at what age do you remove pups from mom ? - Page 1

Hi guys. I usually remove the pups from the mom at 8 weeks. starting at 5 weeks I keep her out of their way more. But I was talking to a rottie person that told me I kept them with the mom too long. That at 6 weeks she should be out of the picture. Just wondering how you all do it. Thank you, Andy

 Your rottie person is right.  Between 3 and 4 weeks you should introduce a gruel and by 6 weeks they should be gone from mom.  Depending on what your pups are destined for, sometimes this can be sooner as well.  Mom won't want them on her after this with the teeth, nails and mischief!  

 It's one thing to begin introducing food at 3-4 weeks, and another to totally isolating the litter from their dam.  Pups learn a great deal from playing with and interaction with the dam.  Harsh weaning techniques can and do cause mastitis in many bitches.   As pups begin to eat more solid food, they gradually reduce the amount they nurse, and self-wean until the mother actively withholds nursing.

It sounds like the method you have used in the past worked fine.  Trust yourself, and if your pups and mom are doing well, you might not gain anything in changing your routine.

My pups will start eating solid food at four weeks or so.   Mom lets me know when she's had enough, I have a board to separate them, she can come and go at will.   Keeps her from stress yet lets her get rid of her milk on her own.
She can play with them and groom them when she wants. 

we start ours on mush around 3 weeks. by 5 they are usually off of mom.  pups have sharp teeth.   think mom likes that?
if your not carfull a bitch can get mastitis (sp?)  from a puppy bite.

john

 Mastitis is more often than not caused by milk that is not drained by the pups, and the milk becomes a breeding ground for bacteria.  The bitch's milk production peaks at around the 4th week post-whelping, so nature doesn't intend the pups to be separated from the dam at that time.  At this age, the bitch goes in, the pups drain her in a few minutes at most, and she goes about her business.

A bitch will discipline puppies that bite her.  She'll nail them to the floor if they hurt her.  That's part of her job - teaching the little darlings bite inhibition.

I've seen a breeder come into the vet clinic with a bitch with raging mastitis - HUGE, draining, open abcesses.  Sure enough, the large litter of pups is around 4 - 5 weeks old and she's just been locked away from the whelps "for her own good".  

I also leave them until about 8 weeks, if the mother is content (she usually is). By this time they are usually naturally weaned and the mother no longer producing milk, but she is usally happy to play with them still, so no problem for the mum or babies.