How do you guys dry up the mother

[Kevin Dowell]

Guys,

I have pups that are a little over 5 weeks old. I started putting puppy food in a blender and chopping it up into a fine powder at 3 1/2 weeks old and have gradually worked my way to where they are eating just regular puppy chow straight out of the bag. The day they turned 5 weeks old i started taking the bitch away from them in the morning when i leave for work and on my lunch break will put her back in for an hour, and before i leave to go back to work take her back out. Then when i get home from work put her back in for about an hour, then take her away for the rest of the night and repeat process the next day. Am i going about this the right way, and when do you remove the mom for good? Any replies are greatly appreciated as this is my first litter and i want to do it right.

Thanks, Kevin

[hounddog]

Kevin, I pull the pups off once they are eating good and never return her to the pups. If you take the food away from the mother for a day or so, she will quit producing milk. As long as you are allowing the pups to nurse, she will continue to make milk. She should start to dry up after a few days.
Best of luck with your new litter.

hounddog
Jim Umbarger

[Kenny VanHoose]

At this point your talking about I will take her out all day and put her back with them at night. Do this for about a week and then take her away from them completly. Not feeding her will do nothing more than make her hungry.

[hounddog]

At this point your talking about I will take her out all day and put her back with them at night. Do this for about a week and then take her away from them completly. Not feeding her will do nothing more than make her hungry.

Sorry, Kenny, but food produces more milk and that's not what you want. I have raised over a hundred litters of puppies in my time. This ain't my first rodeo.

hounddog
Jim Umbarger

[Kevin Dowell]

Thanks Houndog........good to hear from ya!

[Bobby Vest]

There is no exact right or wrong way to do this. If the pups are eating good on their own you can take the bitch completely away. The milk production comes from the stimulation of the teats by the pups nursing. When the pups stop nursing the bitch starts to dry up. I always liked to take the bitch away and let the pups nurse a little bit for a few days. It's kinda like we used to do our calves. It seemed like if you let the calf nurse a little bit for a few days you would have less mastitis with the cows. It's kind of like hand stripping thhe cow out for a while after you wean the calf. I also have got the pups eating good and just took the mother away cold turkey and didn't have any problems with the pups or the bitch.

[Joeyman]

it will take atleast 2wks before you see her go back to somewhat normal looking tits. their will still be a bit of flapy skin at the very back tits. this will get tight over time.

i believe in if the bitch was in top shape before bred and during her pregnancy she'll tighten up back to normal fairly quickly compared to a old fat brood bitch that don't get ran much = they may always be saggy tittied for a good bit

[Bobby Vest]

Joey I had a girlfriend like that.

[Joeyman]

Joey I had a girlfriend like that.

lol bobby I knew someone would get a kick out of that comment.

[Bobby Vest]

Joey there was an old black lady comedian probably before your time that was great. She was pretty raunchy for her time and she used to do some work with Redd Foxx. Her name was Moms Mabeley ( not sure of the spelling). Moms was a great story teller and she said she had a real good friend that called her one day. Well this friend was so depressed she said she was going to kill herself and she ask Moms what was the best way to do it. Moms thought about it for a while and she told the friend that she always heard to shoot yourself 2" below the left teat was a sure fire way to do it. Moms said the bitch went home and tried this and shot herself in the left knee cap. Just goes to show there ain't no surefire way to do anything.

[sammiller03]

just my two cents.. i up and pulled a female away from her pups one day when i thought that she was ready.. turned out i was wrong.. she ended up getting mastitus.. it was horable for her and me. one of the worst things i ever saw.. well from now on im going to take two pups out then in a couple days take two more out and do it slow.. also its a good idea to make a place where the female can get away from the pups.. i once saw a kennel where the female could jump up on the box and be in a seperate kennel. but the pups couldnt make it over the box to get to her.. worked really well..

sam

[Joeyman]

Joey there was an old black lady comedian probably before your time that was great. She was pretty raunchy for her time and she used to do some work with Redd Foxx. Her name was Moms Mabeley ( not sure of the spelling). Moms was a great story teller and she said she had a real good friend that called her one day. Well this friend was so depressed she said she was going to kill herself and she ask Moms what was the best way to do it. Moms thought about it for a while and she told the friend that she always heard to shoot yourself 2" below the left teat was a sure fire way to do it. Moms said the bitch went home and tried this and shot herself in the left knee cap. Just goes to show there ain't no surefire way to do anything.

bobby thanks for the laugh. that was humor that makes a person think

just my two cents.. i up and pulled a female away from her pups one day when i thought that she was ready.. turned out i was wrong.. she ended up getting mastitus.. it was horable for her and me. one of the worst things i ever saw.. well from now on im going to take two pups out then in a couple days take two more out and do it slow.. also its a good idea to make a place where the female can get away from the pups.. i once saw a kennel where the female could jump up on the box and be in a seperate kennel. but the pups couldnt make it over the box to get to her.. worked really well..

sam

When I weaned leah off her pups I removed the mom (leah) from the whelper. I put her back in the whelper for One hour or less per day for 4days, after that she was out cold turkey. thats how i went about it and it worked great for me.

[rabbit runer]

good one bobby i got a good laugh out of that one

[Bobby Vest]

Rabit Runer, I'm just trying to keeo Joey on his toes.

[Emma's Beagles]

i always try to start my pups on food as soon as they will take it, which for me is normally 3 weeks old, then i do nothing, i go and watch them 3 or 4 times a day and the mother will let you know when it is time for them to be weaned, she will start getting aggervated and even can snapp at them, believe me if you go spend time around the pups and the mother you will be able to tell when its time to try and pull them away. then when the mother has shown these signs , i will take her away from the pups while the pups eat for about a week each time they eat the mother is taken away from them for 2 or 3 hours, at the same time i will take my smallest pup sometimes 2 smallest and let them nurs there mother for an extra hour then there mates get to, after this i will start to take the mother away from the pups during the day and put her back with them at night, for around a week or so and then the final week i will let the pups nurse about 1 time a day for an hour or so for a few days, this normally has the pups around 7 weeks old and good to go, also i havent had any problems doing this this way. aslo on the feeding the mother, i really dont think cutting her food makes her dry up, i mean its the actual nursing that causes her body to produce milk, which the milk is derived from her food, but even if sh isnt eating food and they are sucking her body will still produce some milk and in most instances would probabley really suck the life out of the mother. i mean think about it if a women is nursing a child and she doesnt eat for a couple days if she is sick or smething she doesnt dry up. jmo, i may be worng, anyways nice post.