my puppies are nearly 3 weeks old,and always very thirsty for milk?

Question

i have started them on solids,morning and night,do u think it's alright?as their are very contented.and eating on their own.

Answer 1

Weaning is the process of teaching three to four week old puppies about eating solid food instead of depending exclusively on their dam's milk. Just as with human babies, puppies reach a point where formula (mother's milk) alone cannot provide all of their nutritional needs. This weaning process should not be rushed, or handled in a slap-hazard manner.
Many times puppies will begin to experiment with their mother's food when she is fed. If a breeder/owner observes this, this is one signal to start getting serious about teaching the puppies to eat out of a pan. There are many dog people who simply allow the pups to learn through observing their mother and experimenting on their own how to eat. Unfortunately, there are two major objections to this method. Some dams will snarl and snap at the pups for taking, or attempting to take, her food. This does not help the learning process. The other objection is that the food the adult dam is eating is not the food that will satisfy the nutritional needs of the puppies. The digestive system of puppies is simply not ready for this quantum leap. The easy way is not always the right way. In this case, it could lead to malnourished and underdeveloped pups.
There are several commercial dam's milk replacements available and when mixed with a good to excellent dry puppy food, to the consistency of loose oatmeal, makes a good starter. Gradually reduce the milk replacement with water, and make the gruel thicker until the puppies, reaching the age of six or seven weeks, will be eating only solid food.
One process that helps the individual puppy to learn to pan feed, is to place a pan of gruel in a safe area and place one puppy by the pan. The reason we say one puppy is that, when it's an all-the-gang, free-for-all feeding frenzy, the weak and the shy, or less dominant, puppies always get left out, and may even become malnourished. By teaching one puppy at a time, you accomplish several tasks: social contact between owner and puppy is established, the puppy recognizes where the food is coming from, and the breeder/owner can keep track of how much each pup is eating, and also, note how smart, or slow-witted, the individual pups are.
While the puppy is learning to pan feed, the scene can be hilarious. When you have placed the pup by the pan of food, gently stick the pup's muzzle in the gruel. Please don't immerse the pup's nose in the food, as he could aspirate the food into his lungs. The first time a pup feels milk, it can be somewhat of a shock. This may have to be repeated several times, until the pup gets the idea. Before long, he'll be splashing, experimenting and licking the food, and making a general mess of himself. After a few minutes, pick the puppy up, clean and dry him, and put him back with his litter mates. Then repeat the process with the next one until all have had a turn.
One hint that you may find helpful, is to remember that the puppies are used to the dam lying on her side, with the milk source elevated. If the puppies seem to display confusion in that they know the food is there, but where? You may want to put some gruel on your finger, letting the pups lick your finger as you draw the pups attention downward toward the pan.

Answer 2

No! Keep them on the milk! Something that a lot of new breeders don't understand is the importance of keeping the litter together for the first 8 weeks. You'll notice that mom will be feeding the puppies a lot less often once they start getting their teeth at around four weeks of age. She'll try to get away from the puppies... and you'll notice that if given a choice, she'll not want to spend a lot of time with them. By five or six weeks, you may even be convinced that they are totally weaned and don't need her anymore. Whatever you do, don't send the puppies to their new homes yet! The first reason is that you may be wrong about mom not feeding them anymore. It isa real surprise to find that long after mom had stopped feeding them during the day, she was still feeding them at night when others aren't around to stress her out. The other more important reason to keep puppies until they're 8 weeks of age is the social process that occurs between a puppy, his siblings, and his mom. During weeks 5 - 8, when some breeders have already placed puppies in new homes, a puppy should be learning a lot of extremely important things from the other dogs. Things like not to bite too hard, and how to get along with other dogs... for example. There's also the security of being with their siblings... it's just way too intimidating for a six week old pup to be alone with a world full of strangers. Don't sell off your puppies until they're at least 8 weeks of age, even if you think they're weaned long before that. Keep all the puppies together, and let mom spend as much time with the pups as she wants. Provide her with some kind of thing (like a bench) that she can jump up on to get away from the pups when they start tugging on her ears and biting her legs.

Answer 3

Around the 4 week mark is OK to start weaning them but if they are going OK with the food thing then go for it. Make sure it is puppy food and maybe you can put some water near by to see if that helps. But make sure you are around as you don't want them to drown in it.
Normally i would not recommend to put milk in the water as puppies cannot stomach cows milk, however If you get some Lactose free milk just put a tiny bit in the water, enough to colour it so they can see it and do that until they get the hang of the lapping. It is not for taste it is only so they can see it.

Start to reduce it so the water is just clear again and they should have had the hang of it by then. Mum will soon tell them when she has had enough. They will feed for a fair bit still at this stage, as they start to get more puppy food they will require less from mum

Good luck

Answer 4

I hope your still letting them also nurse from mom too!!!!

It's ok I guess but I usually wait until they are 4 weeks old to start them on any solid foods. And I also let them nurse until they are 6 weeks old.
Personally I think 3 weeks old is very, very young not to allow the pups to nurse. Mom's milk is the best and most nutritious food they can get to grow to a very health pup.

Answer 5

Keep the puppies with mommy, when it is time she will wean them on her own..The longer they suck on her the better she will be. Helps her dry up her milk and her **** will from back into shape.
she will know what to do when the times comes..It is alright to feed them as you are if they are eating well. Just don't take them from the mommy. She will leave them longer periods of times. Even though I feed my puppies they always went back to mommy. Good luck with your new puppies it seems you are doing pretty good with them.

Answer 6

they need to keep nursing from the mother,,, she will wean them,,, keep dry kibble, lightly moistened for them to eat too...as well as fresh water... remember to start the worming schedule, get them their first shots.. and start interviewing prospective owners... draw up your health guarantee etc... and then HAVE YOUR PET DOG SPAYED!! because you obviously are not a breeder if you are asking questions like this

Answer 7

mam they are still very young let them still nurse from there mother you will know when its time for the puppies to stop weaning when the mother dog pushes them away off of her tit

Answer 8

To be safe you should check the nutrition info on the milk and ask your vet for min. and max. amounts of nutritions for puppies that age.

Why is the mother not nursing them??

Answer 9

they need the milk, they are growing fast so they need alot, dont worry. they dont need solids till they get teeth in.

Answer 10

Normal,healthy growing pups just keep their feed dish full.