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See How Much Our Four Week Olds Are Progressing

Four Weeks Old

Looking Back

This past week has been full of new experiences for Ellie’s puppies. They have progressed so much in that short period of time. 

Over the past seven days, the puppies’ milk teeth have erupted, their awake time has increased, their hind leg have become stronger and they are much steadier on their feet. Although the puppies still sleep much of the day, when they are awake they love socializing with their littermates through play. 

Time to Move to the Main Floor

GOOD-BYE

to the warm quiet space that the puppies have occupied since birth. 

HELLO

to the main floor, many noises of a busy household and many life lessons. 

moving to main floor

On Friday the puppies made the big move. We packed them into a laundry basket and brought them to the main floor. They were very vocal and tried to climb out of the basket on the way down.

Once there, I gave the puppies the challenge of trying to get to their mama. A few puppies climbed out and I helped the rest out of the basket. Ellie reassured her babies and fed them.

The puppy area has the Whelping Box in the centre, the potty box on one side and Ellie’s elevated bed on the other.

The puppies will only have access to the Whelping Box where they play and sleep and Potty Box that they will learn to move to to void.

Potty Training Begins

The puppies are now able to void without the help of their mother, so it is important to begin potty training. Because puppies have a natural instinct to move away from their sleeping area when they need to go, I want the puppies to begin learning “where to go” before they start on solids.

For the first few days after the puppy move to the main floor, I spend my time moving the puppies to the potty area when they wake and after they eat. It is important that puppies start learning that they cannot “go” anywhere. So, we teach them “there is an acceptable place to go potty”. Teaching them this at a young age will prevent them from developing bad habits that later need to be broken. This effort on our part will benefit forever families by making housebreaking easier for them when they go to their forever homes.

On the first day of of potty training, the puppies were curious and practiced going in and out of the box. We are making progress

The Potty Area is just outside the entrance to the whelping box. We use a plastic litter box filled with pine pellets.When the puppies were sleeping I walked by the whelping box and discovered that two puppies went to sleep in the potty box. 😂Lots of work to do before they start to “get it”.

We are making progress with each passing day
Puppy Party
Play Time

Discover New Things

This week the puppies had playtime outside their whelping box. This exercise will help develop strong muscles. Soon they will be running around.

Puppy Party – On Thursday my Grandchildren played with the puppies. This was great socialization for the puppies to interact with young children.

Play Time – Sunday the puppies explored the new area, toys and they experienced walking on a different floor surface.

The puppies love people. Whenever we sit in their whelping box, it doesn’t take long before we have a lap full of puppies who shower me with kisses.

🐾😘🐾

Weaning is beginning

Time for solids

Ellie is starting to nurse her puppies in the “Standing Position” This is the sign that she is ready to start weaning them. The puppies are ready to start eating solids.

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Lots to experience

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK FIVE

  • Puppies will start eating solids
  • Puppies will continue learning to use potty area
  • Awake time will increase
  • The puppies will continue to socialize with each other through play 
  • Balance will continue to improve and puppies will begin to run
  • Enlarging the puppy area
  • Crate introduction
  • Mama will now add the invaluable teaching phase to her caring & protecting responsibilities over the next weeks.
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Look At Our Beautiful Three Week Old Puppies

THREE WEEKS OLD

LOOKING BACK

Three weeks old already – how quickly time passes! This week Ellie’s puppies have been progressing rapidly. They continue to gain weight and grow bigger with each passing day. Their eyes are fully opened and vision is improving. Their ears have open and they are reacting to sound. The puppies’ hind legs have become much stronger and they are becoming steadier when walking. The puppies are aware of their surroundings and have begun to play with each other during their short “awake” time. They have become quite noisy as they practice their vocalizing. The puppies still sleep much of their day/night.

Puppies In Action

Ellie’s 3 week old puppies are becoming very vocal – we have a noisy whelping box! 😂
Playtime before lunch – this video shows the puppies interacting with each other.

Critical Socialization Period (weeks 3 – 12)

The puppies have started to react to sounds. When this happens, it is the sign that the puppies have entered the Critical Socialization Period. We raise our puppies following many of the Puppy Culture protocols. Following these protocols helps us reach our goal “To Raise Healthy, Calm, Confident, Well-Adjusted Puppies“. Over the remaining weeks we will be working on as many new experiences for the puppies.

Socializing puppies by exposing them to as many new experiences as possible while the puppy is young is only part of the process of Socialization. Our goal is to raise dogs that have the emotional intelligence to connect with you. Emotional intelligence can be taught to young puppies and is one of the goals of the Puppy Culture Program. There are 7 key things that will nurture the emotional intelligence of a puppy.

  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 – familiarity with the maximum number of things (Puppy Parties, sound protocols, household noises , meeting different people, dogs etc.)
  4. Enrichment – teach that novelty and challenges are opportunities for enrichment not things to be feared or avoided (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 (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)

Maui the Nanny

Our poodle Maui is almost two years old. She is a sweet gentle dog that loves to interact with our puppy litters. Maui has been waiting on the sidelines watching as Ellie cares for her puppies. Over the past few weeks I will find her peeking in the whelping box entrance or lying on the bed just watching the puppies.

Maui on the bed watching the puppies

A new experience for the puppies today

Today while Ellie was feeding her babies, Maui decided it was time to jump into action and begin interacting with the puppies. Ellie didn’t seem to mind. They were both in the whelping box together. When Ellie decided to leave, Maui stayed in the whelping box for a few more minutes until the all of the puppies had drifted off to sleep.

Great socialization – The puppies interact with another dog!

Sweet Dreams

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK FOUR

  • Puppies will still sleep much of the day/night as they continue to grow rapidly
  • Puppies will play with each other developing important social skills
  • Puppies hind legs will continue to become stronger as they walk more
  • Hearing will improve 
  • Puppy milk teeth will erupt
  • Puppies will be moving to the main floor towards the end of the week
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Ellie’s Puppies Turn Two Weeks Old

LOOKING BACK

Another week has passed, and Ellie’s puppies are now two weeks old. We have had a busy week caring for Ellie and her puppies! Lots to do: ENS, cleaning, weighing, collar checks to name a few. But my favourite is puppies cuddles. Ellie continues to be a loving and attentive mama. She is protective and loves to care for her babies!.

Watch our two week old puppies nursing. They have grown so much!

My family have been over for puppy visits and cuddles this week. The puppies are getting accustomed to different people holding them

Milestones Reached

This week, Ellie’s puppies reached a couple milestones.

Weigh-in

The first milestone reached this week was Doubling Their Birthweight. Large breed puppies usually double their birthweight between day 10 and day 14. Ellie’s reached this milestone early. Four of the puppies doubled on day eight and the other two puppies followed the next day, doubling their birthweight on day nine. With only six babies for Ellie to feed, the puppies get an abundance of milk. They are getting quite chubby.

Daily weigh-in

Eyes Opened

Another milestone was reach later in the week – Eyes Opening. Puppy’s eyes open between day 10 and day 14. I look forward to this milestone from whelping day. When I got up in the morning on day 10, I started checking the puppies every few hours to see if I could see any sign that their eyes were starting to open but to my disappointment, nothing seemed to be happening. Then came Day 12 – on Saturday I could see the puppies’ eyes beginning to open. It starts in the corners of their eyes and gradually unseals over many hours. It is always so exciting to see the puppies look back at me – I think they look more “alive”!

Red Collar Boy was the first puppy to open his eyes!

Puppy Twitches

Puppy Twitches are a sign of a healthy puppy. Watch the video of Purple Collar Girl sleeping and notice the  “Puppy Twitches” 

Look At Those Beautiful Eyes

The video below shows each puppy. Look at the beautiful eyes. Five of our puppies’ eyes have opened. We are still waiting to see Purple Collar Girls beautiful eyes. They should open soon.



Puppies Getting Stronger & Becoming More Mobile

The puppies have gained strength in the hind legs and are becoming more mobile. They are moving faster and a few of the puppies have started to climb out of their whelping box. So, we have added a door panel to our whelping box entrance to keep the puppies safely contained inside their box.

Orange collar box climbing out
We added a door panel to our whelping box to keep puppies safe inside
Watch Ellie and Brinkley’s two week old puppies trying to walk on all fours. They are not steady yet but practicing walking helps strengthen their hind legs. They will progress as the weeks pass, becoming steadier until they can run.

Transitional Period

The first 12 weeks of a puppy’s life are incredibly important. This is an almost magical time when a breeder has the power to change the outcome of a puppy’s life by what we choose to teach them. By doing just the right things at just the right time, we can give your puppy the best start possible.
Now that the puppies’ eyes have opened they have entered the Transitional Period. Every puppy is different so “Behavioural Markers” are used to identify the beginning and end of each developmental period. These timelines are simply guidelines. The transitional period begins when the puppy’s eyes open and ends when they first startle upon hearing sounds. 

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK THREE

  • ENS exercises will continue until day 16
  • Puppies will continue to eat and sleep most of their day
  • Puppies will continue growing 
  • Sight will slowly improve 
  • Puppies’ ears will open and they will begin to hear.
  • Puppies will practice walking on all fours, strengthening their hind legs
  • Puppies will become more aware and start to interact with their litter-mates
  • Puppies will start to vocalize
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Ellie’s Precious Puppies are One Week Old Today

LOOKING BACK 

Ellie’s precious puppies are one week old today. When raising puppies, our days are always busy, and each week has its own challenges. Whelping week (the first week) we care for our mama and her babies, keeping an eye to make sure all are doing well.

Puppy Care – It is also important to watch each puppy’s development and compare to littermates to confirm that the puppies are developing normally and meeting milestones. Some of our daily chores include:

  • Cleaning – Whelping box is regularly cleaned and disinfected.
  • Vet bedding is replaced with clean one.
  • Each puppy is weighed daily ,and a record is kept tracking their progress.
  • Puppy are handled and cuddled often throughout the day.
  • ENS is started on Day 3.
  • Always lots of laundry to be done

Mama Care – It is important our mama receives exceptional care both physically and emotionally Pre-Whelp as well as Post Whelp.

  • We feed our mama’s get high quality food, plenty of fresh water and, Special Postnatal Vitamins all of which help them recover quickly from the whelp.
  • To give Ellie the emotional support she needs, I spend most of my time keeping Ellie company in her whelping room. When she nurses, I often join her in her whelping box giving her pats and massages.
  • At night I sleep in the whelping room so that I can check on things during the night. 
  • Puppies just like human babies can sense their mothers’ emotions which will affect the newborns. A healthy, calm, lovingly well-cared-for mama in turn gets passed on to her puppies. This helps us obtain our goal – To Raise Healthy, Calm, Confident, Well-Adjusted Puppies!

❤️

Wonderful Mama

Ellie is truly a wonderful mama. She is devoted to her babies. Newborn puppies cannot regulate their own body temperature. They need a warm space, their mother, and littermates to help keep them warm. The first few days of the puppies’ lives, Ellie spent all her time in the whelping box with her babies, keeping them warm, clean, and making sure they nursed often.

The past few days Ellie has been spending more time away from her puppies in the yard for a little exercise and playing her favourite game fetch. This break from her puppies only lasts a short time. After a little exercise and playtime, Ellie wanted right back into the house, running upstairs to check on her babies. As the days pass, time away from her puppies will gradually increase.

Just outside the whelping box we place an elevated bed for Ellie to rest on. This allows Ellie her own space away from their puppies, but she can still keep a watchful eye on her babies.

Puppy Development

Puppies are born with their eyes and ears sealed shut; they cannot see or hear. They must rely on “smell” and “touch” to find their mother. Newborn puppies are not able to void without help from their mother. For the first two weeks of life, puppies are stimulated by their mother licking them which stimulates urination and defecation. This “cleaning” by the mother not only helps the puppies void, but it is also beneficial to the puppy in other ways such as promotes bonding, grooming and accelerates the development of the nervous system. 


 Ellie “cleans” her puppies before they nurse.
Puppies are born with an instinct to nurse but as the days pass, they have become more proficient at it. The puppies are now experts at nursing. They can smell when Ellie returns to the whelping box, wake, and crawl to find her and begin their next meal.
Listen to those cute puppy whines of contentment as Ellie’s babies feed!

Compare the difference one week makes!

With only six puppies in the litter Ellie’s puppies have lots of milk available from their mama. So, it is no surprise that they are all doing well at our daily weigh in. They will soon reach the milestone of doubling their birthweight.

Above Pic – compare newborn puppies pic to one week later. Those cute little pink noes are turning colour as pigment develops, fur is growing, and of course as you can see comparing to the space difference in pig rail above, the puppies have grown!

 Neonatal Period 

The puppies are in the Neonatal Period which is from day 0 to day 14. During this period, puppies spend their time eating and sleeping. On Friday, day 3, we began ENS exercises (Early Neurological Stimulation) which will continue through until day 16. We preform ENS daily during our weigh-in time. Research shows these tiny struggles and stresses in small doses are good for puppies. Research shows that benefits from ENS include greater tolerance to stress, greater resistance to disease, faster adrenal system, stronger heart rate and stronger heartbeat. This is a gift that a breeder can only give their puppies during the 3 to 16-day window.

Puppies continue to receive lots of handling to become accustomed to the human touch. Part of the “Puppy Culture Protocols” that we follow when raising our puppies is socialization. I am blessed with a large family that love to hold our puppies. My grandson was excited to see our newest litter.

Many Sleep Positions

Whether the puppies sleep cuddled with their mama, littermates or sleep on their own, they have many adorable sleep positions. See our adorable sleeping puppies in the pics below!

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK TWO

  • Much the same as week one – Eat, Sleep, Repeat!
  • Puppies will continue growing 
  • Puppies still crawl; hind legs will become stronger
  • Eyes should begin to open towards the end the week – so exciting !!!
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Introducing Ellie and Brinkley’s Retirement Litter

Introducing Ellie and Brinkley’s Retirement Litter

D.O.B. Monday, May 15th, 2023

The Boys

Red Collar – Birth weight 428 grams
Orange Collar – Birth weight 476 grams
Blue Collar – Birth weight 480 grams
Yellow Collar -Birth weight 493 grams

The Girls

Pink Collar – Birth weight 456 grams
Purple Collar – Birth weight 328 grams
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Surprise, An Early Arrival

Ellie surprised us with a early whelp

Due Date Window

A dogs due date is an approximate date. When calculating a dogs due date , we count 63 days after mating. A dog can safely give birth between 58 and 65 days from mating. Ellie Surprised us yesterday by going into labor early on day 59.

Labor Begins

Ellie went into labor early in the morning. By noon we knew the time was close and took her to the whelping box, wrapped her tail and waited with her for the first puppy to arrive

Because whelping is a messy business we wrap Ellie’s tail to keep it clean
Ellie breaks the puppy’s sac
Ellie cleans her baby
We rub puppies with a towel to help dry them
Watch as a newborn puppy crawls to join his littermates to nurse
It is important to get newborn puppies nursing as soon as possible to get the important first milk called colostrum. This protein-rich special milk provides passive immunity to the newborn puppies. Passive immunity can last several weeks and protect them from various infections and diseases.

Adorable newborn faces

Ellie delivered her first puppy at 1:05 pm and the last puppy at 3:12 pm. The total whelping time was just over two hours. Ellie had six puppies in her litter – 4 boys, and 2 girls.

Left to Right: Female, Male, Female, Male, Male, Male

Ellie looks very tired after a job well done. It is a hard job whelping and Ellie will spend the next few days sleeping and caring for her babies.

Ellie & Brinkleys 2023 litter

May 15, 2023

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Echo’s Puppies Have Gone To Their Forever Homes

Today our last puppy left us and our house is quiet house again but, not for long. Ellie’s puppies are expected in a weeks time. I don’t have time to spend missing our puppies because I have to concentrate on preparations for raising another litter.

Echo was a great mama and did a wonderful job raising her litter. She is now back at home with her guardian family.

Puppy Pick-up days are always busy. Our puppies are bathed, brushed and blow-dried, nails trimmed, ears cleaned and then time to take the adorable Go-Home Picture. As always, some puppies are easier than others to capture their pic but they all look adorable with their fluffy coats and little bandana.

Echo’s Puppies Go-Home Pictures

TIMBER – Grey Collar Boy
GEORGIA – Orange Collar Girl
PIPER – Purple Collar Girl
JAKE – White Collar Boy
FINN – Yellow Collar Girl
LUCA – Black Collar Boy
REIGNY – Pink Collar Girl
CHOJI – Light Blue Collar Boy
CALIE – Green Collar Girl
DELILAH – Red Collar Girl

Saying Good-Bye

It is always a bittersweet time when our puppies leave me and head to their forever families. I love to share the excitement of their forever families but, it is with tears I say goodbye. I have loved and cared for them for the first eight weeks of their lives. I have watched them grow, experience new things, and learn so much. It is now time for their forever families to continue where I left off. The poem below is one I found years ago and it expresses so well how I feel!

I always look forward to hearing how your puppy is doing and seeing pictures of them as they grow. We have set up a litter page of Echo’s litter under the Past Puppy Tab. ! will post updated pictures as we receive them. It is always fun to watch the littermates as they grow!

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Eight Weeks Old Now and Look How They Have Grown

Echo’s sweet babies are now eight weeks old. They have grown from helpless newborns to the adorable, active puppies they are today. The love to play together, chasing each other and go exploring.

Preparing for Puppies Go-Home Day

It is always bittersweet the day before puppies leave. You are excited for their forever families and just imagine the joy they will bring but, sad to say good-bye.

There is lots to do to get ready for puppies to leave. Paperwork, pack their puppy bags with some treats. Also the daily chores of caring for the puppies, cleaning, laundry etc. Keeping busy helps keep my mind from thinking of saying good-bye.

PACKING THE PUPPY BAGS

Puppy Adventure – gone wrong!

While I did the preparations for Go-Home day that begins tomorrow, my husband Tom took over the duties of watching the puppies by himself. The puppies were playing in the big yard while he kept an eye on them and every now and then he would practice the “Puppy, Puppy” recall. On one of the recalls when the puppies came to him, he noticed he was four puppies short. So he put all the puppies in the puppy enclosure on the deck and began looking for the four missing puppies.

Tom discovered that the missing puppies had gone under the deck and didn’t know how to get out. They had gone in a hole under the stairs and continued to explore under our deck.

We can thank Echo for the hole under the stairs. We noticed Echo digging a few days ago. When we noticed this Tom said “I had better fill that in”. Which he didn’t do it soon enough. The puppies found their way in.

Tom to the Rescue

I came out to try to keep the puppies calm. They were scared and whining loudly. Tom went in to gather some tools and returned to remove a board and rescue the puppies.

Video: Puppy Adventure Gone Wrong

Not to worry, all four puppies made it out safe and sound but very dirty. Just for the record, all the lost puppies were girls – Pink, Yellow, Red, and Purple Collar.

It is never a dull moment around here. Taking care of a litter of puppies is a full time job!

After the puppy rescue, Tom went to work right away and refilled the hole LOL!

Crate Training

The puppies have started crate training this week. Some puppies love their crate while others love to protest. This is something that the forever families will continue to work on at home.

After our ordeal today we fed the puppies their lunch and put them in their crates for a nap. I forgot to cover some of the crates which I quickly corrected. Covering the crate with a blanket makes it feel like a cozy den. The puppy should think of their crate as their safe place.

I gave them a piece of a biscuit for a treat to help them settle. Some puppies ate their biscuit and went right to sleep. A few puppies complained loudly but soon settled and went to sleep too.

Some of the puppies didn’t like the door closed and let me know by whining

When we put the puppies in their crate I give them half a biscuit for a treat. Sometimes this helps distract them and think of their crate as something good.

Finally, all the puppies settled and had a nap

LOOKING AHEAD

The puppies are leaving this week for their forever homes. You have a lot of work ahead of you correcting, training and caring for your new puppy but be patient, they are still learning. The time and work you put in to training your puppy pays off when you have a loving well behaved dog that will love you as only a dog can – unconditionally. You will be the most important person in the world to them. 

It’s is always bittersweet saying goodbye to our puppies. I have enjoyed every minute of their care and they have a piece of my heart. It is with sadness I say goodbye to my puppies, but it brings me joy to see the excited families smiles and to know that our puppies are joining such wonderful, loving, forever families. 

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An Exciting Day As Puppies Run in the Big Yard

Puppies Run in the Big Yard

The puppies have had another new and exciting experience. They got to go and explore the big yard. This is always a highlight for us as we watch the puppies experience this freedom. It never takes long before they are running around, chasing each other, and stopping to smell so many new things.

Watch the puppies exploring the yard. They had a great time! You may notice in the video that some of the puppies were quite dirty. This is because we still have some mud in our yard and like every dog, they love to get dirty. After so much fun and exercise the puppies came back into the house for a long nap

Teaching Puppies to Submit

When the puppies move to the big yard for exercise this give their mama Echo the opportunity of teaching her puppies in a bigger area. Of course Maui the nanny wants to give Echo a hand. They are teaching the puppies dog manners; to listen and submit. When the puppy submits, they lay on the back in the submit position.

I took a little video of Maui making one of the puppies submit.

Practicing Puppy Recall

I also work with the puppies during this time to teach recall. Recall is a lesson that the puppies will learn over a long period of time. The puppies will continue learning from their forever families

While the puppies are playing and exploring, I will call them with the “Puppy Call”. This is how we beginning teaching recall.
I have been practicing recall during the big yard experience. The puppies love attention so when they hear me calling them they love to come for a pat.

When is was time to head back home, I called the puppies. You can see in the video the progress they are making. Such smart puppies!

Crate Trainning

Pictured above is our new set up. We have set up the crates and are beginning crate training. The puppies have been exposed to the open crate since we removed their whelping box from the puppy area. They have been able to come and go as they pleased. Sometimes the puppies go to the crate to sleep by themselves or with a buddy. Now they will be sleeping by themselves with the door closed.

I have covered the crates with blankets to make it like a den, but they can still see the puppy that will be sleeping in the crate beside them.

The first part of crate training, the puppies take a nap in the crate with the door closed. Next part, just before the puppies start to head home, they will sleep all night in their crate with the door closed. This can only be done just before the puppies turn eight weeks and can “hold it” for a longer time between potty breaks.