hi there tilly's litter is 6 weeks old tommorow she's still got what looks like plenty of milk her boobs still look full, but she's now getting a bit reluctant to feed them?
they are on 4 meals a day a high quality puppy food and chicken wings and drinking plenty of water and also water with watered down evaporatied milk which they are all doing really well on. she seems to be spending hardly anytime with them now but pops in now and again to see them and when outside in there run she plays with them but last night she was growling at them to go away? i dont know what to do? is it her way of drying her milk up? or are the pups just taking advantage of her? my friend said i should stop her meals but i'm not keen on that idea as she's still looking so skinny?? thats just doesn't seem right at all after everything she's been through?
any advice will be apreciated .

thanks kelly x

>is it her way of drying her milk up?

Yes. She's behaving absolutely normally. If she's anything like mine have been she'll be happy to play with one or two pups at a time but not want to be bothered by the whole gang, so she discourages them. But they still need her for more than milk so she should be allowed to interact with them on her terms. As she gradually limits their feeding her milk will gradually dry up - it's when it happens suddenly (by taking the bitch away from the pups) that problems can arise. In the meantime she still needs plenty of good quality food herself to recover from the enormous strains that have been put on her body.

It's perfectly normal for her to be reluctant to feed them at this age. From about 6 weeks my bitch would only let the pups feed first thing in the morning. She was happy to play all day but if they went near her nips they got a good telling off.

I have kept a pup back who is 15 weeks old now and still tries to suckle mum (even though she has completely dried up now), just for comfort I'm guessing. Mum growls at her so she then goes over to one of our other bitches (who has never had pups so definately has no milk), will try every single nipple and then sit down in a huff with the grumpiest face you have ever seen!! So funny!!

mums reluctance to suckle her pups usually coincides with them getting sharp teeth,,a few minutes first thing for her own comfort is all my pups will get after 6 weeks old.We give them diluted evap milk after that,and my puppy diet sheet suggests a drink at bedtime,but my vet insists it is wrong to give milk once they are weaned off mum.I have bred ,more litters than him so take no notice.I get very cross when new owners are told to ignore my diet advice and and are sold big packs of dry food by the vets.always the expensive stuff! I guess they make a good profit on it.

hi there think you need to seperate pups from mum now,even if its just the day hours to start with. they would feed forvever off her otherwise. and its not fair on poor mum pups are getting enough nourishment from food and you could also give them goats milk!!!? mum will also eventually put on weight once they stop feeding! x

> think you need to seperate pups from mum now

You will find that very few breeders will agree with you there, allow the bitch to get away from her pups of course, and she may well choose not to be with them much of the time, but I would never separate a bitch from her pups except at mealtimes, she should be able to have free access to them if she wishes and weaning will occur naturally and the milk dry up naturally too.

I have kept 6 generations here and never had a pup not weaned, usually long before 12 weeks. ;)