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Originally Posted by Kittykatmeow  For those who favor not forcing the wean, what do you do in situations when the mom is not that interested, she's standing up when she nurses, it's only for a few minutes at a time, and ignores the pups when they're crying loudly? She may stand and wean for 5 minutes but it takes the smaller 2 a couple of minutes to even get to her and get into position. She then jumps and shakes them off? What would you suggest in that situation?
Thanks. |
Your moms behavior is pretty much normal. Once the pups are four weeks old they should not be nursing real often and mom will not spend a lot of time with them. Once you start feeding the pups you should still let the mom nurse them when ever she wants.
What kind of setup do you have for your mom and pups? At four weeks the pups need a nice area that they can run around in. At four week I take the pups out of their whelping box and in a x-pen. I start with an area that is about 4' by 6'. I cover the area with washable pee pads and I have them a little bedding at one end. I put their food and water in the middle. At one end of the pen I have a board across it so the mom can jump in and out. The mom has to have a way to escape the pups when she wants to. As the pups get older I enlarge their area.
During the weaning process sometimes the puppies will cry just because they want their mother or because they want out of their area. Once you start giving them food, water and toys to play with they will be much happier.
Have you cut the puppies toenails? If their their nails are sharp the mom will be very uncomfortable letting them nurse.