In the first week puppies start adjusting to the outside world. Mom and her milk is their primary interest. Getting a full belly is of utmost concern, trumped only by staying warm. The puppies bodies cannot regulate their own temperature well, so they rely on the nearness of mom, a heating pad, and one another. A space heater maintains the room at a desirable temperature. Mom stays in the whelping box with them almost 24/7 for the first several days, only taking significant breaks away when the puppies have nearly doubled their weight. As mom starts spending time away, the puppies learn to dog pile and stay together in larger groups. They scamper along to get where they want, but several from this litter have already attempted to get up on all 4 legs and crawl from brief moments.
The first week puppies make moaning, cooing & gurgling noises much like a human newborn. They whine, cry and screech when they really want something or feel like they are in danger. Full quietness in the room is rare! Mom does a good job keeping them and their whelping box clean.
The puppies eyes and ears are closed at birth, but will begin to open in the coming week. The senses puppies are working with at this point are smell, touch and taste. Earlier in the week we began Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) and Early Scent Introduction (ESI). You can read more about them both in earlier blogs. Early Scent Introduction is working with that sense of smell, exposing them to several earthy scents and watching how they react. Honestly, whelping box smells are not very nice, and it’s fun to watch them begin to take in other smells and stimulate their noses and minds with something different. So far the scent they have taken the most interest in is a quail scent. ENS serves to help the dogs grow in resiliency, physiologically and environmentally. At The end of the exercises with each dog, we tend to cuddle them, just because. At 1-2 pounds they are just such a precious size you can’t help but want to hold them close. Several puppies have fallen asleep afterward on us, and I love that. We want our puppies to be familiar and feel safe and content with the scent of and handling by humans. We want them to bond with us. These are all things we are aiming for in forming and training their foundations.
Puppies are weighed daily for the first weeks to track their growth. The puppies are growing well. The twins starting out as the clear lightweights in the litter were the first to double their weights. In turn most all of the litter has doubled their weight in the first week.
ESI and ENS continue into this week. Eyes and ears will begin to open and that is when we will start informing their sense of hearing.
At one week old, weights range from 1-1 1/2 pounds.
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