A quick question i cant find on search

[tiamaria]

at what age do puppies stop taking milk from their mother?

[KellyS]

Theres no hard and fast rules but usually they can start to be gradually weaned from 3-4 weeks of age..

[tiamaria]

Then dont they have anymore milk from their mother?

[Helen]

thats when weaning start - most pups are fully weaned by 7 weeks 

[KellyS]

They have a bit of both to start with and then gradually they will suckle less and eat more solids until they are fully weaned.

[tiamaria]

I was just concerned with Charley leaving his mum so early.  6 weeks old he was - what do you think?

[spanielcrazy]

My girls usually self weaned their puppies around 4-5 weeks. Once the little needle teeth came in, they'd had enough! 

[KellyS]

Yes it is far to early but not from a feeding point of view as he should be self sufficient at this age but he will have missed out on the further development stage pups go through - playing and interacting with litter mates, bite inhabition etc  

[tiamaria]

Yes it is far to early but not from a feeding point of view as he should be self sufficient at this age but he will have missed out on the further development stage pups go through - playing and interacting with litter mates, bite inhabition etc 

Yes others have said - it was just a question going around in my head that i needed answering.  The other is - if she lied about his age, then what else has she lied about? 

[KellyS]

Yes true, but all you can do is do the best you can by him now he is with you...

[Coco]

I know it's no consolation but years ago 6 weeks was thought an ok age to let pups go. If you find books from the 70s, they suggest 6 weeks. So now we know better but the point is that a whole generation of dogs were the same as yours so it can be overcome.
Try not to worry else, if you're anything like me, you'l lsee 'normal' things and worry that it could be something much worse because of the circumstances 

[bluegirl]

I'd say the same as others 3-4 weeks is the normal weaning age and once the pups are taking solid food they do not need their mothers milk. Some mothers or pups are reluctant to finish taking milk at such an age and will continue or actively pester mum for milk.
Personally I feed pups up to 4 mths of age 4 meals a day and 2 of them consist of milk ( one just milk and one milky cereal) you can use puppy milk, goats milk or cows (if refridgerated let it warm to room temp before giving it to them), but again that is also debatable by some people. It works for me and the pups are happy with it. If the pup brings up a bit of phelgm after milk you can start to add a teaspoon of honey to it as this will stop that problem.

[tiamaria]

Thanks - with everything thats gone on, it was a just a question that was niggling at me. Thanks for all your answers