For the first three to four weeks of puppies’ lives, meal time is not a hard job for breeders.
But once those puppy teeth erupt, many Moms avoid nursing, plus growing puppies need more nutrition.
Breeders must decide when to start weaning litters and what to feed them during the transition from Mom’s milk to solid food. It can be confusing, deciding the best way to make sure puppies consume all the calories they need while still spending crucial socialization time with their mother.
We asked a breeder-veterinarian and two experienced breeders how they tackle the weaning process.
Deciding When to Start Weaning:
“I think that one of the biggest considerations is how are the puppies gaining weight? Is the mother handling them well and keeping up with her nutritional demands?” said veterinarian and English Springer Spaniel breeder Dr. Kate Bremser of North Carolina. “Large litter size, mothers having a hard time maintaining weight, sick dams, or puppies not gaining well would all be reasons to consider weaning earlier rather than later. If all things are going well, I generally start feeding my litters some puppy mush around 3 weeks of age.”
Joan Esham and Lou Ann Isenberg of Pennsylvania are co-breeders of Border Terriers. They keep track of the development of their puppies’ teeth and how comfortable the dam appears with the puppies. The needle-sharp puppy teeth generally start appearing around 3 to 4 weeks of age.
“A good indication for us is: How long does mom stay in the whelping box and is she comfortable? Generally, when our pups hit the 4-week mark, we move them from the whelping box to a larger area with crates, toys,” Esham said. “We then slowly wean them from the dam around 4 ½ weeks and by 5-5 ½ weeks, pups are weaned.”
Size of litter can also make a difference when determining how soon to wean, said D. Lynne Luckow of Wisconsin, a breeder of Border Collies and English Cocker Spaniels.
“A large litter can be taxing on the mom, despite how much you feed and supplement her. That may be the moment and motivation to step in… I am always looking at the pups around 3 to 4 weeks of age to see how hungry they appear to be. Are they crying, restless, or warm, happy and content?”
What to Feed Pups:
It’s safest to stick to something tested and balanced for puppies, Dr. Bremser advises.
Avoid milk-based products that can be too rich and cause upset stomachs and also steer clear of human baby cereal, which is not nutritionally balanced for puppy growth. First meals need to be gruel-like and easy for tiny puppies to lap up.
“Personally, I have had the best luck with Royal Canin Puppy Starter Mousse. Any AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) tested non-grain free food labeled for puppies is likely fine, but I find that the starter mousse is very well received by the puppies,” Bremser said. “It’s easy to mix with water or formula to create a soup for them to start to lap up, and I don’t find it causes diarrhea when transitioning.”
Esham and Isenberg also like feeding food made for puppies to their Border Terrier litters.
“We begin with introducing mush to the puppies in one bowl. The mush is simply ground-up puppy kibble, soaked in water so that what they are receiving is very watery and messy (mushy like cream of wheat),” Esham said. “Generally, pups will eat out of one bowl for a few days until we can gauge who needs more nourishment, who is getting pushed out of the bowl, and who the hogs are that are getting more food than the others. This process last usually a few days, and then we begin to feed the pups in their own individual bowl.”
Many breeders opt to use a multi-puppy feeding pan that allows all pups to stand around the bowl and eat at the same time.
Luckow has developed a unique method for feeding her Border Collie and spaniel litters that she said helps assure smaller puppies aren’t pushed out. She starts pups out on a mixture of whole fat yogurt, canned pumpkin and a puppy milk replacement formula. She first encourages pups to lick a little off her fingers.
“Then I use a cupcake tin and only fill the four corners of the pan. If you have six pups, you need two pans. If you have nine pups, you need three pans and so on,” Luckow said. “Using the cupcake tin method, the pups do not have to compete for food, lessening any resource guarding behaviors later in life. You can also monitor how much each individual pup is eating. I am often standing with a bowl of mixture to refill muffin cups if the pup finishes and is looking for more!”
Luckow also makes fresh water available for pups starting around week three.
How to Close the Milk Bar:
Some mother dogs can’t wait to close the milk bar, while others will continue to nurse their pups until the day they go to their new homes.
“Generally, we let the dam decide when she has had enough of those puppy teeth. When Mom shows us that she isn’t real keen on getting back into the puppy area, we start the weaning process,” Esham said.
Dr. Bremser said as you start feeding puppies, dams usually start nursing less, allowing the weaning process to occur naturally. “I do limit access to Mom right before meal times to help encourage eating food and then allow nursing after to start the transition,” she said.
Bremser has a great solution for those mothers who want to keep the milk bar open forever.
“Some moms are very permissive and let them nurse as long as they want. If I have one doing that, I will put a surgery suit on her when the pups are 6 to 7 weeks of age to allow her to interact with them but not allow nursing at that point.”
Luckow agrees that a surgery suit works wonders for allowing moms to spend time with pups without continuing nursing. Do not separate mom from her puppies to stop the nursing as spending time with mom and littermates is an important part of puppies’ socialization.
“Because I want the interaction with the mother and pups, I will put a full body surgical suit on the mom. I start this every other feeding: one feeding from mom and one feeding from the cupcake tins. I still want mom to be there once the pups finish eating to assist with puppy clean-up.”
When Puppies Are Not Thriving:
Special care is required for puppies who are not gaining weight as well as the rest of their litter.
“For those I would give them dedicated nursing time between meals while continuing to offer puppy meals” Dr. Bremser said. “If I had one struggling with getting pushed off the food, I would maybe also feed separately to start.”
Bremser said she cannot emphasize enough the importance of weighing the puppies.
“My biggest piece of advice is to weigh your puppies regularly. I do twice daily as neonates until 2 weeks or so, then once daily after that,” she said. “This way you can easily catch a change in trend before a puppy becomes debilitated, dehydrated or starts doing poorly.”
Completing Weaning:
Breeders should keep open minds and adjust to each individual litters’ needs when creating a weaning schedule.
“I believe each litter and every breed is unique,” Luckow said. “I look at the size of the litter, is it a first-time mother, are there any lactation issues, not enough milk or puppies having difficulty latching on.”
For her Springer litters, Dr. Bremser has a schedule spanning about 3 to 8 weeks.
“I go from plain puppy mush to adding in some soaked and mashed kibble around 4 to 5 weeks, then transition to soaked kibbles only around 6 weeks, and gradually add less water until they are on dry kibble only around 8 to 9 weeks when they go home.”
Esham and Isenberg strive to have their Border Terriers completely weaned by about 5 ½ weeks. “Once the pups begin to eat their mush pretty consistently, we let Mom nurse the pups before bedtime for about a week, following the initial start of the weaning process,” Esham said.
Six weeks is the goal for Luckow’s Border Collies and spaniels. “A nursing may still happen once a day or before nightfall as the mother slowly dries up. You don’t want to wean too fast as it can cause mastitis. This gives me two weeks prior to placement of pups to make sure they are eating, gaining weight, and self-sufficient going home,” she said.
But the real decision-maker on your weaning schedule should be the puppies.
“Let the litter determine the schedule. Use the basic guidelines and adjust for your litter,” Luckow said. “Watch the mom’s weight, the puppy’s weight, and let the process unfold naturally. One thing for sure, puppies will let you know what they need!”