[bjh]

Your puppies are about ready to start the weaning process. Usually when the pups are around 3 1/2 to 4 weeks I will grind up some dry puppy food in a blender until it is very fine with no big chunks. I use a small double sided bowl to put the ground food in and I place it in the pen with the pups. The pups will start going over to lick the food. I also put a separate little double sided bowl of water in the pen. Your pups will need more room. I usually remove the whelping box and just use a small exercise pen for the pups. I have a board on one end of the x-pen so the mom can go in and out. The weaning process is slow. Most of my moms will continue to let the pups nurse until they are 8 to 10 weeks old. The mom may want to eat the ground up food to but that is okay. She is just teaching the pups to eat and the food is good for her. Some people like to wean by making a mush using the soaked dry food and puppy formula but I have found that my method works best for me. When my pups are around 5 weeks I will start mixing a little canned Pedigree Healthy Digestion in with the ground up dry food and I feed them that on a separate little plate twice a day.

Good luck with your babies.