These sweet babies are ready to go to their forever homes July 8-14th
happy birthday
They’re here. And they’re scrumptious! Junie’s beautiful babies arrived on Monday, May 13th. The fresh little pumpkins are pictured here on their birthday. There are two sweet boys and three adorable girls.
The little white spots on the foreheads of several pups and adorable tiny white feet on others seem to make the puppies extra cute. These white markings will mostly disappear as the puppies lighten with age, but they sure are fun now. You can already see the beginning evidence of curls on the little ones on either end. We will be able to tell more about their coats in the upcoming weeks.
Right now the puppies spend all of their time eating, sleeping, and growing – And I’m happy to say that everyone is doing a great job at these three activities!
3 days new
10 days new
These adorable little puppies are 10 days old now! They continued to spend their days eating, sleeping, and growing. Happily, they excel at all three activities! Junie’s puppies weigh in around 1.5 lbs now. It may not seem like it, but there’s a lot going on even though they still seem so tiny. Their cute noses have turned from pink to black. They’ve had their little toenails trimmed for the first time. The biggest event in their lives so far is the car rides they went on over weekend. Puppies piled into a crate and rode on two 30 minute excursions. It may seem silly to take such young puppies on a car ride. Some experts believe that exposing puppies to car rides at a young age helps prevent motion sickness later in life. While neither Junie nor Moses experience motion sickness, taking the puppies on a few short car trips is an easy preventive measure to help ensure these pups are set up for a lifetime of enjoyable rides to the park.
2 weeks
The puppies eyes are opened! It’s fun to these little nuggets looking back at us! All of that dedicated sleeping, eating, and growing is paying off. Everyone weighs in at over 2lbs now. Their chunky bellies are adorable. They still spend most of the day sleeping and continue to have activated sleep, building their muscles in preparation for the running and exploring they’ll be doing shortly. The puppies already take wobbly steps around their whelping area and crawl all over each other as they attempt to find the most cozy sleeping nook in the puppy pile.
3 weeks
Junie’s puppies are growing like crazy! They’re getting more mobile, too, which means it’s becoming more and more difficult to take their picture 🙂 As you can tell, not everyone wanted to participated in the group photo this week! They have started playing together, which is fun to watch. It looks as if they are playing in slow motion.
The pups’ eyes and ears are open. We’ve started playing their habituation CD, which plays sounds like a cat meowing, a baby crying, an airplane flying, thunder, etc. Our home is far from quiet, so they hear plenty of “real life” sounds every day too!
We like to introduce puppies to a variety of different textures, sounds, and smells during their time with us, so these little ones have felt grass squish between their toes and drank in the exciting smells of spring for the first time. Yes, the puppies have gone outdoors several times already. They’re still a little wobbly on their feet, so they don’t venture too far yet. But they’re already learning to love being outside, just like their parents.
The puppies have had their nails clipped 2-3 times. Keeping their nails trimmed helps prevent Junie from getting scratched when the pups are nursing. It also helps the puppies become accustomed to having their feet handled. It’s important for you to regularly trim your dog’s nails through its lifetime.
four weeks
These puppies are cuter every day! Their individual personalities are beginning to show through. The puppies are walking about, exploring the world around them. They enjoy playing with the different toys in their pen, and they enjoy playing with each other, too. In between their short bursts of energy, they still spend much of their time sleeping. If you sit on the floor, you’re sure to have a lap full of puppies! The puppies went on another road trip this past week. They all piled together into a crate and cruised around town.
Junie’s pups moved out of their whelping area and into a puppy pen. They play some with Abria’s puppies with close observation from us. They continue to nurse but have now started lapping warm goat milk, which they think is AMAZING. Don’t worry- your puppy won’t go home drinking goat milk! We’ll begin transitioning to kibble, and your little one will be accustomed to eating TLC puppy food. You should be receiving an email directly from TLC in the next week. The puppies’ teeth are already starting to poke through, so they’ll be ready to try some softened kibble soon.
puppy video
6 weeks
seven weeks
It’s hard to believe these sweet babies are leaving in less than a week! We’ve worked hard to expose your puppy to as much as possible during her time with us, and now it’s your turn to continue the socialization process. Exposing your puppy to new people, situations, sounds, smells, textures, etc. is extremely important. As you prepare for your new fur baby to come home, here are a few things you should do:
- Make a puppy experience plan – Compile a list of places you want to take your puppy and experiences you want your puppy to encounter. Flip through Avidog’s free eBook about creating great puppies and explore what local stores are pet friendly. You’ll find some pet friendly places here to get you started. Consider what safe dogs you can introduce your puppy to (dogs who are predictable, friendly, healthy, and will model good behavior for your pup). Remember, adult dogs aren’t always fond of puppies so be sure to monitor them together. Do you know someone with a friendly cat or rabbit? Do you know anyone with a woods or creek where you can take your puppy for a short romp? It’s great for your puppy to meet a a variety of people such as: man with a beard, someone wearing a big hat, someone wearing dark sun glasses, someone using a wheelchair or stroller, people of different ages, etc. Your goal is for your puppy to meet a minimum of 100 people by the time she’s six months old. Strive to make every experience a positive one!
- Glance over Puppy Culture’s exercise chart – Familiarize yourself with what sorts of activities are appropriate for your puppy at this stage of development. You want to give your puppy a variety of unique positive experiences, but your puppy is still growing & developing, so you don’t want to push your puppy too far. For instance, climbing up one to two stairs is an appropriate challenge but climbing a flight of stairs is not a good idea for a young puppy.
- Pick out and sign up for a puppy class – A puppy class is essential both for socialization and manners. Look for a class that emphasizes positive reinforcement, as learning & training should be a fun game at this point. Clicker training is a plus. This article from AKC gives some pointers about what to look for in a puppy class.
- Get ready for positive crate training – Plan out how you would like to crate train your new puppy and gather some supplies so you’ll be ready. We’ll send you home with a scented blanket, but many families have found a snuggle puppy to be helpful for making their new addition feel like she has a friend in her crate. Go ahead and pick up special treats and chews that are reserved solely for crate time. We’ve been locking pups individually in the crate briefly with an exciting chew, keeping a close eye on them the whole time. Their favorite is a pig’s ear. As soon as they get tired of the chew and want out, we let them out so they don’t start whining/pawing. Have chews on hand so you can continue working with your pup at home. When she wants to exit, trade her a high value treat for the chew (so you taking something from her mouth is positive). Also, scatter yummy treats in her crate when you want her to enter, treats that she only gets in her crate. Try to stay in her sight while she’s crated for a few days while she adjusts. It may be helpful to put her crate by your bed a night and then in the main part of the house for rest times during the day. If you have another dog, you may want to set her crate up next to your other dog’s crate, so she doesn’t feel alone. If you have a play yard, you can set that up and put the crate inside so she can go in and out freely but can’t get into trouble. Your pup has been confined to a play yard here where she’s had access to open crates. She’s been eating in crates with open doors. She’s been confined to a crate during car rides and chewing sessions. But despite her early introduction to crate conditioning, it still will likely take her time to become accustomed to being confined. Slowly increasing the length, treats, praise, a good chew, etc. will all help but it still may take time for her to adjust to it. Eventually she’ll know it’s her space and not mind it.
meet the parents
Learn more about Junie & Moses by visiting our parent dog page. Want to see pictures of Junie’s 2017 & 2018 litters? You’ll find those posted in our blog as well as on Junie’s personal page. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for additional pictures of Moses, Junie, past puppies, and this current litter!
getting ready for your puppy
We’ve created a puppy shopping list to help guide you as you prepare to bring your new pup home!