LOOKING BACK
It is hard to believe that our puppies are already four weeks old! They have progressed so much in that short period of time.
A lot has happened this past week! The puppies’ milk teeth have erupted, their hind leg have become stronger, and their awake time has increased. Although the puppies still sleep much of the day, when they are awake they love socializing with their littermates through play.
Puppies Move To The Main Floor
Our puppies are on the move
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.
Thursday was a big day for our puppies because they left their warm quiet room where they have been since birth and moved to the main floor. We packed them up in a basket and moved the whelping box and puppies to the main floor. In the beginning, the puppies space will be limited to the whelping box with potty area only. Notice Echo’s bed next to the whelping box where she can keep an eye on her babies. The elevated bed helps her jump in and out of the box to care for her puppies as she pleases.
Time to Begin Potty Training
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.
The Potty Area is just outside the entrance to the whelping box. We use plastic litter boxes filled with pine pellets. Even though it has only been a few day and we still have lots of work ahead, I am pleased with the puppies’ progress so far.
Puppies Learn To Lap Milk
With a large litter of eleven puppies Echo has done an amazing job feeding her babies. Because only eight puppies can eat at once we have been rotating puppies. This past week the three puppies would protest while they were waiting which in turn would make Echo concerned. So, I decided to supplement the puppies with puppy formula which would keep the waiting puppies quiet, and Echo relaxed. On Thursday, in addition to their mama’s milk all the puppies had puppy formula. The puppies did a great job lapping up the milk.
Weaning Puppies
Echo is starting to wean her puppies. I always know that our mama’s are ready to wean when they start to feed their babies in the “standing position”.
On Saturday we began feeding the puppies solids. I prepared puppy mush by mix ground kibble, puppy formula and water. At first it is very liquidity making it easy for the puppies to lap up. I will gradually thicken the mush working toward softened kibble by week six and then by seven weeks of age the puppies will have transitioned to dry kibble.
Grooming
From day one we handle our puppies often to get them comfortable with human touch. Because Goldendoodles require regular grooming, it is important to me as a breeder to make brushing a positive experience teaching them to enjoy grooming. Brushing you dog regularly not only keeps their fur from matting, but it also removes dirt from their coat.
In addition to brushing the puppies, we also expose them to procedures like nail trims, ear cleaning and touching their mouths in preparation for future teeth brushing. Exposing young puppies to these procedures early will make it easier for their forever families to care for them at home.
LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK FIVE
- 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, giving puppies room to play and explore
- Mama will now add the invaluable teaching phase to her caring & protecting responsibilities over the next weeks.
