|
Welcome to the YorkieTalk.com Forums Community - the community for Yorkshire Terriers. You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. You will be able to chat with over 35,000 YorkieTalk members, read over 2,000,000 posted discussions, and view more than 15,000 Yorkie photos in the YorkieTalk Photo Gallery after you register. We would love to have you as a member! Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today! If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please click here to contact us. |
|
| LinkBack | Thread Tools |
03-30-2008, 09:12 AM | #1 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: California
Posts: 1,778
| Weaning Puppies I am having trouble weaning our four boys. Mom just doesn't want to! They are six weeks old, and on the larger size. Since 5 weeks (at my vets suggestion) I've been offering softened Royal Canin Baby Dog food several times a day. I've also offered Newman's Own Organic puppy food (canned). The puppies take a few bits and then go on their way. Mom still cries every night at 1:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. to be put in with the puppies (she's back to sleeping with us). I've tried separating them for a few hours and offering food... but no luck yet. Any suggestions?
__________________ LaVail Yorkshire Terriers |
Welcome Guest! | |
03-30-2008, 12:05 PM | #2 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Colorado
Posts: 714
| My momma dog fed her babies for at over 10 weeks with her last litter. I just let her feed them whenever she wanted. I also started offering them puppy food and they ate they also, but still wanted to nurse off mom every chance they could Towards the end, she just did it less and less, but I was surprised that she fed them for so long. I think I hurried her first litter and weaned too soon, mother knows best!! |
03-30-2008, 12:45 PM | #3 |
Donating YT 5000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Southeast Texas
Posts: 7,959
| I never separate the momma from her babies that young. All I do is grind up the dry puppy food in a blender and I put this ground up dry food in a bowl in the pen with the puppies, along with some water. The puppies will start eating on their own and the food will not spoil and it is not messy. My puppies are in a big excercise pen and I have a board across the front of the pen so the mom can go in and out when she wants to. I leave it up to the mom to decide when to wean. I have one mom now that her pups are 8 weeks old and she still insists on nursing them some, even though she is nearly dried up. The puppies are eating the dry food very well but they need the socialization of their mother. |
03-30-2008, 02:12 PM | #4 | |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: California
Posts: 1,778
| Quote:
Nursing is so popular here that even our mommy-to-be is getting in with the puppies and nursing them. She looks pretty guilty, like she knows she isn't supposed to be in there. But mom doesn't mind, so she sneaks in every now and then. See pictures below, they are in their "swimming pool" that worked for exercise when they were smaller, but they are exercising in the kitchen now. 1. Ruby looking guilty 2. Coco and Ruby "sharing" puppy duty.
__________________ LaVail Yorkshire Terriers | |
03-30-2008, 04:48 PM | #5 | |
Donating YT 5000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Southeast Texas
Posts: 7,959
| Quote:
Do I understand right that Ruby is expecting pups and she is nursing Coco's puppies? If so, I would not think that would be a wise thing to let her do. | |
03-30-2008, 05:51 PM | #6 |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: MICHIGAN
Posts: 214
| let her! she is a good mamma and that should not be discouraged. Why seperate her from her pups at all? Nature knows best. My Bonnie nursed her pups for 13-15 weeks, I let her, and her pups were much the better for it. |
03-30-2008, 07:54 PM | #7 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: California
Posts: 1,778
| Our mommy-to-be doesn't actually "nurse" because she doesn't have any milk. But she did go thru the motions and so did the puppies. I'm not sure where the harm is, but if you know something please let me know. They had litters together before and Coco helped nurse some of Ruby's puppies because Coco only had one and Ruby had four. That seemed to work out okay, but again, if you know something about this that is harmful, let me know.
__________________ LaVail Yorkshire Terriers |
03-30-2008, 08:09 PM | #8 | |
Donating YT 5000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Southeast Texas
Posts: 7,959
| Quote:
| |
03-30-2008, 08:26 PM | #9 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: California
Posts: 1,778
| Thanks for the information -- I can see the concern and will watch her to see she doesn't nurse them any more. She is due 4/17 +\-. She is just a super mom and tries to take care of everyone. Great natural instincts.
__________________ LaVail Yorkshire Terriers |
03-31-2008, 05:03 AM | #10 |
Donating Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 498
| [QUOTE=katelin;1885932]Just to be clear, you don't moisten the dry food, just put it in the blender to chop it up? Nursing is so popular here that even our mommy-to-be is getting in with the puppies and nursing them. She looks pretty guilty, like she knows she isn't supposed to be in there. But mom doesn't mind, so she sneaks in every now and then. See pictures below, they are in their "swimming pool" that worked for exercise when they were smaller, but they are exercising in the kitchen now. How funny! That's strange to me! -- a lot of my mom's girl dogs become hawks toward the other girl dogs if they get too close. Not to people though! She does have a few that don't mind if other doggies sniff sniff, but others to nurse! How weird! Thanks for sharing cute pics.
__________________ Glory (Yorkie) India (Biewer) and Callie (Yorkie) |
Bookmarks |
|
|
| |
|
|
SHOP NOW: Amazon :: eBay :: Buy.com :: Newegg :: PetStore :: Petco :: PetSmart