Hello

This is my first time of using this forum.  My bitch has had a litter of puppies they are 3 weeks old what is the best time to start weaning she is still fairly contented to feed them but she had quite a large litter for the breed.  Also how do I go about getting rid of her milk when weaning puppies. Could anyone tell me how to obtain free 6 wks insurance that usually goes with the sale of puppies.
Many thanks
Patricia

I start weaning mine at three weeks of age, using scraped raw beef to start with. You won't need to do anything to get rid of the bitch's milk - as the pups take less from her, the supply will naturally decrease. I always allow my bitches free access 24/7 to the puppies, but make sure she can get away from them if she wants. By the time they leave they may still be allowed a quick 'comfort suck' but they are fully weaned.

The Kennel Club will send you insurance forms when you register your litter.

As for the insurance -I prefer PetPlan to the KC's insurance, because to take advantage of the KC insurance the new owner has to transfer the pup into their name, and of course not all do and you have no control over it. Also with PetPlan the pup is covered from the moment it leaves your house. http://www.petplan.co.uk/breeder/

Hi I also wean mine at 3 weeks starting off on raw minced beef. However the beef mince should be frozen then given when defrosted.  Do not give fresh from the packet, did you all get the e-mail not so long ago when a boxer dog died from a parasite from a supermarkets raw minced beef.  They said mince beef must be either frozen to kill the parasite, and then given raw, or you must cook the beef!

Anyway giving raw beef is by far the best way to wean a puppy.  Pups would naturally eat scrapings off a bone which the mother had brought into the nest.  I have had a litter that would not wean at all but as soon as we put down raw meat from scraping a huge bone, they ate it readily.

Once my pups have actually started to eat readily the meat, I will then change them onto a gluten free, good quality complete food, because of course not all owners want to continue with feeding raw meats.

You must feed a puppy food, not adult food.  You can give some goats milk, or skinners puppy milk as they grow up, but by the time a dog is 7 weeks of age they do not need milk to survive.  But all pups benefit from having some milk up to 12 weeks of age.  Be it goats, or skinners milk.
I even use Carnation milk and had really good results with it.
Plus the mothers love diluted carnation milk as well.

Just gradually wean the puppy's off mum so that they are not dependant on her during the daytime, then take her away during the day time, and leave her on night times. Then gradually remove her night times.  If you do it gradually you wont have any problems with your bitches milk, and quite often you will find the bitch will wean herself on her own once she learns her puppies are dependant with out her.

Rachel

I along with may other breeders would never REMOVE  a bitch from her litter except when they are being fed.

If you type weaning into the search engine you will find previous threads with many different weaning systems as regards what and how often to feed.

I have Pmed you....check your message box at the top of the page.

I just want to add a little something to all the very sound advice you have been given. Don't be surprised if your bitch starts regurgitating her food when she goes in with the puppies. Some bitches do and some don't, but it can be quite worrying for the first time breeder. Regurgitating differs from vomiting in that there is no retching beforehand, one second your bitches dinner is in her stomach, next second it's on the floor in front of the puppies. Most of my bitches regurgitate so I always try to make sure they have a couple of hours away from the puppies after the bitch has been fed. Some bitches will also regurgitate water.

I have never had a bitch regurgitate for pups.  I do start weaning pretty early as I am always worried about the bitches milk drying up before they have the hang of eating.  I wondered whether this was the reason my girls have never gone on to do this.  Perhaps when pups are hungrier and not yet started onto weaning they badger the bitch more and she then gives them supplementary food.

I start weaning at 2 and a half weeks. I believe some breeds are more prone to regurgitating than others. Some of my bitches will even do it when the puppies are at the other end of the pen eating the food I have put down for them. My bitches usually start regurgitating when the puppies are about 5-6 weeks old. I think it is a way of persuading the puppies not to suckle. Speaking to other breeders, it's quite common in my breed.

I was told by my breeder that years ago hers did it a fair bit, but they were also more kennel reared than now.  I wonder if the bitches won't do it now as they have been taught by us that being sick in the house is wrong.  for example if one of mine is feeling sick she will rush to the door as I have always hurried them out when they have been retching, so they are aware it is something I don't like them to do.

Maybe they are just more spoilt than their ancestors :D

Mine would try occasionally once the pups were on solids.  I tried jiggling her feeding times so I could keep away for about an hour after a feed but it was difficult as they generally have a urge to feed their pups after a meal so sometimes it was just a case of telling her no and lifting her head to prevent her being able to induce it.

My last breeding bitch would regurgitate for her pups. I start weaning at three weeks, and she'd start regurgitating for them about a week or so later.

My first bitch did with her first litter. Although I give free access to the puppies I just made sure that she was fed at the same time as them so that they werent hungry when she went in to feed them after her meals and they were happy with a quick suck and she obviously stopped believing she needed to wean them.

I start weaning at about 3 weeks, and all of my RRs over the years have tried to regurgitate for their pups.  I also tend to keep them away from the pups for a while after feeding them to reduce the likelihood of it happening.

When I start weaning, I keep the bitch away from the pups for about an hour or so, so that the pups are hungry, but after feeding the pups, I let her straight back in.  Apart from that, I never stop my girls going in to see their babies - they are, after all, their babies.

Makes you think doesn't it. Maybe we interfere with nature too much. Maybe we should just let the bitch wean her pups her way, just feed her the food we want the pups to have, let her regurgitate and then give her her own feed. I wonder if we do psychological harm to our bitches without realising it.

Have you ever noticed the feeding frenzy when the pups go for the pile that mum has regurgitated?

Not when mum's so mixed-up that she growls and guards it from them! :rolleyes: