My pups have finally at 5 weeks tomorrow got excited about food!

They are eating Royal Canin starter soaked in water. Mum always eats dry food and has it down all day. Is it ok to leave the shallow food and water bowl in with them all day? I take it out at night or if i have to leave them.

I have read a lot about feeding them a certain number of times per day but cant i leave food with them all day as they learn?

i wouldnt leave food down all day for 1 its allready been soaked so it will go off .....only leave it for 30/40 mins at a time ....do this 4/5 times a day but leave the water in there for them ...its always good to get a feed time for them as thay leave you there new familys know the times thay eat .
xx

I would not leave food down all the time either but it would not work anyway, Mum would eat it all!

With my lot, once they are happy to eat I porgress to 4 meals a day as soon as I can - they are usually happy with 2 or 3, but quickly move to 4.  However, I never leave it down, as previous posters say it can go off, and Mum will eat it anyway.  Plus, it is best to get the pups used ot the fact that food comes at certain times and there is a routine, so they it eat greedily before the dish goes.  This makes it much easier for the new owners, as you can give them details of the pups timetable and they will setlle back into the usual routine which is comforting for the pup and helps the new owners get used to things.

Its not a good idea to leave their food down for longer than 15 mins.  As the others have said it is much better to get them into a routine with feeding them at set times.  Also the pups will look forward to this and will probably start letting you know they are hungry.

The other prob with constantly leaving the food down, is when they go to their new homes, it may encourage them to graze at their food and could possibly make it hard for the new owners to get them into a routine.  You do need to give the new owners a diet sheet with estimated feeding times, so they can carry this on.

I like a routine as well so wouldn't leave food down indefinitely. To begin with the food we offer is just a little warmed and it will cool quickly and congeal after a while and then be less appetising. It's inevitable that you end up throwing some away; I don't think that matters.

We like to clicker train ours and the pups quickly learn to associate a click with feeding time. I don't think it would have the same impact if we left the food down all the time.

thanks all, i have established 4 meal times today and it has gone well. they are eating with gusto now!

i know they need to be weaned off mum for about 2 weeks before they go to their new homes which means they need to get things organised this week. Will mum stop them feeding? she seems less keen, probably something to do with the needle teeth. 

i have a tshirt i was going to put on mum during the day so they leave her alone then they can have her at night. Is 6 weeks about right for getting them off her completely or should i just let nature take its course and hope mum stops obliging?

Also, at 5 weeks i still havent cleaned up a poo! They wee on the mats and mum still tries to clean it off but she is eating all the poos still.....when will she stop?

I didn't restrict the pups feeding off mum, I let her make her own decisions that way.   When she began to show signs of trying to avoid them I just kept her out of reach but in a way that when she chose she could access them.   She continued until they were around 7.5 weeks to allow them a quick drink in the early morning but that was about it.

With her first litter my bitch stopped cleaning up after them almost immediately after they began weaning food but second time around she did it up to about 6 weeks and then was discouraged :)

HTH Teri

at 6weeks my girl was running amile from the pups lol but she wanted to be with them at night ,that lasted about 5days and that was that ...mum wanted to be with other dogs and not feeding pups ,so pups played with all the dogs here :)