When do i give pups their first taste of puppy food?

[Joeyman]

they are 23 days old today. when do i give them their first taste of puppy food and water? I am going to moisten the puppy feed.

I checked them the other night and i see little teeth coming in. just barely. but they are coming in.

thanks for the help in advance.

[Swampman]

Joey,
I use self feeders for all my hounds. I place a small block (patio block) in front and prop the door open to the feeder that the mother uses and put either a low water pan or step blocks up to the water pail. They will start eating the hard food and drinking when they are ready, about 3 to 4 weeks old. I don't have to mess with softening food and this teaches them right from the get go that the food is always there and they don't over eat. At 5 to 6 weeks old I start removing the mother during the day, then move to only putting her in with the pups once a day for about a half an hour to give her a little pressure relief, to complete weaning at about 6 to 7 weeks old.

Swamp

[Salzer mtn]

I guess a lot depends on how old you want them to be before you ween them. I usually just keep dry dog food in with both mother and pup's and when they get ready to start eating they will start eating the dry food on their own. If you feed them moist dog food it will get old smelling pretty quick if they don't clean it up. If i went with the moist food i would put fresh in every day. Also with the moist dog food the mother is going to eat the pup's up instead of her dry food.

[Newt]

When they are about three weeks old, I soak dog food and let them start eating. They don't have teeth to chew until about four weeks. I've had some litters that as soon as they taste dry dog food they refuse eat soaked food. I love it when they start eating dry food. I put them on a self feeder and let them eat.

[greenesbeagles]

There is know set of rules for pups Joey,every litter is different.If they are really hounding the crap out of mom and there weight is good you can start introducing them to it,then go from there.I thought you have had a litter of pups before Joey ? Keith.

[Joeyman]

There is know set of rules for pups Joey,every litter is different.If they are really hounding the crap out of mom and there weight is good you can start introducing them to it,then go from there.I thought you have had a litter of pups before Joey ? Keith.

yeah like 4 years ago......lol who can remember that far back....lol

I need a refresher every now and again.

I just come in from checking them and their little tiny teeth are coming in If you rub your finger across you can feel them all. they are 23days old. I'll wait a few more days or so and try a little bit see what they do.

[rabbitsmoker]

They will start eating before thier teeth gets in stick the food in front of them you will knw they 'll start tryin to eat with mom i wing mine at 6wk start feedin them at 5wk just my routine it dont matter theyll eat then want stop then the feed bill

[PLATEAUBEAGLER]

I start mine at 4 wks gradually,i mix a good brand of can dog food with there puppy chow and water and mix it together, they will take to it fast, but i gradually pull mom away to keep her from milk loading up.
Generally i pull mom out for a hour for a couple of days, then for 4 hrs for a couple more days, then all day, then a day and night.
Usually when u get to 8 hrs the mom's body knows it does not have to keep producing milk, and the pups are doing fine on there own.
By 10 wks pups eating great, mom looks normal and ready to run, no sagging milk sacks in the briars.
This works for me.

[PLATEAUBEAGLER]

I start mine at 4 wks gradually,i mix a good brand of can dog food with there puppy chow and water and mix it together, they will take to it fast, but i gradually pull mom away to keep her from milk loading up.
Generally i pull mom out for a hour for a couple of days, then for 4 hrs for a couple more days, then all day, then a day and night.
Usually when u get to 8 hrs the mom's body knows it does not have to keep producing milk, and the pups are doing fine on there own.
By 10 wks pups eating great, mom looks normal and ready to run, no sagging milk sacks in the briars.
This works for me.

[PLATEAUBEAGLER]

Something wrong the last few post keeps duplicating, please ignore others.

[Dunbar Family Kennel]

Joeyman my pups just turned 4 weeks old,they have been eating for the last couple of days.

[Bellmorekennels]

joey ,if they have teeth, give them the puppy food, i prefer moistened with warm water. You can usually tell when the dam is getting bitten up aound her teets,it is time for them to start eating puppy food. I start mine as soon as I feel the teeth, you may want to seperate from the dam though to let them eat, as I have seen some that will growl or snap at a pup for taking her food.
Good luck

[Tsa la gi]

Joey .
My pups won`t be 4 wks till the 29 th.They have been eating mush for a week and will walk out of the dog box with a little coaxing.I blend half a blender of puppy food ,regular milk, honey and egg. Blend together, add enough milk to make a thin soup, stick their noses in it they will do the rest.As they get older thicken it ,then start feeding puppy food when they will eat.

Chuck

[Kansas Mike]

Joey,

Go buy you a bag of Sav-A-Lamb milk replacer and a case of Pro Plan Puppy can food. Mix up 16 ozs of the milk replacer and a can of food and give it to them once a day. It makes a gravy thats easy for the pups to eat. This will take some pressure off the mom with that big litter and I guarantee they will be the biggest, fatest and healthiest pups you've ever seen. Worm them with Nemex 2 every other week also. Good luck.

Mike

[Joeyman]

I tried to give them some today. They are 25 days old. I think the kibble is to big for them. They sure did lick up the water and the food. They tried to eat it but kibble is to big. think i'm gonna buy a blender and chop it up like a moosh see how they do on that. They were all over this new found food......lol One of them dived on top of it. One crawled over it.....lol