happy birthday!
Maple & Boaz are the proud parents of SEVEN squishy new babies: five girls and two boys. These little ones are absolutely precious. When first born, puppies depend completely on their mama, so we’re blessed that Maple does such a great job caring for them. She nurses them almost constantly and snuggles with them. How sweet are these faces? Most puppies are born with pink noses that gradually turn black over the first few days, so enjoy those pink little noses now! The puppies are about 24 hours old in these pictures, and you can see that the nose of little Acorn (orange collar) is already darkening in color.
At first puppies can’t yet walk. Their eyes and ears are closed. They can’t go to the bathroom on their own. And they can’t maintain their own body temperature. Fortunately, God gave puppies a natural instinct to pile together for warmth, so they snuggle together in a giant puppy heap. And they also love cuddling around Maple as she snoozes contentedly, surrounded by her new family. Maple seems to love being surrounded by her tiny ones. She only leaves her new crew a few times a day for a quick bathroom trip.
EEGs have revealed that the brain activity of infant puppies is the same when asleep and awake. But these little pups are busy eating, growing, and developing. It’s amazing how quickly Maple pups grow! At 48 hours old, they’ve already surpassed their birthday weights and gained an ounce or two. Maple’s puppies twitch and pop in their sleep, as all healthy newborn puppies should. This activated sleep helps them build muscle tone.
weekly puppy tip #1: nap time is essential!
Think about a napping place – The puppies spend most of their lives sleeping now, but did you know that your new furbaby is going to need lots of sleep when you bring her home, too? Puppies, just like small children, require naps throughout the day. When your puppy is sleeping, try to allow her to rest untouched (it’s okay for noisy life to carry on around her while she snoozes, but it’s best not to physically disturb her as much as possible). This may mean that you need to guide her to a different spot than the one she’s initially chosen. Puppy Culture estimates that an 8-10 week old puppy sleeps 3 hours and then is awake for 1 hour before going back down for another nap. Puppies are like little children – sometimes they don’t realize that you’re tired and need you to put them down for a nap. Puppies can get over stimulated and become overly tired just like toddlers. It’s your job to help regulate them. AKC gives some helpful insight into the importance of puppy sleep (You can read the whole of the article here.):
Although puppies may seem like little bundles of energy, in fact, they sleep 15-20 hours a day. One minute your puppy may be a miniature tornado, and the next he’s fallen soundly asleep, almost mid-activity. Sleep is essential to healthy growth: during sleep his central nervous system, brain, immune system, and muscles are developing. All of that sleep also helps him rest up during growth spurts… household members, especially children, should leave your puppy alone while he is sleeping. Plan his day so that active time is followed by quiet time for sleep. He’ll most likely be ready for a nap after playtime or a walk, sleep for a while and then wake up ready for anything. Your puppy may nap every hour or so, sleeping from 30 minutes to as long as two hours. All of this sleep is perfectly normal.
one week
It’s hard to believe that these seven chunky munchkins are already one week old! They have grown so much! These puppies may still seem incredibly small, but they’ve really packed on the pounds! These sweet little pumpkins continue to dedicate their entire lives to eating and sleeping – and it shows! They are becoming fat little sausages with adorable wrinkles and rolls.
Look at those dark noses! They’ve transitioned from the cute little pink baby noses into their dark big pup noses.
Even though the puppies spend most of their lives sleeping, they actually are doing baby workouts as they snooze the day away. These little pups twitch and pop involuntarily during their sleep, developing muscle tone for the near future. This phenomenon is known as “activated sleep.” In a few short weeks, these rolly polly puppies will be bouncing around playfully. Their legs, while still wobbly, have already gotten stronger and the puppies wobble around on them instead of just army crawling as they did initially.
weekly puppy tip #2: make a puppy experience plan
Make a puppy experience plan – Compile a list of places you want to take your puppy and experiences you want your puppy to encounter. Any day now, these little eyes will be ready to soak up the sites, and we’ll now start introducing the puppies to items that differ in appearance. We have a thought out socialization plan, working hard to expose your puppy to as much as possible during her time with us. When you take your puppy home, that responsibility then shifts to you as you continue the socialization process. Exposing your puppy to new people, situations, sounds, smells, textures, etc. is extremely important. Give your new puppy a few days to adjust to her new home and new routine. Then begin giving her short, positiveexperiences (yummy treats make everything more positive!). Don’t try to do too much in one day, as you don’t want to overwhelm or stress her. Go ahead: start making a list of ideas for how to want to socialize your new puppy.
Your goal is for your puppy to meet a minimum of 100 different people by the time she’s six months old. Dr. Ian Dunbar, a puppy socialization expert, raises the bar even higher by recommending that puppies meet 100+ people during the first month at home. If you hope to visit a local nursing home or hospital when your puppy gets older, secure some crutches, walkers or wheelchairs to expose your puppy to at home. Meeting people is just one component of socialization. Think about outdoor experiences that you and your puppy can safely enjoy together. Consider what predictable dogs you can introduce your puppy to (dogs who are stable, friendly, healthy, and will model good behavior for your pup). Keep in mind that adult dogs aren’t always fond of puppies so be sure to monitor them together. Do you know anyone with a woods or creek where you can take your puppy for a short romp? Remember, you want every experience to be POSITIVE (i.e. bring yummy treats and hand out the praise). Making a plan now, before you bring your puppy home, will help ensure that you follow through with a variety of positive exposures once you have your new little fluff ball at your side.
Check out AviDog’s free e-book for more ideas about what to add to your puppy experience plan. Baxter & Bella also has some great ideas for socializing your puppy.
two weeks
Isn’t it amazing how much puppies grow in just one week? They’re already looking so much more like little dogs. Look at those cute curls coming in! Already, at only two weeks old, it’s easy to see the puppies that will be curlier. Do you see those adorable waves on Hickory & Nugget in the top left picture?
You’ll probably notice how nicely they’re chunking up (Everyone but Cider has passed over the big 2lb mark!)! But do you also see those tiny little eyes staring back at you?! The puppies started opening their eyes on Friday. Eye opening is a process that doesn’t happen all in one day. Right now, we keep the puppy room dim as their eyes adjust to seeing the world around them.
Maple is a great mama. The ever increasing rolls on these babies are strong evidence that she is doing an excellent job nursing her crew! At this point, the sleepy little dumplings still snooze away most of their days and fill any awake time with stuffing their little bellies. We enjoy snuggling them every day, and the puppies have fun snuggling down for a nap on our laps.
Our kids thoroughly enjoy giving puppies their temporary names, and we’re excited to share their choices for these special pups with you. Introducing (from left to right in the group photo): Cider (purple girl), Walnut (aka Wallie; green girl), Nugget (pink girl), Biscuit (yellow girl), Hickory (teal girl), Pluto (red boy), and Acorn (orange boy).
weekly puppy tip #3: age appropriate exercise
Glance over Puppy Culture’s exercise chart. Familiarize yourself with what sorts of activities are appropriate for your puppy at different stages 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 (a study done on 500 dogs showed that puppies allowed to climb a flight of stairs regularly before 3 months old were more likely to develop hip dysplasia). Remember, free running and playing is a great option because your puppy can rest whenever she feels inclined to do so. If you’d like to read more about puppy exercise, check out AviDog’s puppy exercise guidelines. This article from AKC also gives some helpful puppy exercise tips.
three weeks new
Aren’t these little pumpkins really looking like miniature dogs now? They are so stinking precious. The puppies sit awkwardly and walk around now, albeit a bit clumsily. Aren’t they so cute?!
Look at those open eyes! When puppy eyes first open, they’re blue and cloudy but as the eyes change from their cloudy blue appearance, they open more and the puppy’s vision becomes crisper. The pups still spend the majority of their time snoozing, but they’re also starting to play with each other. Their clumsy play right now looks like it’s happening in slow motion.
They puppies have recently discovered that they can make little noises now, and sometimes a seemingly random high pitched bark rings out. They surprise themselves with the sounds that come out of their own mouths!
All of the time these babies spend eating shows! These chunky monkeys continue to grow like crazy.
weekly puppy tip #4: be the leader your puppy wants you to be
It’s essential that you establish yourself as the pack leader. Your puppy doesn’t want to be in charge – that’s a scary place to be! Your puppy wants to look to you as the leader, but you have to show yourself as worth of the role by being the leader (this also helps set your kids apart as ranking higher in the pack than your new pup). Some easy ways to establish your leadership include:
- Sit down with your puppy each night before bed and briefly touch your puppy EVERYWHERE. Kneel on the floor with your puppy sitting between your legs. Start by petting your puppy’s head and tell him “head, head.” Then check his mouth, telling him “teeth, teeth,” and look inside his ears telling him “ear, ears.” Briefly go over your puppy from nose to tail in this fashion. This helps establish that you’re allowed to touch your puppy anywhere and everywhere. (see the video below)
- Set boundaries so there is at least one place in your home that your dog isn’t allowed to go in your home (i.e. not allowed to jump on your bed, not allowed to sit on a particular couch or not allowed into a certain room).
- Teach you puppy to sit and wait for you to walk out the front door before her and give her the “okay” before she is permitted to walk through it. If you’ve been consistent, your puppy will offer a sit and wait for a release word (i.e. “okay”) before coming inside by 3 months old. When she’s old enough to start walking freely up and down stairs, teach her to wait for you to finish climbing/descending the stairs before she comes.
- Encourage your puppy sit and wait for you to give her the “okay” before she is allowed to approach her food bowl. Periodically pick up your puppy’s food bowl while she’s eating, reward her with a yummy treat, and return the food bowl. (we’ll talk about the Toy Trade Game and other educational games you can play with your puppy next week).
- Teach your puppy to do a long down during meal times. Buy a soft rug or bed and teach your puppy to go lay on it on command. We have our own adult dogs lay on a rug in a down stay during dinner. Maple was doing a down stay along side them at 6 months old for the entire length of our meal – which means your puppy can do it at a young age, too!
three and a half weeks new
Sometimes I get a little too excited about puppies, and I can’t help but share pictures mid week. This is one of those times 🙂 Our kids talked us into putting up our Christmas tree already, so naturally the puppies needed a little Christmas photo shoot! They’re getting cuter and more fun every day.
Monday afternoon was gorgeous, so the puppies ventured outside for the very first time. I shared a little video on Instagram of them enjoying a snack from Mommy Maple on our driveway. Today has really felt like winter around here, and it’s a little too chilly for the puppies to go outside at this age. They’ll continue to grow more hair and be ready for cold weather soon. This week, since they’re only 3 weeks old, we’ll stick to exploring the big outdoors on the warmer, sunnier days.