When Is the Best Time To Wean a Litter of Puppies?
Whether puppies are orphaned or with their mothers, weaning can generally begin between three and four weeks of age, and is ideally completed by about seven to eight weeks of age. Although it’s often unavoidable, especially in the case of orphaned dogs, it’s preferable to allow weaning to be a gradual process that occurs over several weeks. Puppies need time to learn important behaviors from their mother and littermates, including how to interpret signs of dominance, inhibit their own biting habits and submit to more dominant dogs. It is also preferable for the mother dog to slowly dry up her milk supply. Weaning can definitely be a stressful time for puppies and mother dogs and, whenever possible, should be a gradual and supervised process. How Do I Wean a Litter of Puppies? Start by separating the mother from her litter for a few hours at a time. While separated, introduce the puppies to eating from a pan. This time apart will reduce the pups’ dependency on their mother’s milk and ov
