My puppies will be 5wks old on Monday,just wondering how many feeds they should be getting now and how,they are on 4 small meals of Pro Plan puppy soaked,plus all the extras,scrambled egg etc?,all are eating very well but mother doesn't seem to feed them much now .When should they start eating the food dry?One boy seems to be alot fatter than the others,they are wormed every 2wks,will he shape up more when he gets abit more active?Also when will they be able to venture outdoors?Have I missed anything else that they should be doing now?Thanks.

Yes 4 meals a day sounds right, I substitute one kibble meal with either meat or scrambled egg. If they have teeth Mum will not be too keen on feeding them now so make sure they have another source of fluids either goats milk or water.

I will offer the pups some dry puppy kibble at about 6 weeks if they haven't already been trying out Mum's who is still on puppy kibble.

Are you trimming their nails regularly? I didn't need to let my small breed outside till they had been vaccinated, we have cats going through our garden that may not be vaccinated, not sure what others do with larger breeds.

Mine have been getting theirs dry this week (just turned 7 weeks), prior to that just a splash of water to moisten and stop it being scattered all over the place, and it hasn't been fully soaked for two weeks.

There is no way I would manage to keep mine penned up without going outside much beyond 4 weeks, medium size Spitz breed. 

At 7 weeks they are spending most of the day outside unless it's tipping down, ans are very vocal in their objection to having to stay indoors when it rains, and scream to be let out in the morning.

It's quite funny when they crash out the spots they have chosen, two like to go under hubby's cement mixer, another likes to sit on the bottom shelf of a wheeled trolley table, and one squeezes under it. 

Yet another has decided that a breeze block makes a good bed, and some of the other like the kitchen steps. 

Occasionally you will find them in a dog bed or airline crate in the outside puppy pen (10 x 6 feet) which is half roofed, they climb out of the open gated Croft panel, as they were screaming their heads off at being contained by last week.

The adult dogs are unamused and mostly keeping out of the way indoors!

My large breed pups start going into the garden at 3-4 weeks. Any later and it's a too big change for them to take in and they need to be used to outdoors and new places for when they are collected at 7 weeks. The toys usually a bit later (they don't go until 12-14 weeks and they mature much slower) and there a lot will depend on the weather. I had one litter that didn't go outside at all until 7 weeks as there was so much snow and they were just too tiny.

At 5 weeks of age I'd be doing all sorts of things to socialise, like deliberately dropping food bowls to make a noise, waving my arms about, jumping, anything I can think of that they may encounter later in life. So much easier to get used to startling things at that age than later.

I do drop things,lol,the hoover is on round thier pen,my 2 kids,4,and nearly 6 running about screaming,slamming doors,noisy toys etc,my other dogs barking and wrestling in the garden etc,I think they'll be bombproof by the time they leave!Thanks alot folks!

Take them out at regular intervals, and as soon as they wake up.
Mine went out last thing at night ( we had to take a torch with us) and as soon as I heard them stir first thing in the morning. By 7 weeks I had a clean dry pen at night and mostly through the day as well. The new owners thanked me as the puppies were virtualy toilet trained when they left me and it made the transistion to a knew home much easier.
We had a puppy at 8 weeks once from a breeder who had not let them out and she was much harder to toilet train, she had only ever known newspaper so that was what she would go on, but was also more inclined to pee when and wherever she felt like, it is much harder to try and get them into a toilet routine then as habits have already started to form.
Sounds like you are doing all the right things, as the first few weeks are very important for setting in place what the dog will be when he/she is mature.
Make sure that there is some quiet time when there is not noise from the children and other dogs as growing pups need to have plenty of sleep.

Back to mumsy2011 first question.
At 5 weeks of age your puppies are on 4 feeds per day that's fine, and you are adding some extras too, do try to offer some fresh raw pet mince to one of the feeds as this helps the digestive system tremendously and they will benefit in general. Add some of their dry food unsoaked so they will get used to a crunchy feed. they will learn to eat it dry fairly quickly.  Mum is doing the right thing by hardly feeding her puppies now, she is weaning them naturally and this is where your good quality feeding should take over. Do not worry about any extra milky feeds as mum is naturally drying up, they have naturally finished their milk supply and you must continue her good work with 4 solid meals each day. By 6 weeks of age your puppies will be totally independant of mum and will have been feeding independantly for 2 weeks before leaving home at the age of 8 weeks. 
(ready for the big new world and a new family).
Your extra fat puppy!     Try feeding him seperately or spread the food over a larger area so that he can not hog the the "dinner table" so easily !!
Do make sure you have a good supply of water available for these puppies.
Your hard work starts here with loads of feeding and heaps of poo !  Have fun. :)

> By 6 weeks of age your puppies will be totally independant of mum and will have been feeding independantly for 2 weeks before leaving home at the age of 8 weeks. 
>

Just wanted to say many maternal bitches will still allow pups to feed, often morning and night right until they leave for their new homes, but to all intents and purposes they are independent and this is more for comfort than anything.

My girl is still doing this and first pups are going tomorrow at 7 1/2 weeks.  They are very ready for individual attention and some discipline :)  The rest will be leaving over the next two weeks, until we are left with our own little madam, to be known as Peni.

Brainless;  Yes my girls will still pop in with their puppies and offer themselves but the milk bar is "dry" (just a bit of chewy skin), I feel that both mum and the pups are more contented after these visits although they do not last very long and mum gets out of their way as quickly as possible! I do make a every effort to have mum completely dry by 6.5 to7 weeks. 

I have never worried about getting Mum dry as they do it themselves and when I have one having them spayed they are definitely dry by 11 - 12 weeks.

due to the post partum moult mine are never even remotely showable until 4 months after pups born,and even then it's just a but of regrowth and just past the tatty stage.  they don't really look right until 6 months after a litter, and only if the new coat comes back right as just occasionally the colour and texture can be off until the next coat change.

Brainless; I do not worry about the heavy moult after having puppies, my dogs are the working type and would be laughed out of any show ring. We all go beating in the shooting season and family pets for 12 months of the year!

Ah but when they look like some poor bedraggled rescue, you sometimes need to explain LOL

I don't think any well constructed dog of working type in a breed would be laughed out of the ring though.  You might be pleasantly surprised.