Feeding, growing, playing, maturing. Well the puppies continue to be growing well and playing all day. The weather last week allowed us all to be in the backyard for many hours a day. The puppies now prefer the great outdoors and the increased space out there. They are running, pouncing, jumping, hopping and climbing.
Feeding:
A few weeks ago when when the puppies got piranha mouths & Maya radically decreased nursing, I got up in the middle of the night to feed the puppies because they were not big or strong enough to go through the night without food. In the past week, they graduated to make it most of night, and started my day at 4-4:30 with their first feeding. The past couple of days, they’ve pushed out to 6am. Life is starting to feel much more normal! Currently puppies eat 4 meals a day of softened kibble. My hope when they go home is to eat dry kibble 3x/day at times that reasonably coordinate with the human mealtimes, and able to go 11-12 hours through the night without food.
Teething:
Puppies will be teething for many months ahead from now. They have a need to bite and chew things; Make sure you have a few select toys for this as discussed before to satisfy this need. Otherwise everything in your home will be sought & tried to satisfy this need. The puppies are doing well with soft bites. Still working on training them that humans prefer licks over bites. Thankfully their bites are soft and I’ve simply been removing their mouth, followed by a very gentle correction.
Pottying: When we expanded the indoor puppy pen by two feet, we had many more potty accidents. In many avenues of training it really feels like two steps forward, one step back, especially as changes are made. Take note, because you are likely to feel that way as you train your puppy in the future. Within about a week after the expansion, they were greatly improving, and I’d say they are hitting both Indoor and outdoor potty areas about 90% of the time. I clean up about 10-15 misses a day with 13 puppies. Potty training in the sense I am talking about is having a clear potty area within a short distance, within a confined area. In both our indoor and outdoor areas, the potty spot takes up about 1/3 of the area with the rest being a play/sleep area. Puppies reliably potty upon awakening, after eating and randomly during play.
Sleeping:
Don't underestimate the power and purpose and need for sleep in your puppies life. They need lots of it just like human babies. Our puppies go through cycles many times a day of: awaken, potty, play, sleep. Meals are given at regular times. They reliably potty almost immediately after eating. When the puppies sleep during the day, it’s for at least a half hour, when they crash after play. They awaken during the night but I leave them alone. I can hear them quietly wrestle, play, and settle back down and sleep again. Learning to settle themselves down is an important skill.
Crate exposure:
Knowing most families will crate train their puppies, we’ve added a wire crate to their outdoor play area. It has two doors they can freely go in and out of, and a couple of toys fixed inside the crate. This is simply to give puppies a positive first exposure to a crate.
Clicker training:
Puppies are introduced to clicker/reward training, and are being primed for you to start obedience training at home.
Socializing:
Puppies have enjoyed stroller walks, and the people we pass seem to love it even more. Such a simple way to brighten people’s day, and so good for the puppies too.
Collar expanding:
Puppies grow quickly. Place a reminder on your phone to check collars at least weekly to ensure collars are loose and not getting too tight. Decide if you want a breakaway collar. The puppies have these here because they tend to grab each other’s collar when they are wrestling, and yes they have used such force that they got yanked off.
Meeting soon!
To our upcoming families, I look forward to meeting you in person or over FaceTime next week as you choose and meet your puppy! Appointment times we set last week will be sent via Gooddog along with visiting guidelines. If you have an in person appointment but become exposed to anyone with COVID or have sick/infectious disease symptoms of any kind, we need you to change your appointment to a FaceTime appointment. I’ll do all I can to still make it a special time for you and your puppy. We just all need to do all we can to keep all puppies safe and healthy for everyone’s sake. Thank you in advance for doing your part.
Weights: At 6 weeks old puppy weights are 7- 8 1/2 pounds.
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