Little bit of reassurance needed please that we are doing ok.

Our medium breed bitch has a litter of 6 puppies who are 3 weeks and 2 days. All growing well and were feeding well from mum until yesterday when we noticed she was reluctant to settle. Last night she wanted to sleep on our bed with us and not be with the puppies at all. Their teeth are coming through now and a few days ago mum regurgitated her dinner into the whelping box so we wondered whether she was trying to start weaning them off.

Today, very little interest in them so we introduced them to some puppy porridge. We have blended Hills Puppy with some puppy formula and it seemed to go down well.

We just have a couple of questions as just need to check we are doing ok.

1. We didn't start to wean her first litter until 4 weeks and so were expecting this litter to be the same. Mum has had a bit of a runny tummy but otherwise well and no temp so maybe it's best she stays away from them anyway but we should we be worried that she wants this litter to wean sooner then her first? We're only talking 5 days mind you .... and the average weights for these puppies is slightly higher than first litter.

2. I know that we should be providing them with fresh water now that they have been weaned but really can't see them managing to sip from a dish just yet. We have been adding plenty of water to their porridge so that it's thick soup consistency but should we be trying to get extra water into them in addition to this until their are strong enough to drink from a bowl? I did a little test earlier with 1ml syringe and they each managed a couple of mls. I'm sure they would take more but it is necessary? Their stools have been a bit lose today so we have introduced prokolin too, so should we carry on with syringes or just make porridge extra sloppy?

3. Is it too soon to leave them overnight? If mum no longer wants to feed them then will they be ok overnight? Should we be feeding them overnight ourselves or just stick to day time now? Should I offer them water in night?

We are taking them to vets tomorrow for quick check due to loose stools but not all vets are breeders so thought would ask you guys too :)

Thanks everyone, sorry, quite a few questions!

I have replied on your other post.

"Bitches often don't want to be with the litter at night by 3wks old, but this isn't necessarily a reason to wean them.  They will often pop in, feed, then come back to your bed (for eg.)  Many people do wean at 3wks without probs, though - I prefer to wait longer if possible and all is going well.  You definitely don't want mum to 'stay away' from them for a few days(!) - the bitch should continue to have access to the puppies daily. 

You would also be risking mastitis in the bitch, to wean suddenly.  You say 'now that they have been weaned'... er - they haven't been!  Weaning is a gradual process of less of mum and more of food, it's not a sudden thing you do once....

The best way to wean, is by feeding the pups their gruel first then allowing mum in to lick the bowls and give them a top up milk dessert.  That way, she will have the edge taken off her full mammary glands, so the risk of mastitis is lower, the pups will still get some comfort feeding from her and she will begin to make less milk because their demand has reduced.

There is no need to add extra fluids if they are still getting regular top up feeds from mum like this (as they should be).

Overnight, you need to leave it up to the bitch - she should be able to get in to see them if necessary and if she wants to feed them.  Often she will without you even knowing about it.  You can't shut her out of access to the pups overnight, no... And no, you don't need to feed them overnight! 

Personally, I would not take young pups to the vets due to the risk of infection - the vets is where all sick dogs get taken... I would call the vet out and ask for a house visit if they needed vet attention.  But if they are gaining weight and are well in all other ways, I wouldn't seek vet attention unless the loose stools went on for 3-4 days - certainly not after one day of it.  Loose stools can easily be caused by the introduction of solids and adjustment to them..."

Thanks for your reply, you're right - I didn't mean to imply they had been weaned, just that we had started that process. With her first litter she still gave them little top up feeds right up until 8 weeks.

We'll make sure she has access to them the entire night, wouldn't dream of keeping that apart but just a little worried that she would decline to feed them herself and they might dehydrate. She has just given them all a quick feed just now actually so I feel a bit more reassured by that. Will keep an eye on them all and see how they do over next few days.

Might get some more paste from vets just incase :)

Nail on the head - puppy sharp teeth!!   Ouch.   If she's not happy to be in with them overnight, then do as has been suggested, let her in to feed during the night if needed, and back out again.    We started the weaning process, depending on how well the litter was doing generally, by the end of week three going into week four.   Not with puppy porridge, but with warmed goats milk and teaching each one individually, how to lap.   Some took to this better than others but once they were all able to do this (offering it 4 times a day) then we mixed up the puppy porridge meals.   Most of their nourishment was still coming from mum at this early stage.

The loose stools may be because their digestive systems are not really ready for 'solids' - ie porridge mixture.

Puppies claws taken care of okay?