mother reluctant to nurse pups

Question
our puppies are almost 3 weeks old, they look healthy. the mother seems to be getting reluctant to nurse her pups, 8 of them. We have doubled the amount we feed her, she is still fairly skinny. Her breasts look fine. If it is a nutrition issue will she start to re-engage?

Answer
Tom, you should have increased her food intake just before she was due to have the puppies. Nursing takes a >>huge<< toll on a bitch, which is why she became skinny. Proper nutrition for a nursing mother is critical. What are you feeding her, how much, and what breed is she?

My question to you is how are the puppies doing? Do they cry a lot, or do they act like they are getting enough milk when they do nurse?

At three weeks of agee, it's fairly common for some mothers to start spending less and less time in the whelping box with the puppies. At this age, they are starting to be able to control their body temperatures on their own, so they don't need mom as much to keep them warm, and they don't have to eat quite as often. As long as the puppies are warm and healthy, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Have you dewormed them yet? If not, you need to. Get an appropriate dewormer from your vet, because certain kinds can kill puppies.

Have you started offering the puppies solid foods yet? If not, that's fine, but it's something you need to start thinking about. Bear in mind that they cannot chew hard kibble yet, so you will need to offer it to them moistened, or use canned food until they have learned to chew.