Starting Puppies On Solid Food

When to start puppies on solid food is a really easy question to answer.

You do not need to decide when to start. The mother will show you when to start providing food for the growing pups.

For the first 3 weeks or so, the female will take care of all needs for her

pups. She will clean them, feed them and clean up after them. Once the puppies reach the age of 3-4 weeks they will have developed those really sharp puppy teeth making it uncomfortable for mama dog to nurse her brood.

Once the female starts to avoid the litter, and is not too keen on feeding them it is time to introduce some solid food.

Do not mix water into your kibble. Many start by mixing dry food with water to make it a bit soupy. This can be very risky.

Dry food very often contain molds due to the grain content. Adding water to the dry food can make the mold reproduce at an alarming rate. There are many deaths each year from dogs and cats being poisoned by mold from the dry pet food. Adding water will make an environment that the mold spores thrive in.

Much better is to use a high quality canned food. This canned food can be mixed with some water in order to make it a bit more soupy. We recommend Wellness, Nature's Variety and other brands containing no wheat corn, soy or byproducts.

The best diet for the growing pups is to feed a raw diet. The raw diet can be home made, or purchased frozen. A raw diet would best provide the nutritional needs of a fast growing puppy. Raw meat is the easiest transition for a puppy from mothers milk.

Breeders starting their puppies on raw food see healthy pups with excellent weight gains. Not to mention the ease on the digestive system when feeding raw food, no gas, bloating and diarrhea which often accompanies stating puppies on solid food.