Look At Our Beautiful Three Week Old Puppies

THREE WEEKS OLD

LOOKING BACK


Three weeks old already – how quickly time passes! This week Ellie’s puppies have been progressing rapidly. They continue to gain weight and grow bigger with each passing day. Their eyes are fully opened and vision is improving. Their ears have open and they are reacting to sound. The puppies’ hind legs have become much stronger and they are becoming steadier when walking. The puppies are aware of their surroundings and have begun to play with each other during their short “awake” time. They have become quite noisy as they practice their vocalizing. The puppies still sleep much of their day/night.

Puppies In Action

Ellie’s 3 week old puppies are becoming very vocal – we have a noisy whelping box! 😂

Playtime before lunch – this video shows the puppies interacting with each other.

Critical Socialization Period (weeks 3 – 12)

The puppies have started to react to sounds. When this happens, it is the sign that the puppies have entered the Critical Socialization Period. We raise our puppies following many of the Puppy Culture protocols. Following these protocols helps us reach our goal “To Raise Healthy, Calm, Confident, Well-Adjusted Puppies“. Over the remaining weeks we will be working on as many new experiences for the puppies.

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.

  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 – familiarity with the maximum number of things (Puppy Parties, sound protocols, household noises , meeting different people, dogs etc.)
  4. 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.)
  5. Health – physical wellness and motor skills that will allow the puppy to develop in a neurologically and physically sound way (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)

Maui the Nanny

Our poodle Maui is almost two years old. She is a sweet gentle dog that loves to interact with our puppy litters. Maui has been waiting on the sidelines watching as Ellie cares for her puppies. Over the past few weeks I will find her peeking in the whelping box entrance or lying on the bed just watching the puppies.

Maui on the bed watching the puppies

A new experience for the puppies today

Today while Ellie was feeding her babies, Maui decided it was time to jump into action and begin interacting with the puppies. Ellie didn’t seem to mind. They were both in the whelping box together. When Ellie decided to leave, Maui stayed in the whelping box for a few more minutes until the all of the puppies had drifted off to sleep.

Great socialization – The puppies interact with another dog!

Sweet Dreams


LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK FOUR


  • Puppies will still sleep much of the day/night as they continue to grow rapidly
  • Puppies will play with each other developing important social skills
  • Puppies hind legs will continue to become stronger as they walk more
  • Hearing will improve 
  • Puppy milk teeth will erupt
  • Puppies will be moving to the main floor towards the end of the week

Look At How Cute Our Five Week Old Puppies Are


LOOKING BACK


Echo’s puppies are now five weeks old. They have developed from helpless newborn puppies to the “mini dogs” they are today. The puppies are now awake for longer periods and enjoy playing with their toys, each other, and cuddle time. We can now see their personalities starting to develop.

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: crates, different floor surfaces, new toys, the outside, and our other adult dogs.

Our puppy area. The puppy area has been expanded, the whelping box has been removed and we have added crates to the area.

Potty Training

We have been working hard on training puppies to use the potty box both inside and now outside. Some of the puppies are more consistent than others but, all the puppies are making great progress. It’s amazing to watch puppies wake up or stop playing and go over to use their potty box.

Meal Time

Puppies are always excited when they smell the food being prepared. They are now eating three meals of puppy mush a day along with drinking plenty of fresh filtered water. The puppies are still nursing from their mama any chance they get but Echo limits this and is beginning to tell them “NO”!

Puppy Parties

One of the bonus of having a large family is get togethers. This past Easter weekend has been a busy one at our house with three days of sharing meals with our families and three days of “Puppy Parties”. The puppies were held, cuddled and played with by both young and old. They especially love playing with my grandchildren and interacting with them. After many play sessions, the puppies were tired out and settled in for a long nap.

Adult Dog Interaction

When the puppies play outside it is a great time to introduce them to our other adult dogs. During this time I always keep a watchful eye to make sure everyone is getting along. It is also important that the puppies have somewhere to escape to feel safe and that our adult dogs have a way of escape from the puppies. This is why we make sure our adult dogs can come in and out of the fenced area on the deck as they please and our puppies can retreat to their safe place which is under the chairs.

Fun Outside

When our puppies turn five weeks old we introduce them to the outdoors. This is always an exciting time watching them explore and discover.

Things to Watch for in the video

  • puppies “safe place “where they have their naps outside
  • potty box where we are trying to teach the puppies to go while outside.
  • Maui the puppy nanny interacting with the puppies. Maui plays an important role helping mama Echo teach our puppies proper “dog manners

Puppy Pics


LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK SIX


  • Awake time will continue to increase
  • Puppies will continue learning to use potty box both indoor and outdoors
  • Socialize with each other through play
  • Balance will continue to improve.
  • 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.

Exciting News, Our Puppies Are On The Move!!!

Exciting News, 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.


Our puppies are on the move
Puppies packed up and ready for the big move!

THE PUPPIES ARE ON THE MOVE!

It was a busy morning preparing the new puppy area before the actual move began. Why you ask, because preparing the puppy area is a big job!

The main floor puppy enclosure is set up just off my kitchen located at the centre of our house. The reason I choose this area is because it is by the door outside and the puppies will experience the most interactions in this spot.

At first, the puppies only have access to a small area – the whelping box and potty area only. The puppies will sleep and play in their whelping box and have access to their potty box just outside the entrance. The mama’s elevated beds are next to the whelping box which they can sleep on. Also, the beds help when she jumps into the whelping box to care her puppies.

We have fencing enclosing the whole puppy area, with a fence in the middle dividing the two whelping boxes to keep the litters separate. The fence gates will be left open so our mamas are able to come and go as they please to care for her puppies.

First we moved Willow’s litter. After that, it was Ellie’s litter’s turn to make the big move.


Puppies on the move

Next – potty training begins.

The puppies are now going potty without the help of their mother. Therefore it is important to begin “potty training” at this age. The reason for this is 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. So, for the next few days I will 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 potty anywhere. So we teach them “there is an acceptable place to go potty” at young age. The reason for this is to stop 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.

WOW, Our Sweet Puppies Are Already Three Weeks Old!


Looking Back


Three weeks old already – how quickly time passes! This week the puppies have been progressing rapidly. They continue to gain weight and grow bigger with each passing day. Their eyes are fully opened, and vision is improving. Their ears are open, and they can now hear. Some of our puppies’ milk teeth have started to erupt. Their hind legs have become much stronger as they have been practicing walking on all fours. The puppies are much more aware of their surroundings and have begun to play with each other. They have become quite noisy as they practice their vocalizing. It is so cute in the daytime but not so much in the middle of the night 😴LOL.



Daily Cuddles

The puppies continue to receive lots of cuddles daily. My grandchildren are great helpers with this. I love to share this learning experience with them; teaching them to love and respect animals and to be gentle. The older ones have learned this already but my one- year-old granddaughter is still learning and has to be reminded! Our puppies already love human interaction – when I enter the whelping box, it isn’t long before I have a lap full of puppies🐾😊🐾.

Nothing cuter than little boys and puppies!
Remember GENTLE!

Critical Socialization Period

Now that the puppies can hear and react to noise, they are entering 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. We will work with the puppies over the next five weeks on the Puppy Culture Protocols.

There are 7 key things that will nurture the emotional intelligence of a puppy:
  1. Communication – giving a puppy his own voice i.e. 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 – familiarity with the maximum number of things (Puppy Parties, sound protocols, household noises , meeting different people, dogs etc.)
  4. 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.)
  5. Health – physical wellness and motor skills that will allow the puppy to develop in a neurologically and physically sound way (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)

Look at these cuties

This morning (Saturday 19th), we took videos of the puppies when we returned them to their clean whelping boxes. Have a look at the videos to see our adorable three-week-old puppies.

Ellie’s Puppies
Willow’s Puppies


Looking Ahead To Week Four


  • Puppies will still sleep much of the day/night as they continue to grow rapidly
  • Puppies will play with each other developing important social skills
  • Puppies’ hind legs will continue to become stronger as they walk more
  • Hearing will improve 
  • Puppy milk teeth will erupt
  • Puppies will be moving to the main floor mid-week and begin potty training

Raising a Singleton Puppy – Week Three 💕 Look How Adorable!

Three weeks old already – how quickly time passes! Look at our beautiful Singleton Puppy. Now that she can sit upright, you can see her lovely markings. She is jet-black with an adorable white patch on her chest and a touch of white on her feet and chin. Her eyes are fully opened now, vision is slowly improving and her ears have started to open. Echo’s puppy is becoming more aware of her surroundings, beginning to play and starting to vocalize.

The puppy is now at the stage that she is beginning to play. At times I feel bad thinking she is lonely without littermates to play with but, my daughter and husband reminded me that she doesn’t know any different – it has always been just her.

Play Time With Mama, Maui, and Stuffies

Play Time With Mama

With no littermates, the puppy also needs interaction from other dogs to be taught dog social skills. Echo is such a great mother and is willing to spend extra time with her baby to play. The puppy loves to mouth Echo and pull on her beard, ears and tail. During these play sessions, Milk Bar is closed – I cover Echo tummy with a blanket or a tee-shirt. Our Chunky Monkey definitely doesn’t need extra milk!!!


Nanny Maui

This week Maui, our one year old poodle, spent a little time in the whelping box for a few play sessions – she is a great puppy nanny! With no littermates to teach doggie social skills, Maui will take on this important role.


Our Sweet Puppy Has Visitors

My granddaughter and our other dogs also visited to check out the puppy. Echo was willing to show off her puppy but stands by to make sure her baby is safe! The puppy is curious of all her many visitors. Watch the video as she interact


Playing with Stuffie

Puppy plays with stuffie – listen for her little bark


Exercise Time

Echo’s sweet puppy is a big girl – our Chunky Monkey. As I have said in my previous blogs, when raising a singleton puppy, it is important to try to slow the puppy’s weight gain. This past week I again spent much of my time by the whelping box limiting feeding time. Lots of exercise combined with limiting the puppy’s food intake has helped strengthen the puppy’s hind leg muscles. She is making great progress with walking on all fours!

Exercising

This video shows the progress the puppy has made this week.


Sleep, Sleep, Sleep

At this age, puppies still sleep much of their day/night. After her short play times, our puppy walks around the whelping box looking for one of her stuffies to snuggles with.

Sweet Dreams Sweet Baby! 😴



LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK FOUR

  • Puppy will still sleep much of the day/night as she continues to grow rapidly
  • Puppy will play with her mama and our other dogs developing important social skills
  • Puppy’s hind legs will continue to become stronger as she practices walking on all fours
  • Hearing will improve 
  • Puppy milk teeth will erupt
  • Potty Training will begin toward the end of the week

 

Ellie’s Adorable Puppies Turned Three Weeks Old Today!

Ellie’s Puppies

3 week puppy huddle

LOOKING BACK – April 4, 2022 – THREE WEEKS OLD

Ellie is a wonderful mama. She knows just what to do to take care of her babies. She loves her puppies and still stays to cuddle with them after they have nursed. Their eyes are completely opened, and their ears are now open. Ellie’s puppies are in the “Critical Socialization Period”.

Exercise is important for puppies to build strong bodies but, puppies must also be challenged to build strong minds. Yesterday we gave Ellie’s puppies a little challenge to build their brains! I put them in a basket, and they had to find their way out to their mama. They worked so hard some of their bows were coming undone LOL! Watch to see how each puppy did in the basket challenge – so cute!


Basket Challenge

VIDEO: Watch Ellie’s adorable three week old puppies – Eat, Play, Sleep!

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 walk more
  • Hearing will improve 
  • Puppy milk teeth will begin to erupt 
  • Puppies will be moving to the main floor sometime during the week


Willow’s Puppies

Puppies start on solids

We usually start weaning puppies at four weeks of age when we introduce solids. Willow is a mama that has her own mind and didn’t follow my regular schedule that my previous mamas did. She let me know that it was time to wean her puppies by regurgitating her food for her puppies to eat – This is instinct! It helps the mama wean and her milk gradually dry up by reducing her food intake”

We decided that since Willow has already started weaning her puppies, we would introduce solids on Friday. I grind puppy kibble in my blender with water and puppy formula to make a soupy mixture. We will gradually make this mixture thicker as we progress towards dry kibble.

VIDEO: Watch Willows puppies learning to eat solids

It took some of the puppies awhile to eat but, they did a good job eating their “puppy soup” Willow kept a watchful eye behind the gate to watch as her puppies ate. When they were finished eating, I let Willow in, and she ate the remaining food. The puppies finished off their meal with a little of mama’s milk and then went back to their whelping box for a long nap.

VIDEO Willow’s puppies start solids

So Exciting…..The Puppies Are On The Move!

Willow’s Puppies

Willow’s puppies made the big move from my bedroom to the main floor. It was a busy day caring for puppies and setting up our puppy area. My husband Tom with the help of our two little grandsons laid the vinyl flooring on top of our hardwood. We have used this for previous litters. It not only protects our hardwood, it is easy to clean and, has more traction than the hardwood for puppies just learning to walk. The fencing was then set up and it was time to get the puppies.

We headed up to the bedroom and packed the puppies into a laundry basket. My grandsons kept a watchful eye on the puppies making sure they didn’t climb out while I cleaned the whelping box. It was time to make the big move. Tom took the puppies and I soon followed with their whelping box. Willow didn’t seem too concerned but after everything was in place and the puppies were safely back in their familiar box, she decided to feed them. All was well!

The main floor puppy enclosure is set up in my kitchen. At first, we begin with a smaller area which includes the whelping box and potty area only. The carpeted area in the front is a visiting area used by my grandchildren. They love to play with the puppies which is great socialization for our puppies.


VIDEO: Moving to the main floor

Ellie’s Puppies

Ellie’s puppies are growing bigger, stronger and, starting to interact with each other, but they still sleep most of the time. The puppies are in the transitional period but, any day now, their ears will open, and they will move to the Critical Socialization period. Ellie continues to be an amazing mama caring. and feeding her puppies. She is still in that protective mama role and doesn’t want our other dogs in her room.


The video below shows sleeping puppies just starting to wake. Watch as the begin to interact with their littermate….every so gently. So precious!

VIDEO: Ellie’s puppies just waking up

Three Week Old Beauties

Willow’s Puppies – Three Weeks Old

W&B22-3 week old puppy huddle
Three Week Old Puppy Huddle

LOOKING BACK – March 29, 2022 – Three Weeks Old

Our adorable puppies are now three weeks old and oh how they have grown! This week the puppies have been progressing rapidly. Their eyes are fully opened, and vision is improving. Their ears have opened, and they have now entered the “Critical Socialization Period. The puppies’ hind legs have become much stronger and they have been practicing walking on all fours. They are much more aware of their surroundings and have begun to play with each other. The puppies continue to sleep much of the time as they develop.


Willow ‘s a great first-time mama. She is doing a wonderful job feeding her babies, protecting, and keeping them clean. Willow now spends much of her time away from the whelping box and comes back to check on her puppies throughout the day. Willow insists on cleaning her puppies’ in-between feedings. She goes into the whelping box to clean sleeping puppies. The puppies wake and think it is time to eat. After Willow finishes cleaning, she heads back out and the puppies are left whining their protest. Willow’s puppies are always ready to eat but, now that they are bigger, they are fed with less frequency and their milk intake at each feeding is much greater! Not to worry, the pups are getting more than enough of mama’s milk; they are growing like weeds!

The puppies cuddle with Willow after nursing.


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 walk more
  • Hearing will improve
  • Puppy milk teeth will begin to erupt 
  • Puppies will be moving to the main floor sometime during the week

Ellie’s Puppies – Day 15

Ellie’s puppies are becoming more mobile with that cute wobbly puppy walk as they practice walking on all fours. They have also learned to climb. We have found a couple puppies climbing our of the whelping box so, time to add a door panel to out entrance to keep Ellie’s precious babies safe.

Magenta Girl……Going…….
Going……..
Gone!

Watch the puppies walking and listen to them vocalizing

Day 15

Our Adorable Puppies Are Now Three Weeks Old


February 21, 2021 – DAY 21 – 3 WEEKS OLD

Three weeks old puppy huddle

LOOKING BACK

Our adorable puppies are now three weeks old and oh how they have grown! This week puppies have been progressing rapidly. Their eyes are fully opened and vision is improving. Their ears have started to open but they are not yet hearing well. The puppies hind legs have become much stronger and they have been practicing walking on all fours. They are much more aware of their surroundings and have begun to play with each other. Puppies continue to sleep much of the time as they develop.


Our whelping “chatter box” – The puppies are exercising their vocal cords. It is cute when the sun’s up but, I don’t think it is so cute when they practice vocalizing in the middle of the night! LOL
Puppies playing with their littermate

Adorable Three Week Old Puppy Faces


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 walk more
  • Hearing will improve with time
  • Puppy milk teeth will begin to erupt
  • Puppies will be moving to the main floor sometime during the week