I think the conditions these pups are being raised in is horrible...in a garage,alone,cedar shavings,heat
OH MY!! I have been raised with dogs my entire life dad raised dogs,grandparents here and in England raised dogs they all believed mom should have a big part in deciding when and how the pups should be weaned BUT there are exceptions My dad had a dobie bitch that refused to have anything to do with her pups once they were three weeks old...she would play with them protect them and such but she would NOT feed or clean them from age 3 wks to 4 wks she would barf food for them ewww and my dad would feed them gruel,if she was made to nurse them she would snarl at them,now I know this all may sound awful beacause the pups were so young being 3-4 weeks but the pups did not seem to suffer at all from it they grew well and were all very haelthy and Bella never lost a pup they all survived and were well adjusted...my grandparents also had a 2 females that were a bit odd one Grace would feed her pups FOREVER!!! and she tried to clean their poop till they went home at 12 weeks,they allowed her to wean her pups herself on her last littter and she ended up nursing them till they were nearly 12 weeks which at that time they nearly lost mom due to calcium defficiency,with prior litters they always started a weaning schedule with this female because they feared her getting ill and their vet said they should not allow her to give such constant care after 4-5 weeks old...his theory in the wild wolves have to leave to hunt for hours at a time and the young are left in a den and they are ok.....the other female they had Lady only had 2 litters both which she decided not to care for after the pups reached nearly 2 weeks old,the first litter they thought maybe she was a new mom and unsure what to do so they had set feeding times where they sat with her every 2-4 hrs round the clock to feed her pups,after the second litter of her not wanting to feed the pups she was spayed...some say it depends on how good the dogs mom was wether her pups will be good parents well that is not true....Lady was a daughter from Graces last litter....I have a Pit bull that I bottle fed from 11 days old that was a foster mom to abandoned kittens,puppies and even raccoons and she was a great mom and she only knew her mom for 11 days and in that time most of her siblings were killed by her mom and dad(long story,back yard breeder with dogs in a shed)......well what I am saying is some dogs will wean at a younger age and still be fine and some dogs need help weaning pups...BUT all females should have access to their pups...if they are on a weaning schedule then mom should be able to still see and sniff them thru a gate,crate or something similiar....yo
ur MIL pups do appear to be a healthy weight.....as for solid hard food each litter is different 5 week old Dobie pups dont generally have trouble chewing a hard meal as they do have a good amount of teeth showing by then some breeds such as Bostons,Pugs need more time with soft food....I would prefer a mix of soft and hard foods to ensure they are eating enough with the soft but to give them a chance to chew and help teeth with harder food with SMALL bits depending on the individual litter....you really need to judge feeding individually from litter/breed...living conditions should always be clean in a temprature controled enviroment in an area which allows interaction and socilization..
..but some people think differently!!