When the pups are about 4 to 5 weeks old...The Breeder’s Job

By the time the puppies are around 4 to 5 weeks old, they are growing too fast to be satisfied with their mother's milk. The breeder begins to supplement his diet with a porridge soaked in meat or milk based on meat and grain or a commercially available puppy snack. Even if the pups eat solid foods, their mother will groom them several times a day. However, their milk supply will decrease and the pups will get bigger and hungrier. Usually mom will leave the den area immediately after nursing her pups. The breeder has safely placed a board above the entrance to the puppy corner. Mom can easily jump over this barrier, but it's too high for the pups to follow.

They run after their mother as she leaves, hoping for a little more of her sweet milk, but she disappears over the caution board. The puppies frustrated for a moment and then feel urgency in their bladders and intestines. The whole litter eliminated together. The pups then return to their sleeping nook for a few minutes to play before they all settle down for an after-dinner nap.
Once puppies start to eat solid foods, their mothers stop licking up their body waste. The puppies still need their mother to teach them important canine society rules and customs, but the breeder must now take care of their feeding and hygiene.

The breeder keeps the puppies clean and their living area hygienic through frequent and thorough cleaning. After planning this birth well in advance, the breeder saved the daily newspaper for several months and asked friends to save theirs for him too. He opens pieces of the clean newspaper and spreads them thickly from wall to wall in the puppy corner to pick up puppy piddles and spilled water.

The breeder watches the pups eliminate, then cleverly removes the soiled papers and replaces them with clean papers before they can return through their mess. He has carefully set up the puppy room so that bed, food and drinking water are as far away from the gate as possible. This way, if the pups follow their mother when she walks after breastfeeding, the pups will move away from their sleeping and eating areas before being eliminated. This will reinforce the dog's natural habit of keeping the inner cavity free of body debris. Once formed, this habit will help the pups easily accommodate themselves when they are incorporated into their permanent homes.