Tag: two week old goldendoodle puppies

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Our Adorable Two Week Old Puppies

Willow’s puppies (left) and Ellie’sPuppies(right) two weeks old

Willow’s puppies (left) and Ellie’sPuppies(right) two weeks old
LOOKING BACK

We have had another busy week and the puppies have made so much progress. Our puppies are now two weeks old and growing more adorable with each passing day! We reached a couple milestones this week: (1) All our puppies have doubled their birth-weight and then some. (2) The puppies opened their eyes. Their sight will improve as the days and weeks pass.

Ellie and Willow continue to be loving attentive mamas who take wonderful care of their babies. The puppies are gaining weight daily and continue to do what healthy puppies do – Eat, Sleep, and Grow! Besides feeding and cuddling, it is important for our mamas to lick their puppies. The licking interactions between a mama and her pup have been shown to be essential to the physical and emotional health of both mama and baby. Newborn puppies need to be stimulated by their mother to eliminate. This is why the mama’s spend time cleaning each pup before and after feeding.

See How They Have Grown

Newborn
Two weeks old

Although their mama’s take care of cleaning the puppies, cleaning of the whelping boxes is my responsibility. Our whelping boxes are disinfected and a clean vet bed liner is replaced daily. We line the whelping box with a “vet bed fleece”. This is a financial investment on our part but, we feel it is well worth the money. It not only keeps our puppies warm and dry, it also provides excellent footing for the puppies as they learn to walk and stops their legs from slipping as they nurse. When it is time to clean the whelping boxes, I put the puppies into a laundry basket to keep them contained. I am going to have to find bigger containers because some of the puppies are starting to climb out. We have also had to add a panel to the whelping box entrance to keep them safe inside.

Laundry basket
Door Panel Added
A day in the whelping box consists of eating, sleeping, and cuddling with mama and grandchildren
Looking for a comfy spot to sleep

With Ellie locked out of the room, I took the opportunity to take a quick video to show the the puppies progress. Soon Ellie came back … She wasn’t too happy as you will hear in the video 😂 The below video shows the progress the puppies have made. Their hind legs have become stronger and they are moving more quickly around their whelping box. The puppies are starting to vocalize. Now that their eyes have opened they will start to interact with each other.

Things to look for: eyes opened, puppies using hind legs, puppies starting to vocalize
The excitement as mama returns and another meal
LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK THREE
  • Puppies will still eat and sleep most of their day
  • Puppies will continue growing 
  • Sight will slowly become clearer 
  • Puppies Ears will start to open and they will begin to hear.
  • Puppies hind legs will become stronger and they will practice walking on all fours
  • Puppies will become more aware and start to play with their litter-mates.
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Raising a Singleton Puppy – Week Two

Two Weeks Old

Echo is a loving and attentive mama – whether it is cleaning, feeding, or just snuggling, Echo loves being a mama! This past week we have been busying helping Echo care for her baby.

Milestone Reached

This week on day 13, we were excited to see Echo’s puppy’s eyes had opened! Echo’s puppy is now in the Transitional Period which begins when the puppy’s eyes open and ends when they first startle upon hearing sounds. I always feel that puppies become more alive when they reach this milestone.

When puppies are in the Neonatal Period (day 0 – 14) they spend their days and nights eating and sleeping. Sleep-time – 22 hours and Awake-time – 2 hours is spent eating.

Without any competition from littermates singleton puppies have unlimited supply of milk resulting in rapid weight gain. Singleton puppies have a higher percentage rate of developing “swimmer puppy syndrome”. To avoid Echo’s puppy developing this condition, we have been pro-active and undertaken a few strategies to help the puppy as she develops.

Solid Footing

Puppies must avoid slipping as they try to maneuver around the whelping box. It is important for newborn puppies to have good traction as they develop. We alway use Vet-Bedding to line our whelping boxes. It is a man-made material that is soft, warm and provides excellent traction for the puppies as they learn to walk.

Slow Down Weight-Gain

When raising a singleton puppy, it is important to try to slow the puppy’s weight gain. Much of my time this week during the day was spent by the whelping box limiting feeding time, much to the dissatisfaction of both mama and puppy. I’m sure Echo’s favourite time is during the night – while I sleep, Echo gets to spend all her time with her puppy without my interference. Even though our puppy is a Chunky Monkey, this interaction has helped slow her weight gain.

Exercise

During the limited awake time we have been trying to help the puppy get more exercise to strengthen her leg muscles. As we discussed in my previous blog, exercise for a singleton puppy doesn’t happen naturally as it does for a puppy with littermates. Less exercise combined with extra weight, makes it more difficult for the singleton pup to support themselves as they are learning to walk on all fours. To lower the risk of Echo’s puppy developing “swimmer puppy syndrome“, it is important to develop strong hind leg muscles. Below are a few ways we are using to help Echo’s puppy in this area.

Nursing Exercise – During feeding time, I have added a couple stuffed animals beside the puppy as she nurses. This mimics littermates and makes our singleton pup work harder as she uses her back legs to compete for food instead of just lying down to leisurely nurse.


Taping Exercise – One of the symptoms of “swimmer puppy syndrome” is a puppy that stays on their tummy with legs spread out trying to maneuver around – much like a turtle on dry land. To help avoid this, we spent a few days doing a taping exercise. Using Self Adhesive Bandage Wrap, I taped the puppy’s legs to help them stay close together. This helped her not to drag her legs behind while she crawled and strengthened her hind leg muscles.

Front
Back

Watch the video as the puppies moves with her legs taped. This exercise helps strengthen her hind leg muscles which further reduces the risk of developing “swimmer puppy syndrome“.

Obstacles Exercise – Without littermates to crawl over, we needed to add some obstacles. We filled our whelping box full of obstacles – i.e. bolster beds, stuffed animals, blanket, sock buddies for the puppy to crawl over as she moves around the whelping box. This helps her build strong muscles. They also make great headrests for sleeping LOL!

Hard Work Pays Off!

It has been a lot of work this week helping our sweet puppy build strong muscles. Without littermates to compare progress with, it is hard to judge. Looking back at my previous litters, I would say the puppy’s walking development is a day or two behind but, she is making great progress!!! As you can see in the video below, all our hard work is paying off!

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK THREE
  • Eyes will continue to open wider and sight will slowly become clearer 
  • Puppy will still eat and sleep most of its day
  • Puppy will continue growing 
  • Ears will begin to open
  • Puppy’s hind legs will become stronger as she practices walking on all fours
  • Puppy will become more aware of her surroundings and start to play 
  • Puppy will start to vocalize.
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Look At How Adorable Ellie’s Two Week Old Babies Are!

Ellie’s Puppies

LOOKING BACK – March 28, 2022 – two weeks old

Ellie’s puppies are two weeks old today…..Oh how they’ve grown.. We have had a great week! Watching and cuddle puppies are one of my favourite ways to pass time. Puppies have gained strength in their hind legs. Ellie continues to be a loving and devoted mama. They have been gaining weight daily and now we will only weigh them weekly. With all that eating and sleeping they can’t help but grow.!

Friday Ellie’s puppies eyes began to open. Look how adorable they all look with those beautiful eyes . It is one of the most anticipated milestones that I wait for. The puppies seem to come alive!

Magenta Colour Girl
Magenta Girl
Yellow Collar Girl
Purple Collar Girl
Purple Collar Girl
Pink Collar Girl
Pink Collar Girl
Newborn Puppy Huddle
Green Collar Girl
Orange Collar Girl
Orange Collar Girl
Black Collar Girl
Blue Collar Boy
LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK THREE
  • Puppies will enter the “Transitional Period.
  • Eyes will continue to open wider and sight will slowly become clearer 
  • Puppies will still eat and sleep most of their day
  • Puppies will continue growing 
  • Ears will start to open and they will begin to hear
  • Puppies hind legs will become stronger and they will practice walking on all fours
  • Puppies will become more aware of their littermates and start to play
  • Puppies will start to vocalize.

Willow’s Puppies

🐾 Just a short video of Willow’s beautiful babies ! 🐾

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Two Weeks Old And Oh How They’ve Grown!

February 14TH, 2021 – DAY 14 – 2 WEEKS OLD
Happy Valentine’s Day from our two week old puppies !
LOOKING BACK

Our puppies are already two weeks old. We have had a great week! Watching and cuddle puppies are one of my favourite ways to pass time. Some of my grandchildren have helped me with the cuddling this week. Puppies have gained strength in their hind legs and are moving around the whelping box faster. Ruska continues to be a loving and attentive mama. They are gaining weight daily. With all that eating and sleeping they can’t help but grow. 

Saturday was an exciting day ….. we saw some of the puppies eyes beginning to open. Over the next few days, all the puppies eyes will be opened. Their vision is not well developed just yet but it will improve over the coming weeks.

Notice puppies eyes are opened – so exciting!
Sleeping puppies return to cleaned whelping box

What do two week old puppies do? Sleep……

…….eat……..

Ruska returns to whelping box to feed her puppies

….and then, sleep again!

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK THREE
  • Puppies will still eat and sleep most of their day
  • Puppies will continue growing 
  • Eyes will continue to open wider and sight will slowly become clearer
  • Ears will start to open and they will begin to hear (though not well yet)
  • Puppies hind legs will become stronger and they will practice walking on all fours
  • Puppies will become more aware of their litter-mates.