Puppy Teeth & Ears
 

We had 4 beautiful babies 6 weeks ago today. They are doing wonderfully, and lapping their increasingly thicker Puppy Mash as we call it, 4 times per day, they are active & have beautiful healthy silky coats. Out of the 4, only 1 puppy has little puppy teeth and she was the runt... Hate to call her that, but she was the smallest baby at birth. Should I be concerned that the others, even the ones who are 2# still do not have their puppy teeth. I have several quality puppy teething things in their pennel, and they enjoy gnawing on them.

I want to start them on a coarser level of puppy food but feel like I should not until their teeth are in, as I don't want them to choke. Am I wrong to continue them on a thicker puppy mash mixture ? (I'm using Wellness, ground dry food, mixed with wet Wellness, small amount of gerber baby cereal and goat's milk). This mixture is heated with organic, fresh goat's milk at feeding time, gradually reducing the goat's milk. Once a day, they get a small treat of small curd cottage cheese, mixed with whole fat plain yogurt. I read that an additional boost of calcium is good for helping the collagen for their ears and helping them stand up as well as for their teeth.

I've read a lot about ears standing up and teething on this site. Two of our girls have perkier ears but they haven't stood up yet. The boys are more floppy, and actually bigger ! I wondered about the posts re: shaving their ears... ? Should I shave both the backside as well as the front ? At what age, should I begin to "tape them" ?? I'm all about letting nature take it's course, but want to do what I need to, to help it along.

Thanks always for your kind advice :) It's much appreciated :)

By 6 weeks I was giving whole puppy food, dry. I chose Royal Canin because it has these tiny little 3 sided kibble that is easy for them to eat without choking -- even those whose teeth haven't quite pushed through yet. You have 2# puppies at 6 weeks? Maybe your recipe is high calorie? Are they just large all over or do you think they are gaining a little too much? I think it would be good to switch them to whole dry kibble.

As for the ears, it is early yet. You can shave the top third triangle if you want -- front and back. I did mine @ 8 weeks. I never had to tape, mine were always standing nicely by 10 weeks. I don't think you should tape unless they are not standing after 16 weeks. I did not give anything extra for calcium as the food was balanced.

You are doing find on the feeding....some pups are just slower at getting their milk teeth in.

I usually begin shaving ears at week one as well as foot pads and trimming little butts. I trim both sides all the way down. By week 8 if ears aren't standing I usually assist. Cutting a form of Mole Skin (used for corns and callusous on feet), by Dr Scholls. I remove the film that covers the tacky side and apply surgical glue and press into place The Mole Skin is flesh colored and draws less attention to the pups and of course is softer. At 8 weeks of age the calcium in these little pups is being drawn to other parts of the body for teething and growth, thus ears requiring a bit of assistance. Leave Moleskin up for 5 days and down for 2. If ears stay up, great, if not repeat. Keep an eye for infection. Make sure you keep the ear free of hair growth....it does way the ear down....

Your feeding sounds good but I'd try leaving a bowl of dry for them to pic at too.

As for the ears I've never given extra calcium but at 3-4 weeks I start shaving both sides, only half way. Normally thats enough to make them stand on their own but if one needs an extra boost I will tape the ears for 2-3 days , take it off for a few days and retape only if needed. Most never need it again if I even ever have to tape.

Be sure to shave their little bottoms too as poo can get stuck and block them up if not watched. I always start them on their bottoms, ears, and foot pads and nails right about 3 weeks old. (sometimes nails I do sooner as they can be sharp on mommies bellies!) :p