# Mum leaving puppies during the night



## Tilldob

More advice needed please.At what age can mum leave puppies all night ?
We have started taking her out during the night for 3 hours and then taking her in to feed,she seems fine with this and so do the puppies 
Just wondered when we could extend this to 6 hours.Pups are now 25 days old and eating 3 meals a day.They are relentless with the feeding and feed regularly during the day.


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## kodakkuki

hi,
if the pups are seeming So keen to nurse i'd say it is likely because they aren't getting fed often enough; they are still at the age that they need little and often. imo she will be anxious to be away from hungry pups, but much less if they are content, so if you keep topping the pups up then they won't want to suckle as often, so as well as being able to spend more time away from them she will likely begin to play with them more...


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## rocco33

Tilldob said:


> More advice needed please.At what age can mum leave puppies all night ?
> We have started taking her out during the night for 3 hours and then taking her in to feed,she seems fine with this and so do the puppies
> Just wondered when we could extend this to 6 hours.Pups are now 25 days old and eating 3 meals a day.They are relentless with the feeding and feed regularly during the day.


I tend to leave it up to mum as to when she starts sleeping outside the whelping box and ensure she can get in and out as and when she wants. Can she come and go as she pleases? Even though you have started weaning, this is still a time for peak milk production. Is your girl getting plenty of fluids?


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## swarthy

Tilldob said:


> More advice needed please.At what age can mum leave puppies all night ?
> We have started taking her out during the night for 3 hours and then taking her in to feed,she seems fine with this and so do the puppies
> Just wondered when we could extend this to 6 hours.Pups are now 25 days old and eating 3 meals a day.They are relentless with the feeding and feed regularly during the day.


I never restrict mums access to her pups up to the day they start leaving for their new homes- even after they've been fully weaned onto 5 meals a day (reducing to 4 meals by 8 weeks).

My eldest girl was a superb mother - she didn't stop feeding them (and trying to clean up after them ) until all but my keeper were left.

In contrast, her daughter was as different as can be - I started weaning the pups at 2 weeks, and by four weeks, mum had little further interest in them except for dropping food she was given into the whelping box - but they had teeth and she didn't do pain (in fairness, she did have a rough labour with very chunky pups - physically when carrying them she gave them everything and didn't gain an ounce of weight anywhere else) - by 8 weeks she was pretty much "back to normal" - by 12 weeks, you would never have known she'd had a litter.

I guess everyone is different - but for me, if mum wants to go to the babies, and the babies are happy to suckle from her - then that's exactly what happens.


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## dexter

harry04 said:


> I tend to leave it up to mum as to when she starts sleeping outside the whelping box and ensure she can get in and out as and when she wants.


yeah me too  some don't want to leave them others can't wait to


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## porchpotty

The mum decides when. That happens naturally.


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## chaka

As others I leave it up to the bitch, making sure she can get away from the pups or go to them as suits her. By the time they are around 6/7 weeks the bitches rarely want to feed the pups, although I did have one who insisted on regurgitating food for her daughter (who we kept) until she was a few months old, we had to keep them apart for several hours after mum had been fed.


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## comfortcreature

Why are you encouraging mom to be away from the pups already? I would let mom decide what hours she wanted in/out.

Maybe spaniels are a bit different but I have witnessed three litters where moms happily continued to coax pups to nurse to 8 weeks even when those pups were on full meals . . . and then went on to let the keepers suckle until they were 12 weeks+ (which is why many in companion spaniels keep pups until 12 weeks of age).

CC


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## Tilldob

We certainly are not encouraging her to leave the pups at night.We are letting her decide what to do,i was just asking to make sure the pups would be ok missing a feed.The pups are 4 and a half weeks now and we are waking mum at 4 am to feed pups which she does quite happily,if we didnt wake her and she decided to leave them all night would the pups be ok? They are eating 4 meals a day now 2 milky meals eg.Porridge Rice pud,scrambled egg and 2 puppy food meals


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## swarthy

Tilldob said:


> We certainly are not encouraging her to leave the pups at night.We are letting her decide what to do,i was just asking to make sure the pups would be ok missing a feed.The pups are 4 and a half weeks now and we are waking mum at 4 am to feed pups which she does quite happily,if we didnt wake her and she decided to leave them all night would the pups be ok? They are eating 4 meals a day now 2 milky meals eg.Porridge Rice pud,scrambled egg and 2 puppy food meals


Why are you waking mum to feed them?  is it because the pups are waking in the middle of the night hungry?

Had it occurred to you that the diet they are on may not be adequate for their age and the amount of milk they are not getting from mum?

Mine get puppy food at every meal (5 a day) supplemented with rice pudding, chicken, beef, fish and anything else I can throw at them - if mum wants to feed them then she does when she wants to - In the same breath as I allow mum to decide when she stops feeding them - I certainly wouldn't wake her if they were crying for food in the middle of the night - I would take that to mean the pups aren't getting enough food intake during the day.

I give them their last meal at around midnight and they then sleep through until the morning (when usually one of my older dogs awakes and things everyone else should to.)

IME - a well fed content litter seldom cries for food.

As Dexter above pointed out - all mums are different - my last litter - by 4 weeks - mum wouldn't go near them - so the only food they got is what we gave them - by 12 weeks, you would never have known she'd had a litter.

Her mother OTOH - the remaining pups were still suckling at 11/12 weeks - there are some breeders who will argue that this is purely a "comfort" thing and actually a lot of bitches no longer have any milk to give at that stage (I know mine did the first time as she developed mastitis through engorged teats - so the babies were still getting plenty of milk from her - but every bitch is different.

I've seen my pups thing a boys bits are from feeding on - which does fall in with the "comfort" factor highlighted by other breeders.


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## kodakkuki

swarthy said:


> I've seen my pups thing a boys bits are from feeding on - which does fall in with the "comfort" factor highlighted by other breeders.


dexter came to live with us when missys first litter were 5ish weeks old- they'd never seen a boy dog before so naturally thought the dangly bit was for food- bambi got a little angry when nothing happened so started chewing :scared: and poor dexx just starred at me through the ordeal!!! thats when i knew he'd be the only boy for me!

(sorry- not helpful- but needed to share!!!!!)


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## swarthy

kodakkuki said:


> dexter came to live with us when missys first litter were 5ish weeks old- they'd never seen a boy dog before so naturally thought the dangly bit was for food- bambi got a little angry when nothing happened so started chewing :scared: and poor dexx just starred at me through the ordeal!!! thats when i knew he'd be the only boy for me!
> 
> (sorry- not helpful- but needed to share!!!!!)


PMSL - sorry - that is so funny

In my last litter we had 5 girls and one boy (we lost the other boy at a couple of weeks  )

But ALL the girls without exception used to (shall we say) "think he was mum" - he must have thought he'd been born into heaven lmao


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## Tilldob

swarthy said:


> Why are you waking mum to feed them?  is it because the pups are waking in the middle of the night hungry?
> 
> Had it occurred to you that the diet they are on may not be adequate for their age and the amount of milk they are not getting from mum?
> 
> Mine get puppy food at every meal (5 a day) supplemented with rice pudding, chicken, beef, fish and anything else I can throw at them - if mum wants to feed them then she does when she wants to - In the same breath as I allow mum to decide when she stops feeding them - I certainly wouldn't wake her if they were crying for food in the middle of the night - I would take that to mean the pups aren't getting enough food intake during the day.
> 
> I give them their last meal at around midnight and they then sleep through until the morning (when usually one of my older dogs awakes and things everyone else should to.)
> 
> IME - a well fed content litter seldom cries for food.
> 
> As Dexter above pointed out - all mums are different - my last litter - by 4 weeks - mum wouldn't go near them - so the only food they got is what we gave them - by 12 weeks, you would never have known she'd had a litter.
> 
> Her mother OTOH - the remaining pups were still suckling at 11/12 weeks - there are some breeders who will argue that this is purely a "comfort" thing and actually a lot of bitches no longer have any milk to give at that stage (I know mine did the first time as she developed mastitis through engorged teats - so the babies were still getting plenty of milk from her - but every bitch is different.
> 
> I've seen my pups thing a boys bits are from feeding on - which does fall in with the "comfort" factor highlighted by other breeders.


The pups arent crying during the night,I think my question has been misunderstood i am asking will the pups be ok if they dont get a feed during the night.They are having 4 good meals and not always eating up so its obvious they are getting enough,my concern was could they go 6 hours during the night without milk from mum


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## Phoenix85

If the pups and the mum are able to get to one another, tha pups will be able to suckle and feed from her should they need it.

During the day, allow her to move away from them *if she chooses to* but make sure she can get to them and don't remove her from them unless it is to walk her or let her out for a wee.

Also, why are you feeding them porridge and rice pudding etc? They are dogs, not humans. Dogs are not designed to eat grains or cereals. You really should be sticking to meat.


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## Tilldob

I feed a high end puppy food which contains Rice,dehulled oats,Pearl Barley along with Salmon and Chicken amongst other things.A Vet told me some time ago that cereals etc should be fed to dogs and would increase life expectancy.

Mum can access puppies any time of day and night she likes,she is choosing to stay away from pups during the night now and is also spending a lot less time with them during the day,visiting them to play and cuddle periodically.


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