The mother has lost interest in puppies . . . ? Help! I have 5 puppies that will be 4 wks old this Sat. The mother was a good mother initially but this week she has lost interest in the puppies and she barely feeds them and when she does she only feeds them for 5 minutes or so at a time. Any suggestions? |
Have you starting feeding the puppies yet? I always introduce my puppies to food at 4 to 4 1/2 weeks of age. At 4 weeks the momma dog will not be feeding them very often. Are the puppies crying and acting hungry? The easiest way I have found to wean puppies is to get a good quality dry puppy food (I recommend Chicken Soup Puppy or Solid Gold Wee Bits) and put the dry food in a blender and grind it until it is a very fine like corn meal. I like to use the small double sided bowls they sell at Wal-mart and I put the dry food in both sides and just leave it down for the puppies. In no time they will be licking it up. Be sure to leave water down also. The mom will continue to nurse the pups when she feels necessary and your pups will be on their way to being weaned. I have used this method for years and it works great. |
substitute I was told by my brother which breeds dogs to use a vitamin supplement and the puppies wont starve to death and they will survive whether or not they actually eat. I will look for the brand that he has found very useful. |
my mom's usually lose interest about this agee or a little younger. i almost have to force them to stay with the babies. I also start mine on gruel about this age, then progress their food from there. |
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To the OP...it is normal for the mom to start losing interest in the pups at this point. It is time for them to start being weaned. Time to start introducing them to food to give momma a break. Make sure you are monitoring them closely at this point to make sure that they are eating enough AND that they are not draining your girl of her milk (and calcium supply)! |
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Like everyone else said, this is normal for pups this age. The momma to my pups started losing interest last week (which was 4 weeks). They are now eating puppy food just fine. I always let it soak in warm water for at least an hour before I give it to them and warm it up. Just make sure they are getting interaction with her and nursing some if you can get her to let them nurse. |
Sorry I didn't update you all on this thread. I will explain here in a minute. The puppies did fine. They have all been sold except for one male and he is listed in the For Sale or Wanted. It was just my first litter and I was very nervous but thanks to all you Yorkie Talkers I made it through. The mama is doing great and fiesty as ever. I tried to attach some pictures. I am having trouble with that on this site for some reason. We'll see if they go through. I did a lot of research on the front end of my litter. I came across this situation that was resolved very quickly thanks to this thread. Some of the more experienced Yorkie Talkers are too hard some of us joining in here. I lost interest in Yorkie Talk after a comment that was made in this thread that I thought was rude. That is why I never continued my comments on the thread. I have met some great people on Yorkie Talk so I am over it and back to posting and reading post. |
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Jenny sorry I didnt see this thread back in Feb. You have my number anytime you have a question just give me a call ;) |
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