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Help-weaning and nails question My silky terrier has three puppies that will be 4 weeks old in 3 days, and I'm thinking it's time to start weaning them. I've seen them go over to their mom's food bowl and sniff around, so I think they might be ready. After looking at posts on this board, I got some of the dry puppy food I've been feeding the mom (Science Diet puppy food) and added warm water to it. After 15 minutes, it's still hard as rock. I guess I expected it to get soggy quick, like my breakfast cereal. Any ideas, or should I find something else to feed them? I have Pedigree puppy food in cans that I feed Mom also, (mixed w/ the dry science diet) but I didn't really want to get the puppies used to canned food, since it is so much more expensive. Also, an unrelated question, their claws are getting so sharp, how do I trim them? I'm worried I might cut them too short. By the way, I've been looking at pics of these Yorkie babies, they look just like my little silkies! So darling. My pups are around 2 lbs right now. |
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 (after grinding I sift it through a colander to get out the big pieces). 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. Also, I like use the small double sided bowls they sell at Wal-mart. I put the ground up food in both sides of the bowl and I have a separate double sided bowl for the water. I usually grind up enough for several days and keep it in an airtight container. |
Thanks for this info, I need to get a new blender to try this. One other question, are they able to eat the dry dog food even without teeth? I haven't heard of the brand "Chicken Soup," do you think Science Diet would work as well? (It seems awfully hard.) |
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Here the website for the Chicken Soup dog food. You might find a retailer near you. Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul : Home Here is a good website that has reviews on the different types of dog foods. I prefer the 5 star foods. I feel that some of the 6 star food are too high in protein. Dog Food Reviews - Main Index - Powered by ReviewPost As for the nail question, I forgot to answer. It is important to start cutting their nails. The momma will greater appreciate it. :) Just take little fingernail clippers and clip off the little sharp pointed ends. You can cut back to where the nail is just starting to curve down. |
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