Introducing solid food
ChaCha’s pups are 3 1/2 weeks old. We introduced them to solid food last week. Tango (black, white, with a little tan), was showing all the right readiness, except his eyes weren’t quite open. So, I fed him pate from my finger. He loved it!
The other 2 pups were introduced to yummy canned puppy food a few days later, as they showed appropriate mobility, eyes open, a certain cry that told me that mom’s milk wasn’t quite enough.
Over the years (15 or so), I’ve fed different kinds of food – ground kibble + milk replacer, homemde meat + veggies + milk replacer, ground kibble + canned, canned + milk replacer – and what I’ve found is that canned puppy pate works best for us.
I’ve also tried all kinds of delivery methods. Usually, I introduce pate on my finger tips and the pups that are ready, eagerly lap it up. With large litters, this can be a challenge. I also make sure that there’s more food offered, than they can possibly eat. This is the start of our anti resource guarding protocols.
I’ve tried shallow plates, large cookie sheets (so great for those 10 or 11 puppy litters!). I thought that the proximity of the pups to each other, sort of simulated what happens when they’re nursing. With the previous litter of 6, I started with the large cookie sheet, but within just 3 days, I transitioned them to individual bowls. I always made sure there were more bowls than puppies so that they could switch around if they wanted.
As I’m constantly learning, I had a lightbulb moment with ChaCha’s 3 pups. When the puppies nurse, they lie flat on their stomachs, front paws on mom’s belly, looking up or straight ahead. There’s always a transition period for puppies when they eat solid food – they have to focus on getting their heads down into the bowl or onto the cookie sheet. For these pups, I tilted their individual bowls against the side of the baby pool to simulate their nursing position. OMG, gave changer! They were so focused. They never even thought about switching bowls!
And finally, they’ve graduated out of the baby pool. The enclosure is for sleeping, with a separate potty area, and eating happens on a towel (new surface), with rolled up towel elevating one side of the bowl. I’ve never had such organized, focused puppies!