Weaning Puppies onto Food

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Tia

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Just another quick question; what age do puppies generally start to eat puppy food? My puppies are 12 days old now and are paying a lot of attention to Lily's puppy food. They are all climbing in her bowl and licking the food. I am just steeping some of the puppy food in boiling water - waiting for it to cool right down.

They all have teeth come through and their eyes are open so am guessing that it won't do them any harm to let them have some mushy puppy food??
 
I used to work on the principle that when they showed interest in solid food it was time to try them. Make it very sloppy and offer them a tiny amount. They are quite young but shouldn't do them any harm. Be warned, some bitches top clearing up after their babies once they start on solid food!
 
Thank you. That was my trail of thought too.

Lily won't be interested in the food; she's always been fed ad-lib so isn't a greedy dog in the slightest and she is still being fed ad-lib with the same puppy food as I am mushing up right now.

It is quite sloppy so will just put a low bowl in their pen and see what they make of it. Thank you once again.
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Yeh, I'd just put some in with them. The only problem is though if they start eating solids, is that Lily will stop clearing up after them and thats when they start smelling and you get cr*p everywhere
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You're enjoying this aren't you PMSL!!
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Yes they are still in the house
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, however they appear to be a bit too hot in here. Lily can hardly bear it in the house any longer and she is outside a lot right now. That's fine as the puppies generally sleep for a couple of hours at a time so it's good for Lily's frame of mind to have her back outside a lot. She really only asks to come back inside to feed them and then once she has done this, she wants back outside again.

I don't think she will want to be with them this time next week to be honest. Is it about 3 weeks that they start to wean them themselves?
 
...and that'll be the moment they move outside LOL!! I've already planned their puppy pen in the dog room - just have to build it now
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. Hoping to have it done by early next week and then they can go out there and make their smells.
 
They really need her to keep feeding them until they are at least 5 week old, by that time they should be just about fully weaned. I had one bitch who had had enough of her pups at about 2 weeks old, she really preferred being with me. You have to be a bit tough and shut them in with their babies several times a day if they decide to wean them too early!
 
Ah not sure if Lily will be happy to keep feeding them till 5 weeks, but maybe she will. She has been a wonderful mother so far, however I have noticed over the past day or two that she isn't quite as interest as she previously was and she likes to be back outside for most of the time. She asks to come in every couple of hours, wakes the puppies for them to feed and once she's done this, she wants to go back outside again.

We are making their pen out in the dog room today so she will once again have free access to outside. I think so long as she has this, she will remain happy to return to them frequently.
 
awwww reminds me of when our Lab had pups! She was just like Lily in that it became a chore, not a joy! She would go in, feed them, then walk off and they'd all drop off her teats, one by one! She couldnt wait to get away; I think it was around week 4 or 5 that she stopped feeding them completely.
 
Sounds like you have everything covered. As she is an outside dog I am sure she will be happier being able to go out at will. You might find you hve to build every higher barricades to keep the little ones in, its amazing how high puppies can climb, I am sure mine were all half monkey!
 
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