I say puppy and you will think of this:
And yes this is how they look when you come to pick them up to take home with you. But For me and for everybody how breed dogs, this is not what we see. So sit back, take a sip of tea and let me tell you about 8 weeks of cuteness, laughter and allot of poo...
Lets´start with the first week. Here is Kersin the day after (the puppies came, as they so often do, in the late evening) Now every dog is different but this is how it was for us. The first day Kerstin was tiered and didn´t like for us to be too close. This is really good. This mean that she feels that this are hers and hers to take care of. Day two we could with no problem handle the puppies, she feed them and took care of them.
This is Florin and Penny just a few days old. At this time they look more like rats but they are cute, in a ugly way. When they are at this age they eat and sleep. Kerstin lick´s them to make them do their thing. This she will take care of for the next 4 weeks. So for us what we do is to make sure they gain wight and that Kerstin is okej.
This first week they grow, allot. That´s all they do, growing. At 2 weeks they start to open their eyes, you can see here on Lira that she has eye-lids (how every she is sleeping) When they do open their eye, slowly and a little more each day, the eyes looks blue. This is just for a few days and then they become darker. Well for this breed but there are other breeds with blue eye.
When the puppies was born it´s was the start of July and that is when it got really warm here in Sweden. This was a problem for Kerstin, this was just to warm for her to lay with her puppies all day long. That puppies where laying on two thick blankets in the puppy-box, it would be to uncomfortable for them to be closer to the floor. But this made it even warmer for Kersin. So we put a fan in, blowing away form the puppies, just to keep the air moving and when Kerstin would feed them we put a wet cloth on her. It was really impotent to make sure that she drank allot of water witch we had to convince her to do.
When they where 4 weeks we moved them from the tiny puppy-box to our kitchen (well where we had our kitchen table, we moved out, now eating breakfast next to the TV) So now they had much more space to run around. At 3-4 week they start to look and act like really puppies. Open eyes and some tail-waggling. At this point we start to introduces dog food. It´s wet and then mushed, just like baby food. The first days the point is just to get them used to have something other them milk in their mouth. They soon come to love it.
Bye 5 weeks they like it and eats more, how ever little Leone here how looks way to small was the one how always cleaned up. That is also a impotent thing to remember, puppies are just like children, different. Leone is not build the same ways as say Dollar that is very... round. And it´s so easy to just see that she is tiny or he doesn´t play as much or she sleeps too much. Keep calm and try to see the hole picture. Like Leone, we where afride she didn´t eat enough but if that was the case she would have been tired and not wanting to play... witch she did, more then the others. You know what they say... tiny but tough.
at 5 weeks we let them out for about 30 minutes at the time. At 35 minutes they where all asleep. They eat more dog food but still drink milk from Kerstin. Kerstin in not very interested in her puppies from the point that we started to give them real food, that is all she care about (the food). Of course she let them drink and cleans them but if she comes out a realises that there is no food she will head inside again. It´s normal for the mom to focus allot on food after having puppies. She needs allot of food to feed all 7 of them. When I wright this the puppies are 10 weeks and she is even worse so like I said, all stories are different.
Another thing that has been very good for them is this tunnel. I have used this allot when playing with them and I think this is one of the reasons why they are so calm in their self. When they got it they started to check it out and then go through it. And that´s all good but I saw this as a tool and I started to shake it when they where running in it. Well after a few days every time I shook it all came running to run through it. They loved it so then I started to drag it. And they loved it. Then I dragged it over them, no reaction. This I made over two weeks and now they don´t care what I do with it. I can trough it up or in the ground and sens it´s light it bounces away. Still they don´t care. Witch was my goal.
For example I was going to take the puppies inside to let them sleep but after five still two where out and I couldn´t see them. turned out Lira had fallen asleep in the tunnel, that layed on top of Florin- Mission Accomplished!
So at 8 week, that is when they go to their new family, the goal is that they are healthy and strong both inside and out. That they are ready for the new home. A puppy should be active, wanting to play and bite things. Not to fun but this means that the teeth are coming out, just like on little babies. Now every puppy is different but if you are to pick up a puppy that won´t come to you, don´t play with the others or doesn´t look healthy. You should question it. There is so many breeders that put their heart and soul in to their dogs and then there are those how don´t. In this case you pick with your heart.
So you see when I look at Peso I don´t see a cute puppy, I see the past 8 weeks (well 10 in his case), that feels like 8 years, I see him as a rat. I see how he plays with the others and that he can escape from anything. (yesterday in was 12 times... and counting) I see him and know I have done all I can for him and his new family.
8 weeks, 2 month. It has been a time I won´t forget. When they opened their eyes or the first time they wagged their tail. The fisrt time they barked, well we call it that, they where more supried then I was. On Sunday they will be 10 weeks and Peso and Florin are the last ones to go. Then it will only be Penny /Wiola left. Then the seconded part starts. And I can´t wait to see her grow up as a part in our family. And to all of you how thinking of getting a puppy or take a litter, here are my edvice:
Have fun this first weeks goes to fast soon
they will have left / grown up.
This is my experience and it´s not my kennel or my puppies. It´s my parents how started a kennel but I´m the lucky one to got to spend every day with them.
Now I have to got and let them out before they break out <3
Thank you for stopping bye and good Luck!
Love Julia
