I would try from about 2 1/2- 3 weeks old, once they have their eyes open and start to move around. Start by mixing up some welpi/lactol and see if they lap it up, if they do you can then make it into 'puppy porridge' by soaking some puppy food and mixing it with the milk. As the pups get used to the idea you can make the porridge a little thicker by using less milk until the pups are just eating soaked puppy food. Always have a bowl of fresh drinking water available as the pups will also drink from that.

It also depends on the bitch, some are happier feeding pups for longer, others aren't so keen.

I have had chihuahua's so Lab's are a much bigger dog, I found this which may help you with your Lab puppies. Seems weird reading this and looking at the amounts to do..........lol mine had teeny tiny amounts compared lololol

Weaning is started in preparation for the pup to be ready for its new home at the age of 8 weeks. At this time the pups need to have their gastrointestinal tract accustomed to eating commercially prepared puppy foods (which are nutritionally balanced). In most kennels, puppies get the first taste of food other than Mum’s milk at about 3 weeks of age.

Prepare the puppy porridge by placing 2 cups of high quality dry puppy food, which has been soaked overnight using a milk replacer, in a blender. Adding some hot water so the puppies are served warm porridge. Blend until the consistency of human baby food – no lumps! (This feeds 6-8 puppies of a medium-sized breed.) Placing the porridge on a saucer the puppies will be able to lap. Be warned it is a messy process but an enjoyable one seeing them getting used to solid food. The puppies should be having evenly spaced out meals of between 3 and 4 a day by the third day of commencing the introduction of food. Building up to slightly larger meals as the days/weeks go by. The goal is to reduce the liquid content so as to feed dry food to the puppies by the time they are between 6 and 7 weeks of age. Each week increase the amount of food, decrease the amount of the milk replacer and water that is added.

Once they are on dry food, it may be left in with the puppies (when the dam is out of the box). Leaving water available for the puppies. As the puppies progress with eating more solid food, the bitch may choose to be from the puppies for an even longer period of time as she will know the demands on her have been reduced. A bitch will on average give her puppies milk up to the age of five or six weeks. The minimum any breeder should hope for from the Dam is for her to feed milk until 3 weeks of age which does ensure nutritional needs are fulfilled. By the time they are 6 weeks, they should be fully weaned from the dam’s milk, eating dry food, and drinking water. If a bitch has weaned her puppies off milk before the age of 6 weeks then a breeder will continue with the milk substitute until the age of 6 weeks. The aim is to wean entirely onto puppy food which is nutritionally balanced for the puppies growing needs. All Bitches are different as to when they stop feeding their pups, some are happy to continue until 7 weeks. Some stop at 4 weeks.

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Thank you, will do that

will do thanx

thanx so much for your time and trouble you have taken in replying, much appreciated, what a lot of helpful souls there are on this forum!! x

the photo on my avatar is Maya, I took the pic yesterday after we got back from vets, she doesnt look too sorry for herself considering the mastitis, thanx again for all the valuable help on the forums

They're not labs puppies, they're labradoodles. I assume you used a standard poodle which usually produce dogs bigger than labs.

yes we used my father in laws standard poodle Marco, so think they will be tall.

She needs to be on a good quality food - trouble is now, you might upset both hers and the pups tum's by changing - but it needs to be done.

I feed my bitch's on Pro Plan Puppy Large Breed Robust (around 7 meals a day) and add in a chicken a day, oily fish, rice pudding and beef and for the first few days, a litre of Lactol a day - that was for a litter of 7 - my bitches are fed on demand - if they want food, they get it - after the first few days, I downgrade the Lactol to Goats Milk.

My last girl was 'slight' in Labrador show terms - but delivered me 7 x 21 oz pups who all weighed in around the 8 kilo mark at 8 weeks.

I don't weigh my pups daily because they usually grow at such a fast rate - you can see within a day if a pup isn't thriving - I've also never felt the need to identify them even when they've all been the same colour

With 10 pups she is going to need every iota of quality food you can get into her, and she isn't getting that at the moment.

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What you need to know before buying a Labrador puppy