# 4 week old puppy questions



## c1chelle

I have been active in the growth of my future GS puppy and have a few questions. This is the first litter for the current owners. They are not official breeders, but have both parents which are pure GSD. They have been told by the vet that the puppies need dry puppy food at 4 weeks. Does anyone know the best time to have the puppies stop nursing? Four weeks sounds young. My puppy is the smallest and I just want to do the best for her health. 

Also, there is the 7 in 1 shots available at a local Co-op market. It includes parvo type 2, hepatitis, Influenza, Lepto, Distemper, adino type 1, and 2. They said you give these 4 times starting at 6 weeks. Are these the same run of shots the vet gives? 

Any other advise or suggestions are much welcomed.
Thanks, Chelle


----------



## Andaka

While I would start 3-4 week old puppies on solid food, i would not just put them directly on dry food. I would take a milk replacer and mix it with human baby cereal, or the dry puppy food can be ground fine and mixed with the milk replacer. I would start with it pretty runny so that the puppies learn to lap from the dish, and as they get better at lapping, the gruel can be made thicker. By the time the puppies are about 5-6 weeks old they can begin to eat the dry food soaked in warm water to make it soft. As they master eating, the food can be soaked less so that by the time they go home, the puppies are eating dry food. There has been much discussion about whether GSD puppies should be fed puppy food or adult, but I use puppy food until they are 6 months old.

As for the shots, I would check out Pet Supplies | Dog & Cat Supplies, Pet Meds | DrsFosterSmith.com Pet Products for a shot schedule recommendation.


----------



## Lauri & The Gang

Weaning

I let the bitch decide when she's finished nursing the pups. I DO take them off her one week before they are to go to their new homes - just so that they don't have that added stress when they leave.

Vaccines

I follow Dr. Dodds vaccine protocol: W Jean Dodds Vaccine Protocol VACCINATION PROTOCOLS


----------



## lhczth

I start supplemental feeding when my puppies start acting like they need more food (depends on size of litter, but usually around 4 weeks). I wean when mom is ready to wean. 

I would be careful buying vaccines from a co-op. Hard to know if they have been kept well refrigerated or had proper handling.


----------



## selzer

At four weeks, I use hot water and kibble and let the kibble soak as the water cools a little, and put it down for the pups. Mom is present and she usually helps them finish it. She continues to provide milk. 

Mom starts staying away from them more and more. By eight weeks, she may play with them some, but she generally is out of the picture. 

By then the pups are usually eating dry kibble with water available.


----------



## Rerun

Hi there. I am not a breeder but have fostered pups that age. This is my first time fostering young pups that still have their mother though. What we are doing is giving the pups a little bit of canned puppy food, and adding hot water to it to moisten it up and warm it up from fridge temp. Then they work on that while mom gets a short break from the pups (potty break, playtime, etc). We have only had them a few days, but they are believed to be approx. 4 weeks old and they are doing well on their canned food.

However, the bulk of their nutrition still comes from mom and we plan to leave them with her until they are 8 weeks of age. They will be weaned more and more off her as time goes on, with slightly longer breaks away from her, starting at around 6 weeks. However, still permitted to nurse until 8 weeks.

Mom is given free choice (monitored/measured) dry food and the pups do play in it a little, chewing on it and working it around their mouths. It's puppy food so the kibble size is smaller. I can't tell if they are actually eating it at all. If they are, it is perhaps one piece each once in awhile. I would not offer only dry food at this point, although you could certainly offered dry food soaked/softened in water.


----------



## cliffson1

At 3 to 4 weeks I usually start them on a meat gruel, mixed with instant milk, and continue mother feeding ,for antibody protection. The gruel will increase in texture as I see all the pups have got the swing of things.


----------



## Doc

I use baby rice cereal, Goats milk and warm water and make a gruel for three days. The finely ground kibble, less baby cereal, warm water and Goats milk; eventually replacing the cereal with grounded kibble and Goats milk and water. Slowly reduce the Goats milk, then slowly reduce the water until they are eating dry or semi moist kibble.


----------



## White German Shepherd

I read that you have to keep them on it until 6 weeks of age max


----------



## silly34

We usually recommend to start offering softened food at 4 weeks, but pups generally aren't fully weaned until at least 6 weeks.

Be careful about giving your own vaccines, especially ones as important as their puppy series. I've seen MANY dogs die from parvo after having 7-in-1 or 5-in-1 shots from the co-op/breeder. In fact, I saw 3 in the past 2 weeks that had parvo after co-op vaccines, and only one survived (that case was caught extremely early in a large, otherwise healthy pup, and the people had the money to hospitalize it vs. outpatient treatment).

Is it really worth risking parvo to save a few dollars? Yes, they can get parvo after vet-given vaccines, but the instances are MUCH lower. The only case I saw was likely infected before vaccination, just not showing symptoms yet. 

GL with your new puppy, and PLEASE let a vet vaccinate a full series of 4 vaccines!


----------

