Puppy food mix and when?
 

So my little ones hit 3 weeks today. Mommy doesn't seem to enjoy the whole feeding process anymore. Is it too soon to introduce puppy food? I've been reading different things. Some websites say 3 weeks, others say longer.

I have to literally put her in the box and once they are all latched on she will stay but it is a struggle. Also, I just noticed some "blood" in between her nipples. I think one of the little girls was sucking on something that wasn't a nipple. Is it possible one of them gave her a hickey? :)

Have you been keeping the nails trimmed on the puppies? Sharp nails can make it very uncomfortable for the momma. With the puppies being 3 weeks old the momma will not be staying with them that much except to let them nurse and for her to clean them. Keep a close eye on the breasts of the momma. If she gets mastitis, the breast will be hard and lumpy.

I introduce mine to ground up dry food at around 4 weeks, as soon as the puppies are able to start walking. I put Chicken Soup dry puppy food in a blender and grind it until it is very fine. I put this ground dry food in a bowl in the x-pen with the pups along with a bowl of water. The puppies will go over and start licking the dry food. As the puppies get older they will start eating more and more of the dry food and mom will slowly dry up. Usually by 8 weeks the pups are nursing very little. All my moms have always had plenty of milk so I never felt it was necessary to make the mush. Some breeder prefer to wean them on mush. Either method will work but I have found the dry food method works best for me and it is a lot less messy. You want the weaning process to be slow and most mommas will continue to let the pups nurse until they are 7 or 8 weeks old and sometimes older.

Honestly I tried clipping them and I made some progress but I am so scared of cutting them by mistake.

They are walking around pretty frequently, developing faster than I thought.

Just use small human nail clippers and just clip off the pointed tips, the part that is just curving down.