I introduce my puppies to food starting at about 4 weeks of age. I take dry puppy food (I prefer Chicken Soup puppy food) and grind it in a blender until it is very fine like corn meal. I put a small bowl of this ground up food along with a small bowl of water in the pen with the puppies. I like to use the small 2 sided bowls like they sell at Wal-mart. I put food in both sides of one bowl and water in both side of the other bowl. My puppies are in an exercise pen with bedding on one end, food and water in the middle and pee pads at the other end. At 4 weeks the puppies will go over and start eating the dry food and it gets them used to it slowly. They are still nursing their mom. I have used this method for several years now and it works great for me. The food does not spoil or go bad like it would if you are mixing a mushy food. I let my moma's nurse the pups as long as they want. Most moms quit letting the pups nurse when the pups are 7 or 8 weeks old. Puppies develop at different rates. Some puppies, especially if they are very fat, may not get up and start moving around as soon as pups from larger litters that are not so fat. Each momma is different also. I have had some moms that insist on sleeping with their babies as long 12 weeks and others will want to quit sleeping with them at 5 weeks. I have a wonderful litter now that is 5 1/2 weeks old and they have been sleeping all night without their mom for a week now and they never make a peep. I let mom nurse them around 10 pm. and then I put her back with them at 6 a.m. She only wants to stay with them 5 minutes and she is ready to get out of the x-pen. These pups have been eating the dry food since they were 4 weeks old.
How old are your pups? |