Weaning Advice Please

[TG-ZAC]

Hi

I'm currently weaning my litter of cocker pups. They are currently 4 and half month old and have been on puppy mash since they were 3 weeks old.

They are eating ok but not as much as they should be, I think my bitch is feeding them too well as she is still producing lots of milk

So.... Should I be taking the botch away from them in the day or at night? Or will she just stop when she's ready?

[Tungulria]

4 and a half month?? Think you mean weeks!!

[Tungulria]

When weaning I've always fed the pups then let bitch in to mop up what they've left. Invariably one or two will try to suckle and initially I've no issue but they soon realise they're full on food and don't want the milk and mum'll say no to them because they've got teeth!! Lol.

[TG-ZAC]

Yes weeks sorry lol.

They all have teeth now and she's pretty cut up but still not really saying no when they want to suckle.

That's why I was wondering if she should be taken away from them abit or just her too it

[Breezybrook]

I think it is a bit soon to be taking her away. I aim to have the bitch away from the pups in the daytime at 6 weeks and away completely by 7 weeks (the odd visit a few times in the day is allowed and they all have a quick suckle). I use week 7 - 8 to check all pups are feeding independently, and are ok to leave at 8 weeks.

If your bitch is cut up I would suggest this is from their claws, have you trimmed them at all? Some litters need trimming every week. Just remove the "hook" at the end of the claw.

[TG-ZAC]

I think it is a bit soon to be taking her away. I aim to have the bitch away from the pups in the daytime at 6 weeks and away completely by 7 weeks (the odd visit a few times in the day is allowed and they all have a quick suckle). I use week 7 - 8 to check all pups are feeding independently, and are ok to leave at 8 weeks.

If your bitch is cut up I would suggest this is from their claws, have you trimmed them at all? Some litters need trimming every week. Just remove the "hook" at the end of the claw.

Thanks for that advice. Yes I would say its from their claws, I will trim the hooks and see how we get on.

Thanks very much

[Contender]

My litters are always weaned at 3-4 weeks which means that they're off the mothers milk when they're 4 weeks providing they're all doing fine. They go on puppy food which I soak for the first 2 days but after that they will have to use their teeth and chew!!! The last couple of litters I've used Natures Diet which is pretty much raw feed in a tray so very high on meat (60 something percent) and that can be fed straight out of the tray because of it's consistency and I've found that after using it I've never had a puppy go a bit 'loose' which often happen with all the biscuit type puppy food. When they're 6-7 weeks, I'll mix in some biscuit puppy food as that is what 90% of the puppy buyers feed.

So, to sum it up: I like to get the puppies weaned when they get those sharp teeth to save the bitch (many bitches will not say no to the puppies) and help her bounce back after the litter. They do get the odd suckle whilst they're being weaned and once fully weaned they'll have full access to their mum again.

Natasha

[DesO'Neile]

There's a lot more to weaning than simply getting the pups feeding for themselves. There are a lot of manners learnt form Mum around the disengagement from feeding so I'm never in that great a rush to take Mum away from the pups. I reckon there's nothing better for pups than mother's milk but I do try to get the bigger stronger pups onto solids as soon as possible. At the same time I am trying to get the smaller weaker one onto solids as well but if you can get the bruisers onto food they will fill up relatively quickly and doze off leaving not only more milk for the smaller ones but more importantly the better teats. By the time we are talking about this I have a box in the house with a heat lamp inside it and a bit of cow mat on the roof so that the bitch can jump up there when(not if) she gets fed up with the pups. When I see her starting to use the top of the box as a refuge on a regular basis it's time to start considering taking her away out of the run for longer periods. A regime now starts where the bitch is only let into the run to let the pups drain her. The minute she seems satisfied to be empty she is taken away again. The frequency of draining her decreases and as this happens the milk supply will reduce.
There are several ways you can dry the bitch off completely but it is such a critical phase for the bitch, and I have had a few disasters, that I am disinclined to suggest a method. Google it and make your choice on sound advice.

[Karn1b]

I know this is an older post but know people search for particular topics so thought I would add my experience

I am currently weaning a small litter of two which has brought with it its own problems, because the pups are not having to fight their way in for a good go at the milk, like they would if there were 8/10 pups, they were reluctant to move to the solids. They are now almost 7weeks and much better at the solids which is a mixture of a little soaked biscuit, dried biscuit (skinners puppy food) and a little Royal canin puppy mousse, just to make it nice and smelly. I have come into the room the odd time to find the mother letting them have a feed but I don't let this go on to long but figure it helps her not get blocked up and reduce her milk gradually.

I wouldn't remover her totally as I find she is teaching them some basic manners, particularly the boy who is that little bit bigger than his sister and so good he is being put in his place sometimes.

With trimming there nails just normally nail clippers are fine and I checked theirs once a week

[Fenloch]

Good question. I have a lab that went through a false pregnancy and started to produce milk, this was in early August. My darn cocker is 1 1/2 yrs old and is compounding the problem by nursing off of her, and being rather sneaky about it. At least it is causing the lab to hold off on her heat cycle! Want to breed her in Feb. instead of this month when she should be cycling again!