Hi, got yet another question for you!  I've been feeding Mum on puppy food as advised, the pups are nearly 5 week old now, how long do I continue with this, can I gradually change her back to adult food?
Thanks.

I depends how many puppies and how much they are still depending on her milk ie if she has a lot of puppies to top up in addition to their solids she needs more nutrition than just a few pups.  I would have thought another week anyway and after that start reducing if you think they are eating enough solids.

She has 6 pups, they are eating 'puppy porridge' and she just gives them a feed, standing up, about 3 or 4 times a day - it's almost as if she's saying 'well, now you've eaten you can have a drink to wash it down'! What you said makes perfect sense - thankyou.

hi carol, my bitch had 11 pups but she sat on two and they died by accident!! they are three weeeks old today and they are all fine. the biggest of the bunch weighs 2lb 14oz!!. i can see they are putting a strain on mum. what should i start feeding them at this time?  please help

are they big pups is your breed big?

I have received advice from various breeders and everyone feeds differently.   Some feed their bitch the puppy food approx 2 weeks before whelping and continue 2/3 weeks after and some continue feeding the bitch on her usual diet and just increase 2 weeks before whelping and approx 2/3 weeks after whelping.  I am quite confused although everyone has their own ideas/thoughts and beliefs.

If the pups are close to weaning then i'd start switching her back - but this depends on how much condition she's carrying.  If you start transferring over now over next 2-3 weeks then when pups are weaned she'll be ready to get back to normal and won't end up overweight. 

In my breed that is heavy coated I keep the bitches on the higher protein food until they have goen through the post partum moult when they often loose condition if not well fed.  I do gradually reduce the quantity once they are weaning the pups so that by 8 weeks they are on about the same amount of the performance fod as they would have of their normal diet.  Once the coat is coming back in and the bitch is at optimum body condition I switch back to their normal food.

In this way I ahve been able to have bitches showable by 4 months after whelping, when it can sometimes take until 6 months after pups are born.

This is the first litter I have fed the mum on puppy food usually I have just fed on high protien adult food what would  probably being described on here as rubbish food but when the bitches go faddy for the first couple of weeks of giving birth they absolutely love it!  None of my bitches have ever dropped weight as I feed  them 5 times a day in addition they have fresh meat and raw eggs added to their food.  By the time the pups go they look normal except more saggy underath.  I have only ever had one of my bitches drop her coat and that was on her last litter when she went very stark.  I usually add vetzne to their food from the first day after mating and dont know if this is why as I didnt do it with purdys last litter.  My mum always gave it to our bitches when they were in whelp when I was a child. 

With the last litter which I fed on puppy food I put her back on normal around 5 weeks as she had to have a operation at 6 weeks and was unable to feed the puppies as often as i would normally have let her so I wanted her milk to dry up as soon as possible.