When should a puppy be weaned off its mother's milk?
When should a puppy be weaned off its mother's milk?
/_res/mp3/07_weaning_puppies.mp3
Weaning is the process of teaching a puppy to eat solid food instead of its mother’s milk. Puppies can easily receive all their needed nutrition from mom at first, but growing up means they require more nourishment than she can provide.
Most veterinarians recommend that puppies be weaned sometime between three and seven weeks of age. But switching from mothers milk to dry puppy food all at once is a big change. So help your puppy ease into the new diet slowly. At first, crush a small amount of dry puppy food and mix it with milk, so the consistency is thin. Over the next several weeks, use less and less liquid so that the food becomes thicker. By week seven, the puppy should be able to eat dry puppy food.
– Dr. Larry McDaniel, DVM for the “Purina® Animal Instincts” Podcast Series