Bathed & Ready to Go!
The puppies are bathed, brushed, and their nails dremeled usually the day before they go home. The first 3 puppies are ready to go to their new homes today! I like for Maya to be a part of those going home appointments so she doesn’t have to wonder where her puppy is, and she can know they are going into good hands. She’s making a habit of giving them some goodbye kisses.
Schedule:
Feeding:
Currently the puppies are up for the day between 6-6:30am and usually settle down for the night between 8-9pm. They are fed dry kibble in the ranges of 6-6:30am, noon-12:30 and 6-7pm. I’d offer 1 cup of kibble and see how they do. They usually eat until full, usually 15 minutes or less. Offer plenty of water in the daytime. After they have had food and ample water for dinner, I end water for the night. This is to help them in crate training through the night, having them need to potty less through the nighttime sleeping hours.
Pottying:
They typically potty on awakening, immediately after eating, and randomly during play. Your going home bags have a packet of Pine pellets you can place in the potty area, which should help them identify it’s the potty spot. Whenever they miss the target, scoop it up and put it in the potty area and lead them to it; Previous eliminations are the clearest target to them. At almost two months old your puppy should be going pee at least every two hours in the daytime and most puppies are pooping 3-5x/day. Expect mushy/loose stools as they go through transitions/stressors.
Sleep/Play:
Puppies need a load of sleep for growth, for rest, for processing their experiences, etc. The puppies usually sleep about every two hours for at least 45 minutes Throughout the day. They may need even more sleep coming home. They were just dewormed and vaccinated and every single thing about their new life is brand new to them. Every sight and smell. So they may need even more rest and down time to process everything. Playing comes naturally to puppies and you’ll see a steady stream of it with varying levels of energy. Sometimes they are pretty mellow. Sometimes they look like someone filled their water dish with coffee. Have fun with your puppy and enjoy the variety.
Calming:
Puppies like cuddles, chewing, and certain sounds for calming. The most likely to calm sound tracks are nature sounds of frogs, crickets, water, and lo-fi beats. You can search and stream these, usually free, from places like Spotify, SoundCloud, and Pandora. They are familiar with the album “Dreaming“ by Blue Phoenix on SoundCloud because my son made it while they were here! The first night he published it the puppies were very loud in our home in the evening, and when I put it on, they quieted & calmed quickly. They are also familiar with the album Organic Nature Sounds, Ocean Walk on Spotify. They’ve heard many noises and soundtracks and styles of music, but their favorites seem to be mellow sounds and nature tracks.
Habituation in your home:
Your puppies have been purposely exposed to a huge variety of sounds before they came to you: vacuums, dryers, dishwasher, blender, washer and dryer, children playing, squealing and crying, ambulances, airplanes, among others. Does my vacuum sound like yours? Probably similar but not exact. If you anticipate a loud new noise in your home, consider cuddling and holding your puppy when you start that noise and see how they do. let them know they are safe and that the noise is not a threat.
Resistance to food guarding:
We’ve been working on resistance to food guarding this week. Though it’s a normal behavior in dogs but not a desirable one. I am not seeing any of the puppies act threatened or defensive (ie: growl or bite) when I approach their bowl or put my hands near it while they are eating. If you see any of that, please let me know Pronto. This is especially important in homes with small children likely to take interest in the dog and their food while eating.
Dewormed and first immunizations: The puppies are dewormed and have been given their first DHPP (distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza) vaccination. Here’s a section copied from an earlier blog on vaccines:
Puppies have to develop their own individual active immunity, and that happens when they are exposed to bad germs. Their little body recognizes bad germs and mounts an attack to kill the bad germs. Every time it does this it stores immunologic memory of that bad germ, and the next time it encounters that germ, its able to fight faster and stronger. The problem is that some germs can be deadly right off the bat to an immature immune system. And the most vulnerable time is right about the time that puppies go home to their new families; when Maternal antibodies are waning or gone, and puppy lacks a true personal individual active immune ability. Enter the recommended vaccines.
Your vet will likely put your puppy on an immunization schedule every 3-4 weeks until 16 weeks old. You can request your vet to run titers to verify immunity if you wish. Ask your vet if they recommend leptospirosis vaccines. From what I’ve read, this requires two vaccines and it’s a vaccine that has a higher incidence of adverse reactions in dogs; but San Diego area has recently had leptospirosis outbreaks at some dog parks and other places frequented by dogs, so the risks and benefits need to be weighed with your vet. Because of the vaccine reaction in some dogs I’ve read this vaccine should be started on or after 12 weeks old.
Socializing:
Due to COVID, this litter of puppies has had limited direct interaction with people outside our home. It’s important for them during those first 12 even 16 weeks to get a broad range of exposure to different people, and places. The safest version we could provide through this time was taking puppies out in the stroller. They got exposure, but not interaction. Their primary interaction was with my family, with Maya and with Gloria, and about 10 very select visitors. The best socialized dogs have a broad range of exposures and positive interactions with people and other dogs (& other animals). You need to choose the encounters you provide your puppy carefully and thoughtfully, because the goal we aim for is safe positive experience, not just quantity. So please make sure any dogs your puppy is around is adequately immunized and is good with puppies, and people your puppy interacts with are healthy and good with dogs.
Fear period:
Right around the time puppies head home is when they enter a first fear period. I believe I’ve already seen this in some of the puppies. Sometimes the puppies are courageous and charging everywhere; sometimes they hold back more. Please familiarize yourself with fear periods here:
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/dont-panic-training-through-and-around-puppy-fear-periods/ so that you can recognize it, and respond patiently and graciously.
Growing/weights:
At 8 weeks old puppies weigh approx 10 1/2- 14 1/2 pounds.
Weights:
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