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Week 4 - 23rd November
It's Playtime! - the puppies have started to spend more time awake now and have started to play fight with each other. Who'd have guessed, but it is actually Little Pop, the smallest of the litter, who is quite the little teaser of the group, she is always trying to wake up the others by nibbling at their ears and biting their legs, if and when she does manage to wake them all it's a great sight to see them all interacting.
Leg biting and ear nibbling is nothing to worry about as they have only just started to develop their baby teeth which won't be very sharp until about the fifth or sixth week, which just happens to be when we will start to wean them, dogs have two different sets of teeth, just as we do, and their strong adult teeth will start to develop at about eight weeks of age. We remember finding the odd little tooth around the house a couple of weeks after our first puppy came home.
We also heard the first bark today, which came from Lola, if she is startled she will give off a cute little squeaky woof. So funny. The others have also started to make little growling noises when they are playing. Jasper Barks in the video above. Ear pulling is a favourite pastime of little Melody.
At week four they are coming to the end of their time in the whelping box, we have managed to stretch it out as long as we can but they are getting too large now. It is typically around three to four weeks when you allow them a larger living space, dependant on the size of the dog. We stopped laying the blanket over the sides of the box a few days ago so they won't be able to use there sharp claws to get a grip and pull themselves up and over.
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A couple of days ago we introduced newspapers and training mats into the box and have started the process of toilet training them. One end of the bed is nice fresh cosy blankets and the other end is the toilet, we keep the training mat down for most of the day so that the puppies will learn the smell and know that the cosy end is a better place to sleep and it's in their best interests to keep it clean.
One thing we have learned is that for the first few weeks the puppies needed to be stimulated by the mother before they could go to the toilet. We are not sure how she knows when, it must be simply another example of motherly instinct. Now they manage to go without the mothers help which makes it the perfect time to start the training. Otis is doing really well and has walked over to the mat when he needs it a couple of times now.
Monday evening and we have taken the puppies out of the box as it can't contain them anymore, and we don't want any accidents if they did manage to scale the sides. A few blankets in one corner of the room and a training mat and some newspapers close to the door provides the perfect living space and allows them more room to play. What an exciting night they had slipping around the floor! We have given them a few little rubber toys to help with their teething, but at the moment they prefer biting each other.
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Weaning will be the next major event but we won't be introducing food or try to start weaning the puppies until at least 6 weeks of age, which was recommended to us by our vet, small breeds need their mothers milk for longer, so things are going to get a bit harder for Poppy as they will be twice their size again in a couple of weeks, and teeth are on the way!
We have had to block off an area in the room that only Poppy can get to so that we can leave her some food overnight, without the risk of the puppies
trying it and choking on the biscuits. In a couple of weeks time we will be doing the opposite and blocking off an area that Poppy can't get to so we can feed the puppies without her eating all their food!
As long as the puppies are feeding well and look happy and healthy there is no need to rush the weaning process, the only reason we would try a little earlier than six weeks would be if the mother is looking stressed or not producing enough milk.
It is a good idea to trim the puppies nails now as the ends are very sharp and keep getting caught up in their blankets. We just trim the ends, just to take the sharp ends off with our own nail clipper, a little safer than using the large plier cutters that we use for our bitch.
All the puppies have started to develop the customary tear stains below their eyes and as we can't bathe them yet, there is not a lot that we can do about them at the moment. We wouldn't really consider doing anything about them while they are still puppies anyway. We are convinced that apple cider vinegar helps too (see advice page) if used with a good quality dog food.
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The puppies are being well socialised within our family, we are interacting with them all the time, our daughters are starting to spend a lot of time with them now, the puppy room is the the first place they stop off in a morning and the last place they visit before bed. The puppies are also getting used to general household sounds which will help them to be fully prepared for life with their new families in four weeks time. For the moment though, we'll ensure to make the most of the time
we have with them. >>> week 5