My moma's stay with their babies until they are 8 weeks old or older. I have a bedroom that I use strictly for my mama's and their babies. I setup a exercise pen with the whelping box at one end. When the pups are about 3 1/2 to 4 weeks old I remove the whelping box but I put up a short divider in the pen so the pups are on one side and the mom has her space on the other side. I leave ground dry puppy food and water so the pups can eat when ever they want and the mom can feed them when she wants. I also put out a plate of ground dry food mixed with canned Pedigree Lamb and Rice twice a day. Now I must tell you, all my moma's are very spoiled. They keep me hopping all day long letting them going back a forth from the bedroom to the living room. At night though they sleep in the bedroom with the puppies but they are not trapped with them. |