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I have tried everything I've seen on line to dry up the mother dog. The pups are weaned and on dry puppy food but the mom continues to lactate. Have cut back food and water, etc. and nothing seems to work. She is extremely skinney and hate to cut out all food/water for 2 days like some sites say. Pups are 6 weeks old, nine of them. Mom is so skinney ribs sticking out. Any suggestions?

OK, I'm confoozled.

These pups are awfully young to have been pulled off mom, and since she's still producing milk I'm not sure WHY you did it? Is it because she seems so thin?

One thing I've learned in almost 20 years of naturally rearing puppies: When something isn't right with a nursing mom dog, supplement MOM, don't pull the puppies!

Many breeders start pulling the puppies off the bitch at 3 weeks of age. Some puppies are fully weaned by 4 weeks old - this is called "force weaning." My bitches routinely nurse their puppies until 12 weeks of age, and I have never had to lift a finger to wean a puppy. Mama does it when she's good and ready. And deerhounds are big dogs, too, and have big litters most of the time.

Donald Strombeck DVM PhD is a professor of veterinary gastroenterology at UC Davis, and author of the basic veterinary text on gastroenterology, Strombeck's Small Animal Gastroenterology. (And is there a prize for using the word "gastroenterology" most times in a post?). He has written extensively about what he has called an epidemic of improper weaning of kittens and puppies ... too young, and too many foreign proteins all at once.

He is adamant that even ONE MOUTHFUL of anything other than mother's milk before the puppies are around six weeks of age, when the canine gastrointestinal mucosal barrier is mature, will irreversably damage the intestinal microbial balance, which cannot ever be restored, and that the potential exists for doing permanent damage to the immune system of the dog or cat. He blames many of the common health problems dogs and cats experience on this.

I used to wean my puppies onto raw goat's milk, soaked oats, chamomile tea and probiotics, at 4 weeks. I now wean onto meat alone, at 6 weeks.

I feed my bitches on raw meat, organs, and bones (grass fed mostly, although the rabbit I get is raised on alfalfa pellets), raw goat's milk, herbs that support lactation, raw eggs, cooked sweet potatoes with raw butter, molasses, raw honey, raw cheese, yogurt, cod liver oil, fish oil, cooked sardines and salmon (canned, with the bones), and various other foods in small amounts. Beeders I know who feed kibble tell me their bitches are drying up at 3 and a half weeks. They start feeding the puppies. I feed my bitch. It is unbelievable how much a bitch with a big growing litter can eat. It boggles the mind. I've had bitches of 80 pounds who could put away two gallons of goat's milk in a day. On top of all their other food.

I have also seen a lot of breeders assure me that their bitches would have to be hogtied to nurse their puppies much past 4 weeks, and they start feeding them because otherwise the pups would starve. This is obviously completely insane. I wouldn't have a bitch like that in my breeding program, and I'm sure there is a genetic component there, but I also firmly believe that their bitches are failing at lactation because of bad diet. And that you can often restore abundant and normal canine lactation patterns by improving both the composition and the AMOUNT of the diet of the bitch.

So my advice to you, after all that long tirade, LOL, is do NOT try to dry up your bitch, put her with your puppies and let them keep nursing, and FEED HER! If you are feeding kibble, give her puppy kibble, and supplement it with eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, meat, butter, cod liver oil, sardines, and cheese. If the bitch is pulled down, pull her up with proper nutrition. Her puppies will benefit from it, and you won't have to worry about "drying her up," because nature will take care of that at the proper time. You should be pleased and proud and happy to have a bitch with such great milk production, that even when undernourished and exhausted her body keeps it up. Imagine how she'll do when she's getting abundant, top-notch nutrition!
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Christie Keith
Caber Feidh Scottish Deerhounds
Holistic Husbandry since 1986
www.caberfeidh.com/
Dogged Blog

Chritsy,

I'm with you. I let my MOTHERs decide when to wean. Additionally, my pups, when they're ready, usually around 5 to 6 weeks, begin nosing in Mom's food dish and start eating what she's eating. By the time they ARE weaned they're eating normal foods... no second weanings here.

Also, my moms are never thin when they've finished whelping and nursing a litter. I prefer that they go into this a bit heavier than even my vet would like, but he has to admit, my girls aren't thin when they're finished with a litter, and they have no whelping problems.

When I have a pregnant mom, I feed her all that she wants to eat, as often as she feels she needs it. Nature's way is the BEST way in my opinion.
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PH SmDog

Under "normal" circumstances I would probably agree with you both. However, I'm not a breeder..just a mom who's daughter was in a serious auto accident & it's her dog that got nailed by a stray. I drove 7 states to bring this dog & her pups back. I have 3 dogs of my own, now I have 12. I need to find homes for these pups or my husband says they go to the pound plus the county ordinance here is that you can only have 4 dogs max. I was just trying to be a helpful mother taking on this responsibility. I looked for info on the net and that is where I got the advice on weaning, etc. So...please don't be so judgemental. I was just trying to help my daughter, the mother dog and try to insure a proper home for the pups instead of the pound. Thanks.

I'm sorry you have such a tough situation. You can see why anyone reading your post would assume, though, that you were a breeder - and actually, my advice is the same. Feed the bitch, let the puppies keep nursing. It will be better for her and better for them, too. The healthier and better they are, the healthier they'll be when they go to their new homes.

However, several days have passed and perhaps the situation has taken care of itself.

I echo Chelle's advice. Breed rescue will help you with these pups. Even if they are not purebred, you can probably get help from a rescue group, although I know a lot of folks are very busy with Katrina rescues right now.

I'm assuming these are boxers? Here is a link to boxer rescue:

www.americanboxerrescue.org/

There are many local boxer rescue groups too ... but that is the national organization and they can probably refer you to local groups.

Good luck!
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Christie Keith
Caber Feidh Scottish Deerhounds
Holistic Husbandry since 1986
www.caberfeidh.com/
Dogged Blog

I so much appreciated your kind response. She refused to nurse at one point. The pups are gone. Neighbor has one...brought it over to nurse when full but she wouldn't have anything to do with it but "play time". She had started drying and then started producing again without nursing. The pups were all on the point of dry food and water. I got the pup next door for a couple of days but didn't know if that was a good idea or not. But, thanks again for your kindness. As I said this is new to me and was just looking for some answers to help her.

I'm glad you found homes for all of the pups. Sorry to read of the accident your daughter was in. Hope she wasn't seriously hurt and recovers quickly. Maybe your daughter would want to have her dog spayed now that she has had pups. In the longterm health of the dog because of cancer risks it would be for the best. Good Luck to everyone!
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

I'm sorry you are in such a horrible position. Maybe you want to ask a rescue group to help out. Purebred rescue groups are not like typical dog pounds. They have some truely remarkable people that help out and may help foster the mom and pups until things get more normal in your home. Just a thought. Good luck.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles