Weaning Puppies - Page 1

My puppies are 22 days old. When can I start to introduce solid foods? What is recommended for the fist meal? (Oatmeal?) Some advice on the weaning process would be extremely helpful?

I start my pups on goats milk and a raw meat mixture (I am a raw feeder) anywhere from 3 1/2 to about 4 1/2 weeks to give them a taste and start increasing the thickness of the meal.. they are also getting chicken wings which right now they are just gnawing on mostly and playing tug and stealing from each other.... Befroe we moved to the big pen, one of the boy ion our current litter got out of the box and was literally in his mothers food bowl up to his elbows while she was trying to eat!! I am finding that mom really doesn't want them to nurse so much now (who can blame her - caught someone playing tug of war with a nipple yesterday!) so have increased to 2 meals per day and will soon go to 3.. they were 5 weeks yesterday.. When you start to switch pups depends on how well they are growing which determines if they are geting enough.. I've had to switch pups cpompletely as early as 3 1/2 weeks.... At the same time you are switching you want to reduce mom's food... Hope this helps

As an alternative, I create a gruel consisting of some puppy milk replacement like Esbilac, some human baby food meat (chicken, lamb, turkey, beef) and a high grade puppy kibble. Generally I begin giving this on a spoon at around 4 weeks old. In a day or two I am feeding it on a plate and gradually all pups will start to really like it. Make sure it is not too hot or too cold. I feed it initially once a day for a few days to see how the pups are tolerating it, and then increase it to two and then three times daily. Generally dams will start hating to feed the babies as the pups teeth begin to come in and their little nails get sharper and longer. I make sure to carefully trim the nails so they are not scratching the dams belly all the time while nursing. In my experience, by 5-6 weeks, all pups are generally eating like pigs and mom starts telling the pups she is not interested in feeding them. That is when I cut her food to dry up milk and begin to separate her from the pups for longer periods of time. Good luck. I am sure there are many ways people do this.

At the age of four (4) weeks I make a slurry of warm goat's milk and premium canned puppy food and use this to supplement what the dam provides. My trade name for it is "vomit". The goat's milk is very close to mother's milk, unlike the milk from a cow. I start by using small quantities per puppy, and gradually increase it. One has to be very observant as the puppies reach five (5) weeks of age, as some will develop their teeth a bit sooner and cause the mother to push them away and even nip them. At six (6) weeks all of them are off of the mother and now eating the slurry to that I have added dry kibble after softening it with the goat's milk. Past that it continues to be softened dry kibble, and by eight (8) weeks of age it is dry kibble only. Bob-O

I give goats milk, mixed with raw hamburger and puppy kibble at 4 weeks, starting with more milk and decreasing the milk every couple days until the just are getting kibble and hamburger. We also start giving pumpkin on a spoon every couple days which helps decrease diarrehea from the goats milk/mixture. By 6 weeks they get pumpkin mixed in the hamburger and kibble and no more goats milk. Good luck!

i give premium kibble starting at 4-5 weeks; they seem to do well,

I make a mixture of goats milk, baby cereal, 1 tsp Karo syrup/batch just before 4th week, next intro. small bit fresh ground chopped meat (4 to 4.5 weeks). By 5 weeks I remove Karo, cereal and really reduce goats milk and start slush of well soaked puupy food (If new owners are not using raw) (I use solid gold, innova, and wellness equal mixture). By 6 weeks pups are near weaned with dam kept visible and still with them at a higher level in the room. Weeks 7, 8 and 9 only soaked puppy and water. You will need to adjust by growth of pups, # of pups in litter, dam condition, etc. I also put in raw bones (previously frozen and thawed in refrig.) for the pups to teeth on. GOOD LUCK !!!

Thank you to all who replied to my questions. I took a little something from everybody's formula. I soaked a cup of Pro Plan in Goat Milk. I boiled one hamburger and blended in the food processor. Add milk as needed and turn the mixture into a custard. i gave one tablespoon to each puppy and they went crazy. Liked the paperplate clean. The puppies are 22 days old. My only concern if they are too young????????

Hi Pat, They sound adorable!! Just use caution when adding all those ingredients at once. Three weeks is still very young and it is important they still be with their mother. Also, I would just try the goats milk and hamburger (mine is raw) and let their little systems adjust and see what they tolerate. Then, week after, try small amount of soaked kibble and make gruel. I also use a fluted puppy pan so the gruel is forced to the edges. Also, if you start with just a few things, you can pick out if something has caused a problem.

i introduce a taste of goats milk bout 3 weeks then add a recipe that Fidelco used with yogurt, cottage cheese and boiled eggs... then i make this concoction at 4, 5 weeks adding grounded up top kibble and they still nurse too!! til bout 8 weeks old... my females will let the little ones know when the kitchen is closed!!