Goldendoodles are very social dogs and love to spend their time with their family. Socialization is an important part of raising puppies. It is important that puppies are socialized with a variety of people of all ages. Our puppies have already had lots of socialization. My daughter Kendra and myself have handled and cuddled the puppies since birth and my grandchildren have enjoyed spending time with them as well. Today, my husband Tom went into the whelping box and it didn’t take long before he had a lap full of puppies. What a wonderful way to spend your time, cuddling puppies and getting those sweet puppy breath kisses!

Ruska’s puppies are now three and a half weeks old. Since birth, they have spent their days and nights in our bedroom. It is now time to make the big move to the main floor where the puppies can get accustom to the sounds and happenings of our busy house.

After weigh in today, I decided we would move the puppies. I packed them in the basket, brought their whelping box down to a small enclosure in my front hall, and then brought the puppies to their new area. Just outside the whelping box are potty pads.

The puppies are now going potty without the help of their mother. I feel it is important to begin “potty training” at this age because puppies have a natural instinct to move away from their sleeping area when they need to go. For the next few days I will spend my time moving the puppies to the potty area when they wake. If they start learning that “there is an acceptable place to go potty” at a young age, they won’t develop bad habits that later need to be broken. I feel that this will make housebreaking easier when they go to their forever families. Some of the puppies have already used the potty pads – Yeah!

I always feel Ruska is ready when the time comes to move the puppies. She can now spend all her time with the family on the main floor and still keep an eye on her little ones. After the puppies had moved, Ruska went in to nurse them “in the standing position“(time to start weaning). When the puppies had settled for a sleep, she laid on the floor in front of the the puppy enclosure for a nap.

I am bless to be able to see my grandchildren durning Covid restrictions because I provide child care for them. I so enjoy sharing our puppy raising process with them. They just love to watch the puppies play and cuddle them. This is good for both puppy and child – the puppies get socialized with young children and I get to teach my grandchildren to love and respect animals by being gentle and caring with our puppies.

Today Ruska’s babies are 24 days old. They are now mini dogs and getting cuter by the day. The puppies hind legs have become much stronger and they walk with that cute wobbly “puppy walk”. Some of our puppies have even learned to climb.

Early this morning while still dark, I awoke to a commotion in the whelping box. Ruska had just nursed the puppies, hopped out and was resting at the bottom of our bed. When the puppies didn’t settle after a couple minutes I had to check things out. As I often do, I grabbed the flashlight from the bedside table and shone it into their box. I did my puppy count and discovered we were one puppy short. I quickly discovered our 10th puppy……he had climbed out after Ruska and was now lying on a carpet beside our bed. Yes, it was now time to put the final door panel into the entrance of the whelping box. I always put off doing this because Ruska won’t jump over the full door. She will now bark for me to remove the panel and let her in. LOL

The puppies have reached another milestone – their milk teeth have started coming in. Some mothers stop nursing when their puppies get their sharp teeth (I can only imagine how much they can hurt). Not Ruska though; she is such a devoted mama! Ruska will continue to nurse her babies and gradually wean them after they start eating solids at four weeks old.

Pics of our sweet puppies on day 24

As you know, the puppies turned three weeks yesterday. When I was lying in bed last night I suddenly remembered “I forgot to take the puppies “Three Week Portrait”. Too tired to take that task on late at night, I decided to take it one day late.

When my daughter Kendra came home from work this afternoon, we began. Previously I take the photo on my bed but I had a great idea. I decided to keep them in the whelping box and use a vet bed backdrop. This way there is no worries of a puppy wandering too close to the edge. I should have thought of this sooner…. I think I’m getting smarter with age! Still, it is always a challenge to take a picture of all the puppies in a row. They never stay still – some puppies want to play with their neighbour, some puppies want to come sit on our lap and some just want to sleep LOL. With a lot of patience we were able to capture Ruska and Tulo’s sweet babies in their Three Week Portrait. Can you pick out each puppy? Answer will be posted at the bottom of this post.

Answer

Just a short video clip to brighten your Saturday!

The puppies are starting to notice their litter mates and beginning to interact. They still sleep most of the time but during a couple of their rare “awake times” I captured a couple videos. They are starting to vocalize and play but then, just as quickly as they woke, they settle back to sleep!

Yes, sleep again

We are excited to announce that Ellie and Brinkley are expecting! Ellie’s due date is March 18, 2021. Their previous litter produced calm and loving puppies in a variety of colours – red, blonde and chocolates. We expect at least 50% flat coats.

Ellie is our beautiful Cafe au Lait Standard Poodle. She is a smart, loving, gentle dog. Her favourite place to be is by my side. Ellie was a wonderful mother to her first litter of puppies. Brinkley is our handsome flat coat goldendoodle from Ruska and Tulo’s litter. He is a calm, gentle dog who is very smart and always willing to please. 

The past few weeks, Ellie’s energy and appetite have decreased. Ellie is getting lots of rest as those little ones grow. Brinkley is so sweet. We have found him keeping her company on the sofa while she napped. Over the next week Ellie will begin increasing her food intake and activity level and we will continue to give her lots of attention and the best of care. 

Ruska’s Puppies

Ruska’s puppies are now 18 days old today. All their eyes are now open and over the next few day, their ears will be opening as well. The puppies continue to eat, sleep and grow. I really noticed how much they have grown……they filled the laundry basket that I put them in while I was clean out their whelping box.

The puppies continue to do what newborn puppies do best – eat, sleep, repeat. Eight of our ten puppies now have their eyes opened. I alway think they look so different when they open their eyes! They can only see light and shadows right now but with each passing day and week, their vision will continue to improve.

Day 11 – Thursday February 11, 2021

Ideally puppies should double their birth weight between ten to fourteen days. We have had four puppies reach this milestone with the rest of our puppies on track to double their weight by day fourteen. Ruska is doing a great job feeding her little ones!

We have a daily routine caring for our puppies. We weight each puppy daily and record their weight in the log. This helps us track each puppy’s growth. Healthy puppies should gain weight every day. At this time, we also check their collars and adjust any that have become snug. Puppies grow so fast, so it is important to check them a few times a day. Then we clean and disinfect their whelping box. Finally, we line the bottom of the whelping box with a clean “Vet Bed”, a product that resembles sheepskin. I love this man-made product because it is easy to clean and keeps the puppies dry, warm, comfortable and provides good traction. A puppy moves forward by pushing its hind legs backwards. When a newborn puppy is placed on a surface with inadequate traction, its feet can slide right out from under it and may cause the legs to extend and adduct. By providing a surface with great traction (Vet Bed) when the puppies are moving around and learning to walk helps reduce the stress on their growing joints.

More Puppy Pics

The next development we look forward to is the puppies eyes opening. If you look closely at the inner corner of the puppy’s eyes, they are beginning to unseal. The opening process happens slowly over a two day period. So exciting!