feeding puppies?

Question
Our dog had puppies and she wont take care of them!So we've been feeding them puppie milk.We wanted to know what age we can start feeding them puppie food and what kind?
         Thanx bunches,
             Angela

Answer
Hi Angela;
I help mothers wean their puppies by putting some baby rice cereal in some formula at 4 weeks old, and feeding them that once a day.
I would think at four weeks they could be given that.
The rice cereal is what Pediatricians start babies on, because it is so easy on the digestive system.
At 5 weeks, you could put half rice cereal and half oatmeal and give them that, for a few days, then all oatmeal, and the other cereals in the Gerber's variety pack.
If you are feeding then with a bottle and they are not getting as much nourishment as you think they should be getting, you could put a tad of the cereal in the bottle of puppy milk, and make the holes bigger so they could nurse it through, but as soon as you can teach them to eat, at around three or four weeks, mix some pretty cereal soupy, with some of the puppy milk, and dip your finger in it, put it to their mouth, and when they are taking it from your finger, slowly move the finger closer to the dish,till you guide their little mouth into it.
expect a few times for them to get a little sniffed up their nose, but they can learn pretty fast.
As soon as they can eat it from a dish,m and have been eating all the cereals well, you can put some puppy chow in the cereal and get their tummy's ready for that. By 6 to 8 weeks, they should be able to eat the puppy chow.
Consult your Veterinarian too, to make sure he/she agrees with what I have told you.
That is the way i feed orphans, or help a mom to wean her litter without dragging her health down.
some of the rescues I have fostered have had litters.
Charlotte