water, stirr well, let sit for 5 minutes, stirr again, see if it needs more water. Always feed any food you give a young pup at about body temperature. A little warmer is ok as long as it will not scold or burn the pups mouth, but cooler than that can bring problems. At such a young age I feed all pups individually until they know how to eat. Takes about 2 to 3 feeding sessions. Then everyone eats out of a big bowl, but I make sure none of the pups overeat. Once pups are on food other than mothers milk, mom will no longer clean up after them. So be prepared for extra work there. For the most part I let mom wean the pups on her own. Once a female has had enough she will limit the pups time on the milk bar herself. Not all females stick to that plan though. If a female still feeds her pups at around 7 weeks, then I limit her time with the pups. As soon as the pups are on regular food, they will have no problem with a sudden lack of milk. So no concern there. Mom may have a problem if her milk bar is not emptied all regularly. Check her tits and make sure there is no hardening and heat developing in any of them. That will be a sign of mastitis.

I also feed a raw diet.. but I start my pups on a milk mix.. sometimes start them around 3 weeks. sometimes later..depending on how many in the litter.. my milkmix consists of goat's milk, yougurt, cottagecheese and hard boiled eggs.. blended up. they get one week of this..then I start adding meat to the milk mix.. my guys also get chicken wings and backs to gnaw on and play with starting around 3 weeks of age. By 5 weeks of age the milk mix is stopped..and they go on meat and wings and backs..

Introducing food as DH suggested is great, I follow this too. As far as taking mom away from the pups, I have never had to do this, I make it so the pups can't follow her to her "space" so she can escape when she needs a break, a mom will decide at her pace how and when to wean the pups, I have had pups still nurse 1 time daily at 7 weeks and at 8 weeks no more. I don't even sell my pups until 10 weeks as I feel they learn so much as a pack, that they sometimes lack when they are taken away to early. But that is a whole other topic.