hi all, i have a 4 week old staff x american bulldog puppy. I am currently feeding him Lactol milk on demand and need to start weaning him on to food, i really need some help on which type of food is the best for him, i have bought some dry Hills natures best for him but am unsure if this is the best one to give him so that i can give him the best possible start. I would appreciate if any one can give me some tips please.
many thanks

i have put my sbt pups on burns puppy  i soak it in water till it turns to mush when i first weaned them i was mixing a bit of whelpi into it aswell but my pups are still with mum so they are also still getting some milk from her if you dont mind me asking why have you got the pup so early.

we got the pup early coz it's mum was not feeding him so the breeder told us to take him and bottle fed ourselves which is very tyring!! but he seems well and alert he does sleep a hell of a lot is this normal? really needed advice on the feeding dry food as unsure of what to do and how much to give.

> so the breeder told us to take him and bottle fed ourselves

think you were very generous to do that!
hope little 'un fairs well :-)

hopefully it will help him bond with us well! we have 3 small children too so it gives them a godd opportunity to have such a small pup in the house and for the pup to get used to us too!

I hope so Laura :-)
Plenty of training too, he's possibly gonna be a big lad!
Have you contacted yr local vet too?  I guess he's going to have all his jabs, etc..
3 young children too - you martyr!! 
It's hard enough work with 2 adult dogs and a teenager! lol

we have alreaday taken him to the vet just to have a check over so hopefully all will be ok for his first jabs at 8 weeks. Not sure on his size dad is not to tall so maybe not be that big. will post a picture of him thanks for the advise

although i do not in any way condone this breeder giving you this poor pup at this tender age when he/she should still be with mum you have him now and if he/she stayed with the breeder would obviously not be the wright place and may have died, a pup at four weeks should be lapping up milk from a bowl and not a bottle and also have at least five solid feeds per day which you will have to build up to over a week or so now and any good quality dry feed should do royal cannin is very good but very expensive and without a affix you can not get the baby dog so you could try pets@home puppy food or any other good quality dry complete but you will have to put hot boiled water on it to soften and cool down before feeding.

i would also suggest that you do a lot of socialization with this pup or you could have problems in the future as he/she needs the other litter mate and mum to know how to interact with others.

i had a pup years ago at five weeks and now i know better and would never take or give a pup at this tender age i did lots of socialization and training i also had another dog at the time and i must admit that she is the best dog i have ever owned (rottie bitch).

good luck

thanks for the advice . well we have to make the best of the situation we have obideience classed booked for him and we too have another dog so hopefully he will be well socalized, i have tried to soften the food i have got for him with his milk but it seems to stay quite hard it is Hills Natures best maybe will have to try a differnent brand or maybe blend it in a blender, but thanks for everything.

what i do with the burns is soak it with boiling water otherwise if the water is any cooler it doesnt mix up when i was adding the welpi to it i just made up the welpi as the instructions said then just mixed it in with the food i only did this for the 1st wk of weaning they are now almost 6wks old and are having 4-5 meals a day plus still having a little from mum (when she lets them) good luck with the feeding

You do have to soak the food for a good while, hour or so before it becomes soft.
Shame on breeder for letting this pup go so young. :-(

Food will not soak in the puppy milk, it needs to be softened first usign very hot water (off the boil) and then adding the milk after.

i was meant to also add i only added the welpi once i had soaked the burns  in the boiling water and it had got to the right consistency then i just made it a bit sloppy with the welpi hopethis makes better sense than my last post