Your puppy’s birthday is September 4th! Your puppy will be ready to go home with you October 30th– November 2nd
We have one “boy puppy” spot and one “flexible on gender” spot (i.e. if size or color are more important to you than gender) available in this litter.
happy birthday
Nylah & Moses are the proud parents of SEVEN squishy new babies: four girls and three boys. These little ones are absolutely precious. When first born, puppies depend completely on their mama, so we’re blessed that Nylah does such a great job caring for them. She nurses them almost constantly it seems 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!
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 Nylah as she snoozes contentedly, surrounded by her new family. Nylah seems to love being surrounded by her tiny ones.
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 Nylah’s pups grow! At 48 hours old, the puppies weigh average weight is about 10oz. They’ve already surpassed their birthday weights and gained an ounce or two. Nylah’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 new
Our kids thoroughly enjoy giving puppies their temporary names, and we’re excited to share their choices for these special pups with you.
Introducing: Elephant (aka Ellie – pink collar), Panda (purple), Daisy (yellow), Pumpkin (orange), Bob (red), Mark (green), and Moosie (blue).
It’s hard to believe that these four 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. Most of the pups just passed over the 1lb mark today, and a few are hovering close to it.
Look at those dark black noses! They’ve transitioned from the cute little pink noses into the beautiful dark points that will make these pups look extra handsome as adults.
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.
The puppies have now had their toenails trimmed for the first time. When you take your puppy home, it’s important that you continue to regularly trim her nails. Right now we trim the puppies’ nails with human baby nail clippers. For our adult dogs, we use a dremel to keep their nails short. We like to keep the puppies’ nails short so they don’t accidentally scratch Moki while nursing. Plus nail trimming is going to be a regular activity throughout their lives, so we want to introduce them to it at an early age. We’ll continue to clip little nails frequently over the next seven weeks.
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.
getting ready
We’ve created a puppy shopping list to guide you as you prepare to bring your new pup home! Go ahead and pick up a Snuggle Puppy (stuffed puppy with a heartbeat) to bring with you on meet & greet day (or mail it to us if you live out of town). If you have a crate, you’re welcome to leave that with us that on meet & greet day as well and we’ll start getting your puppy used to her new future “bedroom.”
the best way to prepare for a puppy is to prepare yourself!
Baxter & Bella: first 2 weeks with a new puppy videos are all short 1-3 minute videos that are helpful to watch. You’ll learn how to teach your puppy and get ideas for establishing good behaviors from day one. These videos show Amy Jensen training Chili, her young doodle puppy.
- Puppy pen & day one crate introduction
- Impulse control
- Toy trade game and building a marker
- Mat work & teaching your puppy to settle
- Teaching your puppy to sit to say “please”
- Settling in a crate, redirecting
- Come
- Keeping an eye on your puppy while you’re being productive & preventing resource guarding
- Helping your puppy enjoy being brushed
- Introducing a harness or therapy vest
- Walking on a leash
- “Drop it” command
- Example of a puppy-sized training session (training sessions should only be 1-2 minutes long for an 8-10 week old puppy)
If you’re eager to learn more, Baxter & Bella’s online resources, virtual classes, and video training tips are an amazing option for every puppy owner. Plus membership is for a lifetime, so you can access Baxter & Bella’s tools repeatedly over the years ahead for each and every furry child that joins your family. Use the discount code TIMBERIDGE to save 25% when you join Baxter & Bella!.
service & therapy
If you plan to do service or therapy work with your puppy, the harness introduction and “touch” Baxter & Bella videos (above) are both important to start working with your puppy on. In addition, consider what environment(s) you’d ideally like to go on therapy visits and make a list of things your puppy might encounter there. Will you puppy meet people in hoodies with the hood up? Will you puppy meet people in lab coats or masks? Will your puppy encounter mobility assistive devices? As you prepare for your new puppy, check GoodWill or Facebook Marketplace to find items such as a cane, crutches, walker, wheel chair, strollers, etc. that your puppy may encounter during therapy visits. You’ll want to familiar your puppy with those items beginning at a young age.