Hi All,

This is my first post so bear with...

We have had our first and last litter of puppies. The puppies all have homes reserved, are a very good size in weight, were wormed at 3 1/2 wks (will be wormed again at circa 5 1/2 wks), have a wooden hand built pen with an attached pen as a play area in our downstairs study, they have their bed changed 4 times a day, aren’t left alone for long periods, they have sensory toys, our children play with them in the evenings, they are loved & well cared for. So now I have clarified & given as much insight as possible, I will share our problem/ concern and hopefully get some advice from more experienced breeders. We started weaning at the end of 3 weeks. We used a puppy dry food- Acana and soaked with Lactol. We have increased gradually and the puppies are now having feeds 4 times a day. However, they are crying Because they want to be close to mum- especially 2-3am in the morning. Feeding regime- 6.30am, then mum, 12pm, 3.30pm food or mum, 6.30pm. The mum can get to them and will jump in but then jump out straight away. She will feed standing up but has reduced this to once today- it is now 8.30pm. On previous days we have had to place the puppies in her bed which is next to the pen and put them on her and they have fed but she didn’t look overly comfortable. After the feed today I have noticed she has a scratch to one nipple and it had bled- I cleaned with salt water gently and she hasn’t cried or winced or acted in pain however she will not go to the puppies when they cry and she will not feed them. I feel for her and now wonder whether I should eliminate her feeding all together- not that I have too much choice as she will not feed them. Their teeth are very sharp as is to be expected. Their nails are trimmed. My other concern is her milk supply, I can see it bulging at the minute and don’t know what to do for the best- I know as a mother myself that their are many ways to reduce milk flow etc to prevent mastitis but this is for humans! What would you suggest? It must be uncomfortable  
The howling at 2-3am is very loud but mum still won’t go in. What do you suggest? Any help would be much appreciated. Should we increase their feed from 3/4 times to five times daily? Their wees are fine and bowel movements are fine. We are also giving them water along with the food. When shall we stop giving the lactol with the food? They are 5 wks tomorrow. They will be leaving at 9 1/2 weeks if they are ok after their first vaccines at 8wks.
Thank you so much in advance

Puppies teeth & claws are going to be sharp so nails need regular clipping to help her from being scratched.

You can give extra meal but mum has to be emptied to prevent her from getting overloaded & get mastitis.

It seems that mum has decided to wean them and at 5 weeks, that's about normal. 

So your main concern really is to help mum dry up gradually and not suddenly - which can make mastitis more likely and be uncomfortable for her. 

As the puppies get bigger, it becomes really quite overwhelming for some mums to be swarmed by them...

I'd suggest taking a couple of pups out at a time or perhaps even one at a time, and putting them on mum.  Fewer pups will be less overwhelming.  Don't let pups reduce each gland to nothing, just let them take some of the pressure off.  Her body will respond and will make less milk.

You definitely don't want mum to be "emptied" if you are aiming at drying her up - her body will respond to demand and only continue to produce a lot of milk.

> emptied"

Ok..but she doesn't need to get overloaded either....!!

Right, as said - take a bit out so it's comfortable but don't drain it totally...

At 5 weeks my bitches tend to only allow short feeds as 'dessert' after the pups have had their solid meal, for as long as it takes her to finish up what food they've left (I make sure there's enough to keep her licking the dishes for a couple of minutes). This way they make the bitch's boobs more comfortable but also encourage her milk to start drying up. By 7 weeks they've invariably stopped trying, and the mum can play with them without being mobbed for milk. Everyone's happy!

This is the stage when Mum will start to seriously wean and restrict access to the Milkbar so that her milk largely dries up.

Needless to say a lot of pups will protest.  I call this the demented Seagull stage.

She can seem really mean and disinterested, but after a week or so she will be back interacting with them much more and teaching them how to play etc.

Let Mum decide how much time she spends with the pups, she should always be able to get in with them, but also get away..

You could leave some dry food with the pups overnight to crunch, and a non spill waster bowl.  I found  the Road refresher type invaluable.

Thank you, that seems to be exactly what is happening

Thank you