I have a 3 week old litter and mom prefers to be away from them and in the A/C when she is not nursing them.
They have been on mother's milk as well as gruel for 5 days... They are fed every 3-4 hours. At what age do you all get some sleep and leave them for 7-8 hours at night? I am exhausted!
At 3 wks of age, they should be able to be in the air conditioning as long as it is not blowing directly on them, especially with the mother to keep them warm. Trim their nails for her comfort. Move the litter. Then SHE can take care of them!
If it is too hot for mom, it is too hot for 3 week old pups. Put on the AC, and let mom be with them if she wants. As long as she is able to get away from them on her own. My pups have been in AC since they were born 5 weeks ago.
I've always pulled the moms from their babies as soon as the puppies turn 3 weeks old. That is when I can get a full night sleep without having to worry about the mom's laying on her pups...esp these first time moms.
With the exception of our current 3 week old Singlton, I have allowed Lola to have access to her puppy all night long. She can get away from her baby if she wants to, the way we have it set up.
If your 3 wk old puppies are in an area where it's too hot, freeze some litter bottles and put them in pillow cases and in with your puppies. They will snuggle up to them if they are too hot. Just don't fill the bottles up all the way or they will explode.
I've always pulled the moms from their babies as soon as the puppies turn 3 weeks old. That is when I can get a full night sleep without having to worry about the mom's laying on her pups...esp these first time moms
Thank-you. That is what I was wondering. At what age they can be expected to go 6-7 hours without feeding.
I have a litter-I did not stop night feedings until 4 weeks, then I fed a gruel meal at 11 pm and was back feeding at 4am-they are still just growing babies-but everyone does it different. Yes, you get tired but it only gets busier from here on out...
I think my last litter was in their pen full time around 4 or 4 1/2 weeks, without making mom be in there with them at night. We fed every 8 hours on the dot, and only mom for snacks until fully weaned. I went to bed at 8PM, husband woke me at 12 midnight for a feeding and back up at 6 AM to start again. The pups were fine alone overnight in the kitchen.
Once our pups reach 3 weeks old, they get fed 3 times a day ( mushy kibble ) and nurse off their mom 3 to 4 times a day during 3 wks to 4 wks then I wean them down to 2 nursings a day from 4 to 5 weeks then at 6 wks they get a morning nursing for a short stint and by 7 wks of age, the pups are fully weaned. Some times the pups will be out in the yard with their mom and try nursing. If the mom allows it, they get to nurse here and there until the pups go to their new homes. We've never had problems with mastitis by doing it this way. I sort of let the mom guide me as to wean to fully wean their pups off when they are older.
I put a baby monitor on them after sleeping next to them the first 3 nights. If they have a bumper rail, it is much safer. The first time moms are the worse for squashing pups, but with a baby monitor you should be able to sleep most nights all the way through without having to run to check a squealing pup.
