my dog daisylulu

Question
my dog just had 8 puppies, she just fed them & her nipples are leaking milk  do you think her nipples are engorged is this normal ?? She also seems like she wants to get away from them & she leaves the room.They all have opened thire eyes & are walking & barking when they all go after her she seems overwhelmed & wants to run out of the room... What can I do to help her...When do they start puppy food... thanks for all your help...

Answer
It would help if you had said exactly how old the puppies are. I would hold her so that they can nurse off of her at least four times a day. With a large litter, I usually start weaning them a bit earlier than I might with a smaller litter. At three (or four) weeks, I usually give them a bit of Gerber Strained Chicken on a spoon, and let them lick it off. The following week I start weaning in earnest.

I have fixed weaning food a couple different ways. If their teeth haven't started coming in yet, I grind up their kibble in a blender so that it is a powder. I mix up some baby rice cereal with some Just Born Milk Replacer and some Gerber Strained Chicken, and to that I add a very small amount of the ground kibble. Each day there is more kibble and less rice cereal (and the chicken is eliminated), and the milk replacer is eventually replaced with warm water. When they are eating well (and some teeth are in), the glop of food is replaced with soaked kibble, and the water in that kibble is gradually lessened until they are eating the kibble dry (at about seven or eight weeks).

When I start seriously weaning at five weeks, the teeth are starting to come in, and I go straight to the soaked kibble. It is very soft, and they have no trouble eating it. I gradually eliminate the water as above.

Any food the puppies have left over, the bitch is allowed to finish, and I hold her (if necessary) so that they can nurse off of her after they have finished eating. I feed them three times a day during this time, and the bitch nurses them four times. I eventually cut down on their nursing until she is only giving them that last feeding before bedtime. Doing this gradually allows the bitch's milk to dry up painlessly.

By 8-9 weeks, after their first inoculation, and after eye exams by a veterinary ophthalmologist, the puppies should be ready to be placed.