Maui’s Puppies Turn Three Weeks Old

Puppy Culture

This week the puppies were in the Transitional Period. We continued our ENS exercises which cause tiny stresses to benefit our puppies with greater tolerance to stress, greater resistance to disease, faster adrenal system, stronger heart rate and stronger heartbeat. Sunday was Day 16 of the puppies life and the final day for our ENS exercises.

Critical Socialization Period (weeks 3 – 12)

The next period for Piper’s puppies is the Critical Socialization Period. We know that puppies have entered into this period when the react to sounds. We raise our puppies following many of the Puppy Culture protocols. These protocols helps us reach our goal “To Raise Healthy, Calm, Confident, Well-Adjusted Puppies“.

Over the remaining weeks we will be working on new experiences for the puppies by exposing them to as many new experiences as possible in order to raise the best possible companion for their forever families.

Emotional Intelligence 

Because Goldendoodles are companion dogs, it is important to teach emotional intelligence from young puppies and start them on a great beginning. With this intention we follow 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 – familiarize the puppies with the maximum number of things during their Critical Development Period. In particular, Puppy Parties, sound protocols, household noises as well as meeting different people and dogs.
4. Enrichment – teach the puppies that novelty and challenges are opportunities for enrichment not things to be feared or avoided. For example, 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 . For instance, 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). For instance, treats and encouragement during puppy training.

Potty Training Begins

Now that the puppies can void on their own, they naturally move away from their sleep area to go potty. To encourage the puppies to “go in one spot,” we have divided the whelping box into a sleep/play area and a potty area, adding bolster beds and potty pads.

Daily Cleaning

Raising puppies involves daily chores, including cleaning. We clean and disinfect the whelping box and replace it with fresh vet bedding each day.

While cleaning the puppies’ whelping box, I placed them in a laundry basket. They have started to climb out, so on Thursday I put a quilt on the ground and let the puppies explore while I cleaned their whelping box. I thought Maui would lie down on the quilt and feed them, but to my surprise, she went into her crate and her puppies followed.

Looking Back at Week Three

Looking Ahead to Week Four

• Puppies will still sleep much of the day/night as they continue to grow rapidly
• Interact with littermates through play which will help develop important social skills
• Whelping box will expand with the introduction of litter box
• Becoming steadier on their feet 
• Practicing walking on all fours strengthens their hind legs
• Hearing will improve 
• Puppy milk teeth will erupt
• Puppies will be moving to the main floor towards the end of the week