I'm glad you're staying Amy Lou, its good to share knowledge and ask questions when you are unsure, there are always new things to learn, no-one knows everything.

Mum and pups are doing well. They are doing there business on newspaper which is good. They don't like weetabix yet but don't seem to mind the biscuits that I soak and mush up for them.
Mum doesn't seem to be bothered about them as much now?

the older the pups get the less time mum will spend with then, its normal for her to do this, its here way of helping them become less dependant on her

I am sorry if my post caused offence to anyone as that was not the intention. I do still feel however that research should be done before contemplating breeding. Amy Loe 79 first post was
' My puppies are 4 weeks old. When should I start weaning them as they are showing an interest in mums food and I have had to move so they can't get to it. Also should they be having water' She later said she was asking what to use.Though that is not what was said in the original post.
I am surprised to see that some of you who have bred had no knowledge of regurgitation as this is how a dog in the wild would wean her pups. Domesticated dogs will also do this if weaning is not started around the 3 week mark as milk alone is not now sufficient for the pups. Any good book on breeding carries this information along with things that can go wrong before, during and after whelping for both mum and pups.
I am sure that those of us who have had children would be less than pleased to have an untrained midwife to attend to us.
When I was writing breed notes I used to get a lot of phone calls from people from different breeds as well as my own to talk about dogs in general and to sometimes ask advise and I very much enjoyed talking to these people and gave advise when I could. One lady phoned to proudly tell me of her bitches newly whelped litter but was a little concerned that her bitch was so cold that she was shaking really badly and despite wrapping her in a blanket she could not seem to warm her up. I told her that her bitch had eclampsia and she should get immediate veterinary help. She had not even heard of the condition and had she not phoned me she would have been burying her bitch and handrearing the pups!
This is one of the reasons why research should and must be done, things can and frequently do go wrong. Yes, things do happen that surprise even experienced breeders but at least knowing the basics of whelping a bitch and rearing pups correctly will stand you in good stead and the rest comes with experience.
I hope you will stay Amy Lou and whether you take the advise of the 'pompous' is your choice.

what you have written here is very well put and no offence can be taken, I also knew of regurgitation, but this lady did not, your knowlage is very good and can be very helpful to other members, it was the wording at the end of your post that was my only query as it was a little harsh and could have been put a little better.

i think she came on here for exactly that,,,, ADVISE, but i think you sounded a little harsh in your advise,,and this may of upset her,,,, im glad that she is staying as we want to help people on the forum,, at the end of the day we all love our animals and want to do the best we can for them,, so we really should all stick together and help each other, so lets all get on,, and give her all the help she needs with her puppies,,,

That is how nature has designed dogs to wean their offspring. All solid food is brought tot he pups in the packs stomachs. It is why pups mob their Mum and us as human carers and jump up to lick our hands and faces this is to get us to feed them, as the pestering gets the adult to regurgitate the food.

You bitch is being a super good mother. To stop her doing it you need to keep her away from her pups for about an hour after she is fed, and also after the pups have had a good feed so they won't beg.

We don't often see it in domestic bitches as we tend to start weaning the pups before the bitch is struggling to feed them on milk alone (usually before 3 weeks), so the bitch never has to start doing this for them. some bitches of course think we can't possibly be feeding her babies enough and will still try to given them weaning food by regurgitating it.

None of mine have ever done it, but speaking to breeders who have bred for more than 50 years I was told that when the bitches had pups outdoors more and were in the House less they did this more often, but those having their pups indoors all the time often won;'t do ti as they are keen not to make a mess in the house, as have learnt to go out to be sick and toilet etc, so have less opportunity to practise this behaviour.

Weetabix and Cows milk are not gogo dthings to give puppies. You need to use Puppy Milk formnula if youm wish to give milk and food designed fro pups to eat.

I start mine off on soaked puppy food mashed up with puppy milk.

By four weeks they will also have a meat meal as one of their 4 meals a day. that way pups will be sued to tradional natural food (meat etc) and also complete food making theri transition to new homes easier.

i do make it up with lactol.

Hi All,

Our pups were house reared and Megan did this with her pups too...we started weaning from about 2 -1/2 weeks...just tiny amounts. But Meg still did it...I wasn't too concerned though as I had read up on it happening, so realised what it was straight away.
We kept one pup..Banjo...she still does it very occasionaly for him! YUK!! and he's blooming 3-1/2 months now!! Mind you he has been really poorly...wonder if that's why?? Maybe she still feels she has to look out for him? He eats like a horse!

Breda

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A dog is not intelligent. Never trust an animal that's surprised by its own farts.