Hello there,

My little 6 weeks pups are not really that interested in their solids.. getting soaked AD with whelpi milk, but are not that bothered with it. Will have a mouthful or two and then thats it.

Mum is still very happy to feed them and are doing well. I keep her away from them 2 hours before feeding time to incourage them to eat the solids.

What are your take on given them some nicer tasting bits with their puppy food to get them to eat it? With a grown dog I would never do this if they didn't wanted to eat, since it just gives you a fussy eater...

Also I would like to start them on dry food soon and don't want them to turn their little noses up at it.

Should I just continue as I do do you reckon? They are healthy little pups, one very fat, two others not skinny, but not plump either.

I just would have liked them to eat a little bit more confidently by now..

I would give smaller portions than now soaked, give the puppy milk separately in another dish (only give it in with their complete food up to about 5 weeks)  and also give a dish of dry.

I have found at about this age the some of the pups prefer some dry, and at least the dry food isn't wasted.

The left over wet food goes down mums neck.

I never separate Mum from her pups except at meal times, she will decide if and when she will allow them to feed.

If their weight gain is steady, then they are getting what they need, and if Mum is healthy no need to worry, they will eat as much as they need if hungry..

i go with brainless here but would like to add if pups go for the dry make sure you watch them ,small pups can get it stuck and choke this happend to me with a med size breed at 6weeks old but my large breed would eat with no problem but i still wouldnt leave them untill theyve done eating.

When weaning pups I use soaked puppy food as a base but add teaspoon tastes of other things at least once a day, scrambled eggs, grated cheese, scraped or minced steak (raw, but first frozen) Pilchards in tomato sauce - in fact anything nutritious that I think they might enjoy :)

I've found it doesn't make them fussy feeders, quite the opposite they are then willing to try anything and it's useful to know what gets them interested just in case they are ever ill and need tempting food.  It also makes training easier as you'll know what they'll sell their little souls for :-D

Thanks guys,

They seem a bit more keen on the dry food when offered both soaked and dry..

Will just take it easy I think, keep an eye on them and then see where we are in a weeks time.

Im having the same problem with my pups...they are almost 5wks. They started off really well, but in the last week or so one has become really fussy...she will not eat and prefers to suckle off mum constantly and shes the biggest...mum is not very happy about this and has started refusing to feed them!!!! The other 2 are doing ok. The biggest just seems to want to play all time ( I know pups do this), but its always while the other 2 are eating, which upsets them and puts them off...I have tried seperating them, which is great for the 2 smaller ones, but the big girl has a real temper tantrum, she is a real bully and is constantly picking on the very smallest (the one I had to hand feed). I have tried scrambled egg...well soaked puppy food...wet food...dry food, but nothing seems to get her to eat.
I need some advice please.

i had this with last litter so i added some mince beef (frozen then defrosted) to their socked kibble ,it was raw ...they loved it!!!! ALL of them tucked in at every meal :)

> so i added some mince beef (frozen then defrosted) to their socked kibble ,it was raw

Yes i do the same as Joanne, mince and maybe tripe to soaked kibble.

Many Thanks.
Will try the raw mince and see what happens.
Lol she is funny tho...she has shredded all the newspaper in the run and then tried to drag out the bedding from the box..

theres always 1 that keeps you on your toes , bless her :)

I would recommend adding raw to their food. We weaned our last litter on raw meat, we also added a small amount of kibble to one of their daily meals, just in case our new owners decided to feed complete instead of raw. The pups flatly refused to eat the complete! Even now in their new homes, all the owners have said 'We have decided to keep up with the raw feeding, as the pup doesn't like complete food at all!' We found that raw was brilliant, but it did produce 9 little greedy puppies who loved there food so much they would carry the bowls round in their mouth (little Oliver Twists they were! :-D)

(little Oliver Twists they were! )

bless :) :)

we are getting there..slowly...she is still more interested in mams milk, but she is eating a bit more.

Ah thats good to hear toffeecrisp. Well done.

Mine is unfortunately still as fussy.. :( Don't really feel we are getting anywhere.

Very common in the breed, my last litter had to be spoon fed until 6 weeks as they would always have preferred mum's milk. At 5 weeks if I had just left the plate of food down for them to scoff, they would sniff it, walk through it and toddle off back to bed.  It wasn't until I took Mum out at night that they decided the puppy food was good enough to eat lol.
I am hoping my current litter, whom I plan to start weaning over the next day or so will be more accepting of puppy food since there is 6 of them and I don't relish spoon feeding that little lot, it was time consuming enough with 3 :-)

See, I have taken mum away over night, so that means that they get a good 6 hours without food until they then scream their little lungs out at 6 15 am every morning. Exact time every day! :)

But still, given their food first thing in the morning, they are still not bothered and would rather wait until mum comes back. Even if that means 2 more hours! Stubborn little things.. but I guess thats only to be expected in a spitz breed! :)

Time to start getting the 12 am feed ready..

Good news.
All eating well and drinking water, even the littlest one. She was actually the first to start eating and drinking. Mum does not spend the night with them anymore, she just wont go in anymore for long periods of time...just a few minutes here and there during the day, but the pups only suckle for a couple of minutes and then off to play again. So looking good at the moment.

thats great news :) did u have to add anything to their kibble?

wow even at 8 weeks old :o still dont eat much? is that common with a spitz breed? ive never had a pup turn away jucy raw mince ,so whats the age of your breed to be homed? im learning so much here about other breeds its great ,if this is any help tho at 7 weeks of age my pups would get their last meal at 10pm and then breakfast would be 6.30am and they would be eat every last bit ,just wondered if their not going very long thou the night till morning ,i dont think new owners would feed a pup at midnight ,well i wouldnt :) ...sorry if ive got the weeks wrong and your pups are younger then ive put ,please dont think im having a go i not :) just leting you know how i do it incase this helps x

Hiya
Whitelilly, I didnt add anything to the kibble..just softend it, firstly with lactol..but it gave them the squits..so just added warm water..that was better. I also feed Wainwrights wet puppy food for 2 meals and 2 of the softend Wainwrights kibble. They have a bowl of dry food and water, which is down all the time and they seem to prefer that to the softend stuff. They arent greedy, just seem to eat what they want and off they go...all gaining weight nicely.
Theyve discovered that newspaper is brilliant for dragging around and shredding!!!
Mine are just over 5wks now.

I love this forum..its really helpful.

Hi White lilly,

Sorry for late reply, computers been down. No its not common really in our breed and the pups are 7,5 weeks old now. I give them the last feed at 10pm and the mum comes in to give them one last suckle afterwards. They then normally wake up 6 30am and get their first feed. But are nomally not very bothered with it. I feed them again aroung 11 -12 and again, they are not really that bothered. After this middag feed, mum comes in again. I don't really like keeping her away from the pups, she's such a good mother, love them, plays with them but unfortunately if she's there, the pups will only suckle and not touch their food. So now she's only with them around 4-5 hours a day. The socialising she gives them is so good, so I would really like not no take her away completely. However, pups are so old now and will soon be ready for their new homes. And still so fussy with the food! Eats about a small tiny handful at every feed if i'm lucky!

In any other way, they are happy playful and full of energy, so i'm sure their fine. The two boys are a bit lean but not unhealthy skinny. I would just really like them to eat confidently, when leaving for new homes...

Don't think at all you're having a go. :) I'm just happy with your thoughts and ideas. :)

Have you measured out exactly how much each pup should be having each meal?  I think you may be surprised at how little it actually is, if the pups are gaining weight I wouldn't worry too much.  I'm sure once they are off to their new homes and settle into their new routines they will be fine.

bless um ,i do like mine to have alot of fat around them ,only because incase they get upset tums when they leave here , have you tird putting a t-shirt on mum so pups carnt suckle from her all the time ,she can then be with them as much as she wants :) it does work :) x

Sharon, yes I did do a measure.. but they maybe only eat about a third of what is recommended. However, I always find that my dogs need much much less then whats recommended on the bag. But you're rigtht.. they do really not need at lot. I used to work in different kennels when I was younger and therefor has always been used to seeing pups being keen and excited around feeding time, crawling all over each other to get the food. And now I got my own, and its completely different. However, they are all different and develops in different paces.. And thats just nature. Unfortunately we are just kind of forcing them to grow up a bit to quick somethimes and get ready for new homes.

White Lilly. The T-shirt idea is absolutely brilliant!!!! Put it on mummy yesterday, much to her discust, and its working soooooo well! :) :) She's now used to it, and don't mind at all and the pups seemed a bit confused in the beginning about the fact that the milkbar vanished, even though mums there! :) But give them a few minutes, and they just accept it. So now its much less stressful. She can be with them as she wants to and can come and go to check on them and they don't fill up on the milk. And they did actually eat a bit more yesterday. She's still taken away over night though and choose to go away from them during the day on and off.

Why didn't I think of that... :) Dooh..

Thanks!

I have never used the feeding guides on the packaging for feeding litters,

Always used appetite as guide.  They always have more than they are likely to eat, and Mum gets the surplus when I am sure everyone has had what they want.

My pups in a litter never rush at food because they always have more than enough, but then I never get them becoming food aggressive (though they and I won't allow another to pinch their food once onto individual feeding).

As long as puppies know how to eat I would never restrict access to Mums milk if she is happy to feed them, as that is so good for them and never going to be bettered by any food we offer.

Once they go to new homes they will have no choice but to eat more of the food we have weaned them onto.

To be fair though my bitches at 5 weeks start to be quite stingy with milk-bar access for several days, thereby reducing supply substantially, they then seem happy to give quick access right up to when the pups leave, and beyond if I am keeping one, but my girls are dry by 11 to 12 weeks after whelping, whcih is when I have them spayed if they have finished their breeding career.