New Babies, Help please!!!
 

Hi, Tinkerbell had her babies 3 weeks and 3 days ago, I took them to the vet yesterday to start them on their deworming. They are so cute and healthy looking and active also, they can walk and play, the question is when do I start weaning them? What do I feed them?? :confused: I am so lost.....When do I start potty trainig them?? She still cleans them but I have noticed in the last 3 days they are soiling the blankets:confused: Is this normal?? What should their "new envirioment" look like?? Please someone, the vet said as early as 3 weeks I can wean them, sounds too early to me, Tinkerbell still has alot of milk, although I have noticed she nurses less than before:confused:

Here's my advise, so tell me if I'm wrong YT breeders....

Tinkerbell will know when to wean them. She will start to show less inclination to lay down for them and the pups will start eating food to supplement their hunger (soft food). About 6 wks if my memory serves me right... You need to be giving them NutriCal when they do start weaning for vitamins and extra calcium. I actually take hard puppy food (whatever their mommy eats, but the puppy formula) and soak it to make it soft.

I start paper training my babies at 2 wks, when they start leaving the box and exploring around them. I put puppy pads everywhere on the bathroom floor and eventually start putting out less and less until there's only 1 or 2 in the room with them. They always seem to find it. They are usually trained by 4 to 5 wks of age. Then I can actually start letting them out in the rest of the house when I'm home in the evenings and can watch them closely so they know where the pads are. I've never had a problem.

Hope this helps.

Thank You so much for your input, I guess I am a week late in potty training them:confused: They have been in the box with mommy, and she had been keeping it very clean until about 3 days ago, so I guess I have to change the sleeping arrengment:confused: . I have her in a metal X-pen, in a box and she has pad holder in there and her food:confused:.

If you make changes be sure to keep them in a room where there are no hazards. We keep ours in the master bath with a gate in the door. (Make sure they can't get their little heads stuck in the gate though.) I keep some blankets on the floor so they can sleep on something warm. We have a vanity in the bath where a stool should go, but I put the end of a towel in the drawer and close it, letting the towel hand down and leaving a bedded area underneath for the puppies. They love it. Guess they think it's a den.

Anyway, good luck with your babies. And their are some good books on breeding that you ought to think about getting. The breeders forum here at YT is a good place to get good info. Just start reading thru the posts.

I never seperate my babies until they are completely weaned and mine are usually weaned around 6 to 8 weeks depending on mom and amount of milk she still has but I still leave mom in the pen with them when I'm not home at that time and age. I start introducing mush around 5 weeks of age again depending on the litter at that time.
They are just now 12 weeks and I just now stopped putting mom in the pen at night. This is a time when mom is teaching socialization and how to play and discipline them. Mine aren't potty trained until they are completely away from mom and then I start. I believe the mom is ready for them to be weaned at her time not ours. She'll let you know. The mom teaches alot that humans can't but of course I'm always handling my babies for soicalization and human contact from the day they are born.
Donna Bird
Brooklynn's Yorkshire Terriers

Thought I'd put in my 2 cents...I use a playpen with a blanket on one side and paper on the other. I start feeding soaked puppy food at 5 weeks to help Mom out. I keep the playpen in the living room so they are around lots of activity. You can cover the blanket side of the pen with a blanket or sheet for a snug feeling.

worming
 

Do not worm a 3 week old..take several of the stool samples, if there are worms then worm them, if not , no need. Running a toxin through a tiny Yorkie with no worms is not wise...never done in 35 yrs...
Good Luck

I keep my puppies in a 2x4 rover pen which looks like pvc piping and they stay in my bedroom until they are weaned. I don't like keeping my puppies around others until they've had their first set of shots since I show. They are just now since last week been brought out into my kitchen because they've had their second set of shots.
Donna Bird
Brooklynn's Yorkshire Terriers

I wouldnt recommend worming them this early unless they have a worm issue already, too much medicine at this early age isn't good for them. I also think unless they arent getting enough milk from mom that its best to let them wean themselves, they will start to show interest in mom's food then you will know its time. Potty trainning can be started already, usually I devide their box in half with half blankets and half weewee pads. I went from a whelping box to a small kiddie pool surrounded by an x-pen as they grew. Once they were big enough I took the pool out and they started living in their gated community!!

Really??:confused: :confused: OMG, my vet said at 3 weeks and then at 6 weeks to do the deworming???:confused: :confused: Tinkerbell had a fecal done before she got pregnant and doesn't have any worms, I asked them how the babies would get it they claim they can just develop them:confused: :confused:, well too late now, because I had it done yesterday:(. My babies seem ok though.

Here are some pics of the babies:D Here is their space:D

Hi we have always started feeding our puppys soft foods at 5 weeks it mostly depends the mommas milk and the pup. we have started some as early as 4 weeks and others at 5-6 weeks. I dont start showing mine the pad for potty training until 5-6 weeks , but always keep pads on the floor in their play area so they can get use to it. I never let puppys have free rome of the house, they are just to small and can easly be stepped on.
I have used a small room as laundryroom, or the extra bathroom for their room as they get bigger. I keep their pads, toys, blanket. water and food in with them. I let momma come and go as she pleases. I also set up a playpen with blanket , toys and pad so they can be in the living room with us a little while. We never worm our puppys at an early age unless we see a problem with worms and then its at 6 weeks.

how we cared for our babies
 

My Zoe had five pups this past January and here's what I know from our experience, which went VERY well, praise God.

Mommy will wean her own puppies, like you've been told already. She'll gradually stop laying for them and with them and they'll have to chase her to nurse. Eventually, she'll even growl at them when they try.

We started "offering" the mush when they were big enough to walk around well and seemed physically capable. I say offering, because that's what it was. Some were more zealous about the food than others. Each in their own time. I used the puppy food I had been feeding mom during the whole thing... I put it in a bowl with a little water and microwaved it for a few seconds to get it soft. Then I made sure it was cool enough and put it on a flat plate. The hard part was keeping mom out of it while kids had what they wanted. I offered it twice a day and things went very smoothly.

On the potty training, I don't think a week is going to be detrimental considering you are trying to train one of the most resistant breeds known. We put newspaper down in half the containment area and plenty of warm blankets and teething rings in the other. We made it so mom could get in and out of the area as she pleased. This way she wasn't constantly chased by the pups. A kiddie pool works great for a containment area. Pups can't get out, mom can get in, easy to clean, no holes to get stuck in.

When they got good on their feet, we started taking them outside to potty, with our other dogs. The grownups are very helpful in training pups. Just watch for hawks and such. Never leave your pups unattended outside! This way, we converted them early from paper to yard.

Good luck and congratulations on your sweet babies!!

looks like you have some great advice...I agree with pat you do not worm this early! also nutra-cal is not something that should be used in a daily diet unless you have very tiny ones at are not eating good...if a puppy is eating well there is no need! I do not begin weaning until mom says its time, usually around 5-6 weeks and totally weaned about 8 weeks....

do not start shots before 8 weeks, they do no good and remember not to do lepto!

congrats on your little ones and good luck

Don't get too upset. It will work out. Your not too late. 2 weeks is a bit young if you ask me but whatever works for you. Just start now if you think it will work for you. Start Fresh Today... or in the Morn. LOL:)

Oh !! Good Advice on the weaning. Thats when we start to wean. Mom will know. But again... whatever works for you.

Thank You ladies, So I should wait until they're 8 weeks for their shots?? And the babies have been walking to the pee pads and going there instead of the blankets, I think it helped I let them out the box and they can roam the xpen:rolleyes: they are so darn cute, they can walk better since I put them out like you'll see in the pic:D They love it, they go to the pee pads and play and wonder around their area. I think they are too young to roam the house even when they with me alone:D maybe in 2-3 weeks but for now they have plenty of room in the x pen. Tinkerbell seems to feed less and less but still feeding them, they seem content and not crying for food. I hope to feed them when the time comes, I have puppy nutrical just in case:rolleyes:. I will go and buy baby food, baby cereal and puppy food and some karop syrup;) Thank You all for your great advice as always:thumbup: ;)