Do any of you have tricks to tightening up milk bar area after weaning? Also wondering if quicker wean vs. slow wean over several weaks makes a difference to how milk bar area looks in the end. Thanks.

Exercise! But my personal experience is that some bitches just tighten up more than others.

Weaning at 3 - 4 weeks helps a TON! It takes the full week of slow weaning and then nada. At the end of the week, she may be in only one time the whole day at night on the last day.. Mom gets a fast and decreased oral intake for 48 hours and then she is done. My girls look like they can walk right back in the ring and not know they had puppies.

I begin weaning my girls at 3.5 to 4 weeks and I'm done at 6.5 weeks. Less food daily done slowly, more exercise and swimming as much as possible. After 6 weeks I swim my bitch, weather permitting perferrably in a pool. I rinse her lots after with clear water, towel dry then blow dry and don't let her near pups until she's 100% dry. I try not to allow them to nurse at all after 6.5 weeks.

Swimming is the best form of exercise to tighten those muscles and slow weaning helps too. Not sudden, it's no good for the girl or the pups.

I don't believe in total weaning at 3 to 4 weeks. It's entirely too early for everyone.

we also begin weaning at 3.5-4 weeks with 3 mush meals a day, this helps with litter box training. I know there are dams out there that are members of the La Lecha league that will nurse until the pups are grown but the teats would never recover after that. Our mom's don't even what to nurse them after the teeth come in. They are all excited about going in to clean the empty bowls and the pups but then she wants out again. She will stand to nurse, but I can tell by her expression " get me out of here" Over the next week to 2 her food is cut back, nursing time is shortened and limited during the day but she will spend the night in the pen with the pups for about another week. By 5-6 weeks she is done. She drys up quickly on her normal ration and no nursing and at 4-5 month after the litter she is back to normal and tucked up. I can't see that it has had any negative affect on the pups at all and the dam will be recovered more quickly, especially after a big litter. We have girls that love to play with the pups in mom's place for socializtion and lessons.
s

My puppies start having the opportunity to munch on kibble at about 3 weeks. The more kibble they eat the less they need to nurse. Mom will still want to be with them and she is given free opportunity to nurse. By 5 weeks, mom only wants in twice a day as the puppies are eating more and more kibble . By 6 wks she'll be asking to be let off maternity duty. At this point I cut back on her meals and let her reunite with her big buddies in the backyard. Once she's no longer nursing, she's taken off the property for walks everyday. This seems to work for us. I do believe that some bitches tuck up faster than others so it's also a bit of good fortune.

Some 25+ years ago a then long time breeder told us how to wean. Food & stimulation is what creates milk. To wean, we withhold food for a full 24 hours (not water), during which time keeping a close eye on how engorged she may get. We allow the puppies to nurse just long enough to get the pressure off. Remember, stimulation creates milk. The first day after fasting she is fed 1/4 cup. Nothing more. Again, allowing puppies to nurse briefly as needed. We increase the mom's food each day by 1/4 cup until she is back to her normal ration. This method absolutely works and most bitches tighten up without any fabbies. We start this process at 5 weeks. The bitch will be very hungry and you have to be diligent to be sure she doesn't get any food from anywhere. This method does work and it's not cruel to the bitch. It's the first two days that really trigger the drying up process.

I don't wean my puppies, my bitches do. I do nothing by way of cutting food or removing her contact from puppies.

At 9 weeks when my puppies go home, some get a snack before they leave, and there's never been trouble.

I've also never had a saggy girl. Wonder if there's some correlation.