Willow’s Adorable Three Week Old Puppies

Three Week Old Puppies

Willow’s beautiful three-week-old puppies have been progressing rapidly this week. The puppies are more aware of their surroundings and have begun interacting with their littermates during their short “awake” time. They have become quite noisy as they practice their vocalizing. The puppies still sleep for much of their day/night.

Puppy Culture Program

This week, the puppies were in the Transitional Period. We continued our ENS exercises, which cause tiny stresses, to benefit our puppies with greater tolerance to stress, greater resistance to disease, faster adrenal system, stronger heart rate and stronger heartbeat. Monday was Day 16 of the puppy’s life and the final day for our ENS exercises.

Critical Socialization Period (weeks 3 – 12)

The next period for Willow’s three-week-old puppies is Critical Socialization. We know that puppies have entered this period when they react to sounds. We raise our puppies following many of the Puppy Culture protocols. These protocols help us reach our goal of Raising Healthy, Calm, Confident, Well-Adjusted Puppies.

The puppies are socializated with children of all ages.

Over the remaining weeks, we will work on new experiences for the puppies, exposing them to as many as possible to raise the best possible companions for their forever families.

Emotional Intelligence

Because Goldendoodles are companion dogs, teaching emotional intelligence to young puppies and giving them a great start is essential. With this intention, we follow the following seven key things that will nurture a puppy’s emotional intelligence.

  1. Communication – giving a puppy his own voice i.e. Communication Trinity: power up clicker, box game, manding and attention/distraction protocols
  2. Emotional stability – the ability to recover easily from fear as well as stress i.e., startle recovery, barrier challenges etc
  3. Habituation – familiarize the puppies with the maximum number of things during their Critical Development Period. In particular, Puppy Parties, sound protocols, household noises as well as meeting different people and dogs.
  4. Enrichment – teach the puppies that novelty and challenges are opportunities for enrichment not things to be feared or avoided. For example, ongoing introduction of new novelty items, activity centre, car ride, outdoors, etc.
  5. Health – physical wellness and motor skills that will allow the puppy to develop in a neurologically and physically sound way . For instance, daily weight checks, grooming, proper nutrition, fecal checks, and deworming, if necessary, vet health checks and vaccinations)
  6. Skills – learned behaviors which teach the puppy to function in human society i.e. recall, manding, simple commands, potty box training, crate introduction, resource guarding, bite inhibition etc.
  7. Love – teach puppies to seek out the company of both dogs and humans as emotionally positive experiences: i.e., Daily cuddles with humans and puppy’s mom.
  8. Shaping emotional responses: happy and calm CER (Conditioned Emotional Responses). For instance, treats and encouragement during puppy training.

Door Panel Added

The puppies are becoming more mobile and exploring their whelping box. Our grey-collar boy wanted to see what was beyond the box and climbed out. Before anyone escaped, I had already added one panel to the entrance, but clearly, they needed the two panels. 

Potty Training Started

Something NEW – We are trying something new in our potty training – using grass instead of potty boxes with pine pellets. On day 17, we divided our whelping box into two zones. Play/sleep area with little bolster beds for the puppies and a potty area lined with potty pads. After the puppies wake, they leave their beds for the potty pads to relieve themselves. It is incredible how quickly they caught on. When we first added the beds to the whelping box, I often found the puppies sleeping on the one bed LOL! They are now starting to spread out.

After the puppies were going potty on the pads, we added grass trays to the potty area.

Next week we will add an addition to the whelping box. Their current whelping box will be their sleep and play area, and the new box will be used for their potty area.

Day Nineteen

The puppies are nineteen days old in this video.

Things to look for:

  • Hind legs are stronger as they walk upright
  • Puppies in the basket during cleaning time
  • Crawl on their mama and snuggle after eating
  • Beginning to interact with littermates by mouthing and wrestling
  • Checking out new potty grass

Three Weeks Old

In this video, we have a look at each puppy and their markings. Aren’t they so adorable!

Looking Ahead to Week Four

  • Puppies will still sleep much of the day/night as they continue to grow rapidly
  • Interact with littermates through play which will help develop important social skills
  • Practicing walking on all fours, strengthening their hind legs
  • Becoming steadier on their feet
  • Hearing will improve 
  • Puppy milk teeth will erupt
  • Potty box addition will be added to the whelping box
  • Puppies will be moving to the main floor towards the end of the week

Wow, Willow’s babies are two weeks old already

Willow’s puppies are now two weeks old. She is a great mama who lovingly and diligently cares for her babies. Newborn puppies spend ninety percent of their time sleeping and the other ten percent eating. 

The Transitional Period

Willow’s babies have entered the Transitional Period from day fourteen to twenty-one. Each litter is different and enters the next period, the Critical Socialization Period, when the puppies “first startle” at a sound.

Such a Good Mama

The puppies still need to be stimulated to void. During the next week, the puppies will begin to go potty on their own. We will introduce a sleep area and potty area to their whelping box.

Milestones

When raising puppies, we watch for Milestones to gauge the progress of our puppies. This week, Willow’s puppies reached two milestones.

Weigh-In

The first milestone the puppies reached this week was Doubling Their Birthweight. We are pleased to say that all Willow’s puppies have doubled their birth weight. Great job, Willow!

Eyes Opened

Day 11

Another milestone was reached later in the week – Eyes Opening. Puppy’s eyes open between day 10 and day 14. On day 11, I was excited to notice that Brown collar boy had opened his eyes. Over the next few days, all the puppies’ eyes opened. It is always so exciting when I see the puppies look back at me.

Looking Back at Week Two

The puppies spend their time eating and sleeping. Notice the puppies’ hind legs are getting stronger, and they are starting to walk on all four legs.


Looking Ahead to Week Three

  • ENS exercises will continue until day 16
  • Puppies will continue to eat and sleep for most of their day
  • Sight will become clearer
  • Ears will open, and they will begin to hear.
  • Puppies will practice walking on all four legs, strengthening their hind legs.
  • They will become more aware of their littermates and start to interact 
  • Puppies will start to vocalize

Willow’s Beautiful One Week Old Babies

Whelping Day

It is a day that is full of anticipation and awe. I have never tired of the miracle of birth and the instincts God has given animals. Friday, it looked like Willow may start labour. She refused her breakfast. I had even mixed wet dog food with her kibble—still nothing, a sign that her puppies were on their way. But I was confused because in the evening she ate all her dinner. 

We had an early night after a tiring week, and Willow again slept in her Whelping Box. I was awakened several times that night because Willow was restless and digging up her bedding.

In the morning, it was apparent Willow was in labour. She spent the morning going back and forth from the Whelping Box to the bed in our Whelping Room. 

Our first puppy arrived at 12:27 p.m., and over the next four hours, she delivered seven more puppies. I cleaned Willow and the Whelping Box and put fresh vet bedding in it. Then, Willow went outside for a potty break and returned to care for her newborns. 

After a three-hour whelping pause, Willow surprised us with a late arrival. She now had a litter of nine: three boys and six girls.

Breeding is not always joyful. During our many years of breeding, I have been blessed with an extremely low mortality rate. Unfortunately, sometimes, all the hours and extra care spent trying to save a fading puppy end in sadness. 

Goodbye to our sweet chocolate parti girl.


The Boys

The Girls

Settling into a Routine

Neonatal Period

Newborn puppies are in the Neonatal Period. During this time, they spend their days eating and sleeping.

Daily Weigh-in

Willow has done a fantastic job caring for her new babies. I have been pleased with our daily weigh-ins, and I’m happy to report that they have all been steadily gaining weight. 


Socialization

Part of raising well-adjusted puppies is socialization. We handle our puppies from birth. When our mamas are comfortable, we also let others cuddle the puppies. Willow was less tolerant than usual, with us holding her puppies, so we respected her wishes and held off for a few days. Only my daughter and I handled the puppies when necessary to clean the whelping box and for daily weight checks. I believe Willow’s over-protectiveness was due to losing her baby girl. Willow is now much more relaxed, which means more puppy cuddles.

ENS

On Tuesday, day three, we began our ENS exercises, which are done daily from day 3 to day 16. Through ENS, we introduce little stress to the puppies, which has been proven to produce calmer puppies. It also produces greater tolerance to stress, greater resistance to disease, a faster adrenal system, and stronger heart rates and heartbeats. 

Newborn Puppies just eat and sleep

ABOVE: Can you see the Blond Parti female trying to find a comfy spot to sleep?
BELOW: Sleeping puppies. Newborn puppies spend 90 percent of their time eating and sleeping – that’s almost 22 hours a day!

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK TWO

  • Much the same as week one – Eat, Sleep, Repeat!
  • Puppies will continue growing rapidly 
  • Puppies still crawl; hind legs will become stronger
  • Continue ENS
  • At the end of the week eyes should begin to open towards the end of the week – SO EXCITING!!!