What’s happening in Puppy World?
Lots of first experiences!
The week between three and four weeks old is a big one with lots of firsts! Puppy eyes and ears are well open at this point, they are steadier on their feet, and their teeth are starting to come in. They are playing and interacting with each other a lot more now, and enjoy playing a bit with big sister, Holly, as well.
First ‘Real’ Food and Potty Training
Puppies got their first ‘real’ food – puppy mush (ground Farmina Lamb and Blueberry puppy kibble with homemade puppy milk replacer), and boy that first feeding is a mess! They learn fast however, and by meal three they have it down. After they eat, I wash off their messy feet and faces under warm running water at the sink. Gets them cleaned up, but also gets them exposed to the running water and getting wet.
A day or so after they started on real food, I expanded the puppy area and added potty trays, and we started working on training them to go in the trays rather than all over the place. We are about four days into that process and already they are close to 100% on going poop in the trays and probably about 70% with peeing. They urinate immediately upon waking up from naps, so it takes a little longer before they have the control to wake fully and make it to the trays every time. Boy does this help with keeping things cleaner!
They had a few other firsts this week as well – their first nail trimming, and a water dish, toys and things to climb on added to the puppy space.
Enrichment Experiences
I have the pups set up in the kitchen. If I had a busier household with lots of kids around, I probably couldn't do this, but it works great for me. Tulsi likes being close to me. This way the pups are close by while I am working, and she doesn't have to choose to be with me or with them. The kitchen is also great for desensitizing them to household stimulation - cooking smells, running water, coffee grinders and food processors etc., pots and pans banging around, timers going off. You get the picture.
I also play music regularly and every day or two stream playlists of dog desensitization sounds.
I start having people over when the pups are about 10 days old. At first only people Tulsi knows really well and is comfortable with. From here on out I'll have more people visit and as they get older focus on getting a variety of people - women, men, kids, older, younger.
It is early still to see personality differences at this point, or even what the size differences will be. At about five to six weeks, I can usually get good a sense of the different temperaments, although we are talking about babies here, so keep in mind, we are seeing only the broad differences.
I have people ask about temperament testing and/or the early neurological stimulation protocols. I used to do these in a more rigid way when I first started breeding. Then I realized that these techniques were really developed to address the limitations of kennel raising puppies. Because those puppies are not being raised in a home (basically underfoot!) with frequent handling and interaction, measures need to be taken to replace that to some degree. In the case of puppies raised in a home environment, the puppies are handled multiple times a day from day one. They are observed, held, played with and interacted with frequently as they develop and grow, so we get a good sense of their temperaments without a specific 'testing' regimen.
