Lately she's been acting very restless and uncomfortable when feeding the puppies. Their teeth are coming in and I think they are really starting to hurt her when they nurse. She is also not staying with the puppies as much as she was. She's still nursing them, but not as much. I was told it is too early to wean the puppies because they are still too young to wean and I've also been told, most breeders start weaning their puppies at 3-4 weeks or even as soon as they open their eyes. I just hate seeing my little girl hurting when she nurses and wondering if the puppies are getting enough to eat. What should I do to help the mother and her babies? The puppies seem fine, but I just want to give the mother a little break, and the puppies a chance at a good, healthy life. Any tips from anyone? Serious Answers Only Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2006-10-03 06:23:41 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Dogs
I started to wean my Shih-tzus pups at 4 wks. because she no longer was feeding them as much and they were wanting more. I let her wean them gradually by slowly feeding them more and in turn they would nurse less from her. I started with feeding them a morning meal consisting of mushed up watered down dry dog kibble gruel (similar to the consistency of canned dog food). After a couple days I added another meal of the gruel in the afternoon, and after a couple more days I added a third meal. By this time I was just adding warm water to the kibble without mushing it up. By the time they were 7 wks old I was just free feeding them the dry kibble (the kibble was very small bites). So by the time they went to their new homes (between 8 and 9 wks old) they were eating great.
2006-10-03 06:51:51 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
first of all, let the mother chihuahua decide when to wean her babies... too often pups are taken away too soon much to the detriment of the puppy.
2006-10-03 06:29:33 · answer #2 · answered by tampico 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
she should be ok its normal for it to be restless.after a little will u can help feed the puppies with a puppie milk and little bottles
2006-10-03 06:50:56 · answer #3 · answered by the_bestsinger 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
she'll wean them when she's ready. you can go and buy some formula for them and if it seems like she's not feeding them, you can give them some of it.
2006-10-03 06:32:14 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋