hi just another quick question need some more advice, my pups will be 3 wks on wednesday 15th when will be the best time to wean the pups they seem to be hungary all the time there is pleanty of milk and they all gaining weight well mum is coping well , i know the lady well who owns my local petshop and she will get me all the right puppy foods she as also bred b4 and she will help me but not gonna seeher till nxt week i would be greatful for any advice given to me, i am still setting my alarm clock for every 2 hours through the night to make sure the littlest one gets a teet he is half the size of the others but every day i can see him getting abit bigger thanx again for your help

I start to wean mine at 3 weeks, but that's a giant breed with big litters. Hopefully someone with your breed will come along soon. When I wean I start the pups with a teaspoonful of scraped beef twice a day to give them the idea. Once they are eating that well I change to a porridge made by whizzing the puppy food I intend to use in the blender, with a bitches milk replacement like Welpi. I feed them four times a day. As the pups grow I decrease the amount of milk and whizzing until the pups are on the dry food at about 6 weeks. I give the dam full access to the pups until SHE decides to stop feeing them herself.

I feed my girls in the whelping box and soak their food to a mush (so they get plenty even if mouths are sore from all the cleaning, and they get maximum water intake)  when the pups start trying to eat their mums food then I know it is time to give them a  little taste.

I too mash up some puppy food and add puppy milk to make a runny gruel at first and it gets thicker and the food less mashed as pups get older.

I start by giving each a teaspoonful (using a spoon) and the next day they might get two tastes then 3 nd then four and once they have the hang of it they will get a saucer four times a day.

The dishes quickly get bigger and more numerous until by 6 weeks they are mostly being fed by me with Mum just topping them up when she wants.

At four weeks I will feed one meal of minced raw meat (tripe and chiken, beef etc) so that the pups have a more varied diet therby making it easier for new owenrs if they wish to feed differently.

I used pureed complete puppy food too from about 3 weeks having tested their interest in lapping puppy milk which I then thicken with a little baby rice.  I puree the complete with puppy milk, gradually replacing the milk content with water and then reducing the water until about 6 weeks old when they are taking dry complete.

thanx everyone wot wud i do without this site i will get everything in on wednesday thanx again for all your help they all getting cheeky some av started to yap now really cute

hi ya guess what another quick question..........i psted aquestion the other day when to wean well i started on the puppy milk did everything as instructed on the instructions i tried them with a steralized tea spoon first and they loved it but when i got up this morning one of them has the runs should i keep up with it or try nxt week when they are 4 wks old but its not poorly with it its getting about and trying to play with his litter mates thanx again for all your help

I know everyone have their own ways of weaning, but I never use puppy milk because I found when I did, the pups always got bad diarrhoea. So I start off with the food they are meant to be on (dry complete) and just soak it really, really well and mush it up good and proper until its like porridge.

Maybe the product doesn't agree with him.  You could try another bitch milk substitute such as goats milk or you could just go straight to well soaked puppy food.  I think you're maybe going a little over the top using sterile implements at this stage, I doubt the mothers teats are particularly sterile :)

thanx again for that, well you are right i may be going over the top with sterile spoons but ive never done this before but better being safe than sorry thanx again for all your help

hi wonder if anyone can help i have been worming puppies with the puppy syrup, i have weighd the pups and got the right dosage for the pup i wormed this morning since i wormed a lil girl she sounds crackely and snuffely we put the wormer gentley in her mouth and she took it okcan anyone help they are 4 wks old today thanx

is it possible she snuffed a little of it up her nose.  If she is snuffley she is probably producing mucus to deal with it.  Take care not to tilt your puppy back when giving medicines but try to keep them as level as possible.

so what do u thimk i should do or should it pass soon, she as not been too bad though today a few sneezes but she is running round playing with everything still abit crackely but not as much thank you for any advice

She will probably be okay and it will clear itself.  If she does start to be ill though take her to the vet.  You could try lying her on your lap with the head slightly lower than the tail end and rubbing her back, may help to clear any liquid she has inhaled.

thanx for your advice if she get worse il take her but she is very lively and cheeky thanx again for all your help dont know how i would have managed without this site

hi everyone i took the pups for their vet check today the snuffely one the vet said the crackeling is not on her chest he listened withthe stethascope her temp ok he give her some antibiotics just as a precaution but other than that they are all in good health, i started her on the antibiotics today so with abit of luck should get in her system soon and begin to work she is sooooooooo lively and cheeky its unbeleivable they are all amazing lil things and i must say its been one of the most frightening times of my life worrying about these lil fellas but heyyy one of the most joyful and the most brill time of my life as well if u can possibly feel this the trouble is now i dont want to part with them they have all got wonderful homes when its time i vetted the new owners my self i just want my babys to have wonderful perminant homes which i know now they will some are going near my home were i can see them growing thanx again