My pups are now 3 week old,their are eating from my palm soft food,?

their teeth are coming through very nicely.gone a bit fat thou,don't like water,but i still make sure their drink from a syringe,i feed them breakfast then dinner,other time still suckling from mum or myself bottle feed,very demanding.the thing is was it too early to wean them on solid.?.

My pups are now 3 week old,their are eating from my palm soft food,?
Well you started a bit early. Give them another week or so and try the soft puppy food again, but let them still nurse from mom. They really don't need the water they will get all they need from mom. If you dam is a good mom she will feed them all. Just make sure she is getting enough to eat and especially drink. She will have enough milk to feed her demanding young.


When they are almost 4 or 5 weeks old I usually started giving them puppy food softened with water 2 times a day. I also found if you get a bottle with the kind the use for rabbits and hang it where the pups can readily get at it this is the easiest way to introduce water to the pups. Putting water in a dish or even a bowl can lead to disaster for a pup. It can accidental fall in to the water and drown. This has happened!


I allowed my pups to nurse from mom until they were just about ready to go their new homes. My mom's didn;t mind and the pups were very healthy and happy.


Hope this helps.
Reply:see below link





http://www.freewebs.com/bringing-pet/
Reply:I have new puppies also we had to start them on food at 3 weeks also because the mother is hardly feeding them at all because her belly is getting so messed up its all red and has scrapes all over it from feeding them. The best thing to do is buy puppy formula and soak the food to make puppy mush make sure its warm,just watch them a few days to make sure their still going to the bathroom If the mother doesn`t lick their tummy's then take a warm cloth and rub them it helps them go. Books on raising puppies that have no mother will tell you to do this.
Reply:Most vets will recommend not weaning a pup til its at least 6-8 weeks old.


DO NOT FEED A PUP OUT OF YOUR HAND OR WITH A SYRINGE! THEY WILL BECOME DEPENDENT ON YOU TO EAT AND WILL NOT SURVIVE ON THEIR OWN.


(I have had multiple dogs and the only case in which it is ok to hand feed/syringe feed is when they are rejected by the mom or when they have something like parvo.)


The best thing to do is watch how much they are eating. If they are still suckling from their mom and are getting too fat eating both from her and you, only let them suckle. The mother should produce enough milk to feed them for 8-10 weeks.


It is too early to wean to solids so i would suggest stop hand feeding them and let their mother feed them since you say they are still suckling. As long as they are getting adequate amounts of milk from the mother THEY WONT STARVE OR DEHYDRATE.


Leave them to suckling until at least 6 weeks.





If you are unable to take care of mother and pups properly you should think of taking them all (mother included) to a local animal shelter or resuce group who can take care of them properly. If you can take care of them wait til they are about 6 weeks and start weaning them.





best of luck.





Added on 03/11: I know from personal experience that hand feeding a dog dry food will make them dependent on you. They learn that you are going to feed it to them and when you just stop and put it in a bowl they are VERY CONFUSED. My dog nearly died because she was hand feed as a pup(she was rejected by her mom) and wouldn't eat from a bowl when we tried to get her too. If you do feel like hand feeding them dry food it will be a hard long road to get them to eat out of a bowl later on.


Also, DO NOT put a water dish down for pups that small. They can drown. Try using a water bottle like you would use for a gerbile or guniea pig. :)
Reply:Their digestive systems are not set up for solid foods yet. You should wait a couple more weeks before introducing solid foods, and then it should be puppy food.
Reply:Way too early.





If they are large pups, start weaning at 5-6 weeks, and have them fully weaned by 8-10 weeks. Later is always better than early when it comes to weaning off mom.





If they are small breed pups, start weaning at 6-7 weeks and have them weaned by 10-12 weeks.
Reply:Yes you can go ahead and start introducing them to solid foods. Basically once they get their teeth in, they are ready to eat food. It's good to still let mom feed them if she will, let her feed them first and then offer them dogfood. That way they get the benefit of her milk, and still have something more if they are still hungry. Waiting 6-8 weeks to start offering food is ridiculous, they most definately can eat food and digest it properly at this point. They will likely start to drink your water you are offering them, once they start to eat the food, they will need more moisture and will naturally check out the water. If you think they aren't getting enough moisture, sprinkle a little big of powdered milk into the water dish and swish it around, it will peak their interest.





The person who told you not to feed from your hand or from a syringe is wrong, they will NOT become dependant on you to feed them that way at all..