Can anyone help? Pups are 6 1/2 weeks old, until yesterday they were still feeding off mum & having 5 meals of puppy food a day, My breeder told me to stop mum from feeding them because they have ripped her teats with their teeth and she is very sore.
She said it will take about 4 days for her milk to dry up, then she can go in with them again (she still see's them 24/7, just can't get in the pen).
Is this a bit cruel? or the only way to dry up the milk, as she is dripping puddles of it every where, Bless her...

Lynn

If you bitch is happy to feed them then let her unless the scratches are getting infected - they will learn a lot from her when she starts to wean them and tell them that she has had enough.

I would try and separate them at night at this stage and feed them before you let her in so that they do not take so much from her, the less they take the less she will produce, if you stop suddenly it will be very uncomfortable for her.

Stopping the pups feeding abruptly can lead to mastitis :( Kerioak's advice is excellent and should ensure that the milk dries up gradually ;)

In addition, I find that sage added to the food or given as tea helps dry the milk up.  (1tsp dried sage to a cup of boiling water) If she's having complete food you could just mix the sage with a little meat and add to her dinner ;)

I never stop puppies feeding abruptly or you will get Mastitis, I had this years ago, and learned fast that it is not the way to do it.
I would start to wean them off carefully, so reduce each day over a week by a few hours. I start weaning when they are feeding in the bowl. From 5 weeks I start to remove the mother from the puppies a little by little so by 7 weeks when the puppies are getting ready to leave they are weaned off.  If you let the puppies suckle milk until the date they are ready to leave, you will leave your bitch with mastitis. Its horrid for the bitch when they get red, sore hard milk glands, and the milk turns brown and they need anti-biotics.