Another in a series of articles extracted from Barb Schaefer's recent

teleseminar to help explain and answer questions on the puppy weaning

process.

L: Well then, the next question I had was how - obviously the weaning is an

important growth step or transition for the puppies - I was wondering how

important is it to the mother of the litter to do the weaning appropriately

and correctly? How important is that to the mom, the mother dog?

Barb: Well here's something that most people don't understand. Most

people seem to think that giving birth to a litter of puppies is what takes

so much nutritionally and emotionally out of the mother. That's not

correct.

What really takes so much out of the mother, especially nutritionally, is

feeding all those puppies. So it's important that you start the weaning

process soon enough so that the mother is not damaged nutritionally but also

late enough that you're ensured that the puppies have the proper digestive

system so that they can digest kibble as opposed to mother's milk.

Because if the puppies are taking so much nutritionally out of the mother,

the mother can actually start to have weakness in her muscles, sore joints

and actually start limping, and have some deficiencies in her own diet.

L: Yeah, I've seen some mothers that look pretty shabby sometimes and and

you're saying that nursing all those puppies has really taken a lot out of

them.

Barb: Right. So one of the things that I cover in the Foolproof Puppy Weaning

System is how do you support the mother nutritionally during the time the

puppies cannot be eating anything but mothers' milk, plus how do you

continue that support during the transition of the puppies going from nursing

to the solid foods.

L: Ok, I see, great. So then weve talked a little bit about the different

size of the dogs, the different breeds and the fact that you cover the

nuances as far as what you need to do for a large breed vs. a toy breed for

example. What about the size of the litter? Does that have a play or an

impact in terms of the weaning process and the weaning schedule?

Barb: Yes, the size of the litter does impact the weaning schedule and not

how you might think.

Most people would sit here and think, "Oh, if I have a whole huge litter

and a bunch of puppies, that means I'm going to have to start the weaning

process sooner." That's not necessarily the case. The most common reason

for starting the weaning process early is when you have an orphan litter.

The time that you would start the weaning process maybe a little sooner is

when you have an orphaned litter and an orphaned litter is where either the

mother has passed away or the mother has lost her milk. Sometimes mothers

give birth and their milk never comes in. And so I help you through the steps

of starting the weaning process just a little bit sooner so we can make sure

those pups are getting all the nutrition that they need.

We'd love to hear from you! What did you think about this article? What

other puppy weaning process questions do you have?