Five Weeks Old
And So Adorable
Ellie’s puppies are now five weeks old. They have developed from the helpless newborn puppies that fit into the palm of my hand to the “mini dogs” they are today. The puppies are now awake for longer periods and enjoy playing with their toys, littermates, Nanny Maui, and cuddle time. We are seeing their personalities starting to develop.
Introducing solids to puppies begins with a “Puppy Smoothie” I grind puppy kibble in my blender to a powder and then add water that is filtered, boiled and cooled. The consistency of it is very watery at first making it easy for the puppies to lap up. With each passing day I gradually reduce the water and the food becomes thicker.
Today the puppies transitioned to softened kibble. By eight weeks of age, the puppies will have transitioned to eating dry kibble.
Ellie is a loving mama that adores her sweet babies. She has a kind gentle disposition and is very patient with her puppies. With the introduction of solids and sharp puppy teeth, some mamas would end their nursing obligation but not Ellie. She still allows the puppies to nurse a few times a day. In addition to this, Ellie will regurgitate her food to feed the puppies. (Something wild dog mothers do to feed their young)
Ellie loves to share with her puppies. Yesterday all our dogs got a treat – a prime rib bone. As this is not a regular occurrence, when each dog received their bone they trotted off in the yard to enjoy their bone in their own spot. Ellie on the other hand went to the door and wanted back into our house. When we let her in, she proceeded into the puppy area and gave her bone to the puppies to chew on which they enjoyed. Such a sweet mama!
We handle our puppies from birth, touching their ears, mouth and paws and give them lots of cuddles. We want them comfortable with the human touch. Another thing we introduce at a young age is grooming. We brush our puppies daily so they will be accustomed to this when they go to their forever homes. Brushing helps keep mats from forming and removes dirt from their coat helping keep the puppy clean.
We also trim the puppies’ nails when needed. The puppies’ nails grow quickly so it is important to trim them. This not only protects our mama’s from getting scratched while the puppies nurse, but it also gets them familiar to having the paws touched and nails trimmed.
Potty Training
✓ Lots of practice and correction
✓ Accidents ✓ Cleaning and laundry ✓Becoming more consistent
This week has been a busy one. The focus of the week has been on potty training. It always seems like a long week when we begin potty training. I put the puppies into the potty box when they wake and after they eat and hope that things will click. Some puppies are quick learners, but others take longer. It can be frustrating when you put a puppy into the potty box, but they climb back out. You put them back in and out they come again. Next thing you notice they walk away and have an accident. I wonder, will they ever get it?
Potty Training begins with the puppies in the whelping box with the potty box at the entrance. In a few days, most of my puppies “get it” so I then remove the whelping box and enlarge the puppy area.
This litter was more challenging than others. The puppies were just not catching on. I check on the puppies only to discover one, two or more puppies using it as their own personal sleeping area. How will the other puppies use it if puppies are sleeping in it? So, I decided to remove the whelping box and give them a larger puppy area. When puppies have too big of an area there’s a larger chance that they will have accidents. This was the case with this litter. It was a week of constant cleaning, laundry and, lots of correction!
Finally on Saturday I knew we were making progress. The puppies were going into the potty box on their own. We will still have accidents and some puppies will be more consistent than others but, progress is defiantly being made!
Producing gentle loving puppies
Puppy Partys
✓Building a connection with people ✓Socializing with young and old ✓Socializing with other adult dogs
It is important when raising puppies to socialize them which means introducing them to as many new experiences as possible when they are young. Some of the new things that the puppies have been introduced to this week are music, various household sounds, new toys, access to a raised dog bed, our other adult dogs, solid food, and water.
We are blessed with a large family so, when we have get-togethers, it is built-in puppy parties. Tom’s cousin was over from Finland for a visit so Saturday we had a large gathering of over 30 people for a BBQ. The puppies had lots of interaction with people both young and old. Everyone wanted to see and hold Ellie’s babies. This is great socializing for the puppies building a connection with people and in turn producing gentle puppies that will become loving companion dogs for their forever families.
Throughout the day there we many children in playing with the puppies. When the day was over, we had very tired puppies. LOL
Lots to experience
LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK SIX
- Awake time will continue to increase
- Puppies will continue learning to use potty box
- Socialize with each other through play
- Balance will continue to improve.
- Puppies will be introduced to the outdoors
- Daily Outdoor play time as weather permits
- Puppies will continue learning from their mama and our other adult dogs as they teach them dog manners
- As always, puppies will get lots of cuddle time.
