I am a day late posting our weekly blog because this past week has been extra busy for our household. In addition to caring for our dogs and eleven puppies, my husband Tom had surgery Wednesday. The same day, my Son and Daughter in law welcomed their second baby into the world. This is Grandchild # 12 for Tom and I. Children are a blessing from God and we are so thankful for each child He has entrusted to our family! My granddaughter stayed with us while her parents and new baby brother had an extended six day stay in the hospital.
A big thanks to my daughter for stepping in to care for the puppies while I was back and forth to the hospital this week!
LOOKING BACK
Echo continues to be an amazing mama. She knows just what to do to take care of her babies. She loves her puppies and loves to check on them regularly between feedings. We have a bed for Echo just outside the whelping box where she likes to rest and keep an eye on her babies.
A Look At Echo’s Puppies
Critical Socialization Period
The puppies eyes are completely opened and their vision is improving, Their ears are now open and they are starting to hear. The puppies have now entered into the “Critical Socialization Period”.
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. Over the next five weeks, we will work with each puppy as we endeavour to prepare the puppies for their forever homes. Our goal is to raise healthy, calm, confident, well-adjusted puppies
- Communication – giving a puppy his own voice
- Emotional stability – the ability to recover easily from fear as well as stress i.e., startle recovery, barrier challenges etc
- Habituation – familiarity with the maximum number of things ( sound protocols, household noises , meeting different people, dogs etc.)
- 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.)
- Health – physical wellness and motor skills that will allow the puppy to develop in a neurologically and physically sound way (weight checks, grooming, proper nutrition, fecal checks, and deworming, if necessary, vet health checks and vaccinations)
- 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.
- 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.
- Shaping emotional responses: happy and calm CER (Conditioned Emotional Responses)
A Day in the Life of Our Puppies
A day in the life of puppies is full. Along with sleeping and eating, we have to fit in cleaning their whelping box and puppy cuddles. On Sunday we had some help with cuddling from some of my grandchildren. Interacting with people of different ages is great socialization for the puppies.
Pics of Our Adorable Puppies
LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK FOUR
- Puppies will still sleep most of their day as they continue to grow rapidly
- Puppies will play with each other and begin developing important social skills
- Puppies hind legs will continue to become stronger as they practice walking on all fours
- Hearing will improve
- Puppy milk teeth will begin to erupt
- Puppies will be moving to the main floor sometime during the week
- Potty Training will begin
