I have my first litter on the ground and they are 3 1/2 weeks old.... all is going very well. They are eating gruel twice a day and Ciara nurses them regularly...not real often but regularly. She has 8 working faucets and 7 pups so as big as these puppies are I can not tell who is latched on where. She has one teet that seems to be filling up quicker and the puppies then don't nurse it because it is so full therefore I have been making sure it gets nursed well as it is obvious there are times it has been quite full and a tad tender...it even seems like there may be a little swelling. It is not red or inflamed and Ciara is eating well. I do worry about mastitis though. Can anyone give me any tips of what to do in this situation as well as what has worked for you in this sort of situation and when weaning a litter...or if you let the bitch wean then herself...how do you avoid mastitis. I have read many articles but we all know wisdom and experience tends to be best. Please share...I appreciate it.

I have girls who just LOVE to make milk...so I have to step in and help them wean or else the inevitably get mastitis and wind up on antibiotics. Well, I was hell bent on my mama NOT getting mastitis with our last litter. I finally was successful! I focused on a controlled amount of nursing once all pups were eating well on their own. From 51/2 weeks old, I took over the nursing schedule an limited the amount of time mom spent in the box. Each day or two, I would shorten the duration of each nursing session...it is best done if pups are allowed to nurse just a short time after they eat on their own...then they are not as hungry and don't suck mom dry as fast. I also cut mom's food way back at the same time. So, the demand for milk is gradually declined and the food is gradually declined THEN the production of milk is gradually declined. I found that if I do not step in and help, mom keeps on nursing throughout teething and everything...mom starts seeing the pups as "teet pressure releasers" and she will continue to let them nurse and produce even more milk.

A sidenote...i have heard and even did try myself (and it helped) that compresses with cabbage leaves on the teets help to dry up milk....google it...and see.

I think the key is not "advoidance" but "vigilance." Mastitis is not all that bad if you catch it early. It is easily treatable.

Every day, maybe twice a day, check each breast. It can be full. It should not be hard or hot. It you detect a problem, call you vet for antibiotics.

villigence is a good philosophy...but know that mastitis can come on pretty quickly...

if you suspect mastitis and catch it early you can put mom on Clavamox without interfereing with her milk, so my vet says. the pups can contiue nursing while on the clavox to clear up the infection. but he does susgest weaning the pups soon so the milk doesn't keep building up.

In all the years I have bred dogs I have never had Mastitis. What I do is the day the babies start on food I cut mom's food intake in half. Mom's water is intake is controlled.(she needs food and water to make milk) I find this way as the babies learn to eat food and their demand starts to decrease so does her milk. By the time the babies are eating the food well and not needing mom much at all her milk is drying up. By the time babies are eating food well she has also been cut back to 3-4 visits with them a day for very short intervals, by this time mom is also more than willing to stay away from them and visit over the box. This has worked for many years, weaning is an easy transition for both babies and mom.

I have a question to add to this. The dam of my last litter got mastitis. We caught it early, treated it and she's fine. But I'd like to avoid it with my current litter's momma if I can. My question revolves around the decrease in mom's food. My current mom is very skinny. I have her on puppy food and satin balls to try to put some weight on her, but nursing 8 puppies seems to negate all that effort. I always switch my girls back to their regular adult food when weaning begins and I will do that with this girl as well. But my concern is that she will lose even more weight. What is the best course of action in this case? Decrease food and hope that the decrease in nursing balances that out?

I would supplement her with Red-Cell, comes in a gallon jug labled for horses, sometimes weight loss is a sign of a deficiency and not allowing her to process food correctly, just put it on her food and soak it with water. You didn't say how old the puppies are.

My puppies are 3 1/2 weeks old. They are still nursing all the time, I haven't started them on gruel yet. I plan to start doing that this weekend. My girl is producing plenty of milk, the puppies are all fat and healthy. I just can't seem to put any weight on her.

Keep food available for the mom at all times. I have had girls with 10-11 pup litters consume up to 20 cups a day. Lots of poop. Some loose stools, but healthy fit moms.

You only need to decrease her food for a week or so. Once the milk dries up and she is no longer feeding the pups you will be able to up her food to put weight on. Food intake decreased short term.

Have you wormed her? You will be amazed at what just worming her can do, also she will put weight on when the pups come off her.

Same here.

but what about getting mastitis before puppies are leaned, like 1.5-2week old this has happened to me , anyone else???

oooooops.
I meant Weaned, not leaned.........LOL

Thanks for all your awesome advice. I do believe I was worrying over nothing as she is pretty much taking matters into her own hands. I think I was just being paranoid about the mastitis thing. Things have been going so smoothly so I am just waiting for something not so good to rear its ugly head...but I am going to go with the flow. You are all awesome here and it is wonderful to get such good advice.