Hi me again!? My pups are 3weeks old tomorrow I gave them some whelpi on a saucer today for the first time 2were happy to have a lick or two the other 2 just went crazy for mum. They aren't lapping lots of fluids and obviosuly mum is still feeding them every 3 hours or sso but she seems to not wanting to feed them and I'm just wondering on best way to wean them - using whelpi?! Hiw many times a day?! Or just use water and allow them to suckle  as they are now and add mushy puppy food- when is it best to add the mushed food?! And when they are on mushy food hiw often should mum be feeding them too?! Sorry for all questions but I've heard so many differnent ways just wondering what worked best for alll of you!

the way i do it is, puppy milk at first, mum out the room away from puppies, next day, add some puppy food mashed with the milk, each time mum out the way so puppies are not distracted, then once puppies have had a good smell, taste, feed, i then let mum in to give them a top up, i feed 5 times per day, with mum topping up with milk and as puppies get a better taste for the puppy food i had extras and make it less mashy :)

Cheers for the info i'm going to give them whelpi/lactol tomorrow too I just hope it doesn't upset their tummies. When do u start using water to mush food rather then milk replacer? Any problems I should be aware of whilst going through the transistion. Apart from keeping eye on mums teats for mastis?! Constipation or runs in the pups?! 

when i make food up i still add puppy milk to the water so its a nice milky feed till their about 5/6 weeks old , mine have never had the runs but did get abit constipated ,i also give water from when their eating well and then you will find mum will go and clean up what theyve left lol and lick pups cleans (hopfuly lol) and if pups are quick enough they might get some mummy milk :) ,but once pups are eating well just let mum feed when she wants to ,my girl wouldnt feed at all once pups got to 5weeks old all her milk had gone ,but they were eating 5-6 meals aday and did very well :)

I always wean my litters on raw mince & tripe, (frozen then defrosted) never had any problems, then start to add mashed puppy food to it.

Hi in slighty concerned abou the two pups that have been wolfing down the milk oday afterward they seem to just stand there and the bellies are so big n they shiver then after 10minutes they seem fine again shall not allowthem to lap so much? Some if the pups randomly start shivering fr about 15minutes only once it twice a day even though the temp is ideal?!? What are other reasons for the pups to randomly shive for 5-10 minutes apart from cold?! I have heard they do this if the blood sugar low or they are anemic but they have been doing this for about 3days now.  

I think the shivering is all normal after eating for the first few days, I know my pups do it too.

all mine have done this after eating ,its normal :)

i think it is cold too as they get quite wet whilst eating and they loose heat through their paws this will prob be the reason... my litter done it also :-)

Mum isn't wanting to feed them really now. They are 3weeks and 3days and whilst 2of them seem to want to lap liquids and mushed food the other 3dont seem that interested and will lick about 5x then go off. It's been 3days and I keep mum away from them for 2-3 hours before I off them food. They all seem to be doing well and are starting to play like crazy, pawing, growling and genrally make lots of noise lol are they just a bit slow withthe weaning process?!

i always get 1 or 2 out the litter that take abit longer to wean dont worry their still getting enought from mum and thats why their not to bothard about food but they will very soon dont worry to much ,but you could try adding a small amount of raw mince but make sure its been frozen first!! and defrosted well ,then watch the m eat :)

It'll take several weeks before they're fully weaned, so don't rush it. Their insides need to be slowly adjusted to solid food. One taster per day for a couple of days, then two tasters per day etc, building up to five small meals at five weeks of age, and still with top-ups from mum, is normal. Then the meals can get bigger and one can be dropped by 7 weeks, mum still having free access to them.