|
How Puppies Should Be Weaned
How Puppies Should Be Weaned
Most dog breeders allow their puppies to eat directly from the mother's bowl as soon as they are able to do so. This enables them to learn, by observation, how to eat. However, continuing this practice for more than a few days after the puppies begin to eat has several objectionable features. First, the mother usually is not eating the same diet that her puppies should be eating. Second, the mother often resents her puppies eating from her bowl and will snarl and snap at them when they start to investigate or experiment with her food. Such behavior is hardly conducive to an atmosphere for teaching little puppies that the food pan is one of the best places to know. Finally, feeding containers for mothers are seldom fitting for tiny pups, and vice versa.
If the suckling puppy's diet has contained some solid food beginning three to four weeks after he was whelped, he will be weaned by six to seven weeks of age. If the pup has been orphaned and hand-fed, he will have to be trained by hand to eat solid foods. Similarly, if the pup is abruptly snatched from his mother at six or seven weeks of age and has had little or no solid food beforehand, he too will need to be taught to eat solid foods.
Teaching the young puppy to eat can be a very funny experience. To some dog owners, it may also seem like a time-wasting step in raising a dog. By individually hand-training each pup, however, you can ensure that no pup will fall behind nutritionally simply because he does not know how to eat food from a pan.
Infant puppies should get their first lesson in eating from a pan on an individual basis and without the distraction from littermates. Place the pup up to the pan of food and stick his muzzle in. Try not to get his nose in, if that's possible. Some puppies tend to splatter and fuss when milk hits them in the face for the first time! Repeat the dunking several times. Once the puppy gets the idea, let him have his own way to explore and experiment with the pan full of food. Some puppies get the hang of pan-feeding almost instantly. One lick of their tongues and they are after the milk mixture as if it was their first meal in a week. Other pups may appear to miss the idea entirely, and would rather bathe in the pan than drink from it.
After a few minutes, or before your patience runs out, pick the puppy up and wipe off the excess milk with a damp cloth. Dry the dampened hair and put the pup back with his litter mates. Then try another, until every pup in the litter has had a turn. Once you have succeeded in training one or two pups to become proficient eaters, it may help to put a slow learned pup up to the bowl with one of the good eaters. Puppies learn by example, and since an empty stomach is one of the greatest motivating forces known to them, the "see and do" method often does the job.
|
Subscribe
to
our
newsletter.
It's Free!
Related Links:
• Acute Coughing Snoring and Bark Changes
• Administering an Enema to Your Dog
• Assisting a Mother Dog to Give Birth
• Bone Joint and Muscle Problems in Dogs
• Bottle Feeding Your Puppy
• Canine Scabies Sarcoptic Mange
• Changing Your Dog\ s Diet
• Commercial Dog Foods
• Common Signs of Dog Skin Problems
• Congenital Defects in Dogs
• Dealing with an Injured Dog
• Demodectic Mange
• Dog Accidents
• Dog Anorexia
• Dog Constipation
• Dog Diarrhea
• Dog Ear Mites
• Dog Exercise
• Dog Flea Treatment
• Dog Front Leg Lameness
• Dog Lice
• Dog Mites
• Dog Mouth and Tooth Disorders
• Dog Nutritional Diseases
• Dog Obesity
• Dog Skin Problem
• Dog Ticks
• Dog Vet Check Up
• Dog Walking
• Dog Worms
• Fading Puppy Syndrome
• Fats Carbohydrates For Dogs
• Feeding a Guide Dog
• Feeding Working Dogs
• Feeding Your Growing Puppy
• Feeding Your Guard Dog
• Feeding Your Outdoor Dog
• Feeding Your Puppy
• First Aid For Dog Bites and Insect Stings
• First Aid for Dog Poisoning
• First Aid Treatment for Dogs
• Giving Your Dog Liquid Medication
• Good Dog Eating Habits
• Hand Rearing Puppies
• Heartworm in Dogs
• Hookworms
• How Dogs Eat
• How Much Food Does Your Dog Need
• How Much Food To Give Your Puppy
• How Puppies Should Be Weaned
• Hurry Diarrhea in Puppies
• Liver for Your Dog
• Lyme Disease in Dog
• Malnourished Dogs
• Meat Only Diet for Dogs
• Natural Heartworm Prevention and Treatment
• Natural Holistic Dog Health
• Natural Protein Sources for Dogs
• Natural Remedies for Dog Discharges
• Nutritional Needs of Guard Dogs
• Nutritional Needs of Working Dogs
• Prevent and Treat Arthritis in Dogs Naturally
• Prevent Dog Fleas Naturally
• Preventing Dog Ear Problems
• Preventing Dog Flea Infestations
• Protection from Heartworm
• Protein and Carbohydrates in Dog Food
• Puppy Feeding Tips
• Quality Dog Food
• Rabies Dog Disease
• Remove Foreign Objects From Your Dog
• Resuscitating Your Dog in the Event of Heart Failure
• Ringworm
• Roundworms are Infectious
• Roundworms
• Sneezing and Coughing in Your Dog
• Soothe Puppy Teething
• Table Scraps for Your Dog
• Taking Your Dog To The Vet
• Tapeworms
• The Risks of Dog Vaccinations
• Ticks are Dangerous
• Treating Bleeding in Your dog
• Treating Dog Dandruff
• Tube Feeding Your Puppy
• Urinary Function in Dogs
• Vegetables Fruit and Bone Meal for Dogs
• Weaning Your Puppy
• What are Heartworms
• When Dogs Fight and Are Injured
• Whipworm
• Worm Control
• Your Dog Feeding Routine
• Your Dogs Mineral Requirements
• Your Dog\ s Mineral Requirements
|
