V- puppies turn 4 weeks old. Puppies' sensory development.

The fourth week between 21st and 28th day in puppy development is referred to as "awareness or identification period". At this stage all puppies' senses are functioning well, and this past week pups have undergone many first experiences. For example they heard a vacuum cleaner for the first time (no problem!).  Since the whelping box is still in my den where I work on the computer, they listened to quite a few youtube sound tracks with a variety of sounds. So far I have not noticed any sound sensitivity. Sure when they hear a door slammed or a sudden loud noise they startle (which is a completely normal response), but they recover from it very quickly. Several times a day they are taken out of the whelping box and allowed free run and exploration of my den. They like that a lot. When weather allows, they get to spend some time outside in a pen, where they are exposed to a huge variety of smells, sights and sounds.

Pups still rely on Tuesday for their nourishment but yesterday for the first time they had a meal of puppy food mixed with goat milk. They were also given raw bones to play with.

Their weights are:

Volt (lime collar), was at birth 221 gr, now 1645 

Vivica (red) was 250 gr, now 1645

Viola (pink) was 210 gr, now 1565

Vincet (blue) was 232 gr, now 1525

Vonnie (yellow)  was 215 gr, now 1505

Fourth week of puppyhood will bring many new experiences

Puppies are 3.5-weeks-old, and as expected today there were many "firsts". For the first time I heard them "talking" to me and to one another. For the first time they got out of the whelping box, and then I took them outside to a pen where they spent 30 minutes on the grass. Their nails got dremeled, for the 2nd time. They start to resemble "little doggies".

Video of Mielikki's five-week-old puppies

Apparently we have gotten ten inches of rain in the last couple of weeks. Well, it was raining today again. As you can see in the video puppies had a lot of fun in our kitchen/dining area. The background music was entertaining and included some rain forest birds.

We started to supplement pups with some extra food, but Mielikki still insists on cleaning them. I have never seen such a clean freak canine mom! Also, she loves to play with her pups, and she started to let them know that some toys such as her ball are off-limits. But she does it gently and never growls or snaps at the pups.

The third week of puppies' lives

Keena's pups turned two weeks old yesterday, and Gilda's pups will do the same this coming Tuesday. This upcoming week will witness more actvity in the whelping boxes and pups will experience many "firsts".

Right now puppies can see and hear some, but their senses are going to improve dramatically. The pups are not steady on their feet yet, but in the upcoming days their mobility will get much better. They will be able to stand and take few steps without falling. They will also start interacting with their siblings and of course, with their moms. Their teeth will start to erupt and interestingly, the timing of the teeth eruption in wires is correlated with the texture of their coats they will have as adults. Pups with shorter, tighter coats will get their teeth first. Pups with longer and softer coats (as adults) will get their teeth a bit later.

In the third week pups are not ready for food supplementation yet, and they will rely on their moms for all the nurishment. And moms will continue to clean their pups' little butts. Keena and Gilda have been eating a lot and their needs for food will increase even further. Since both of them are dealing with large litters, we will be watching for any signs of eclampsia. I have seen this condition just a couple of times, but it was a very scary experience, requiring emergency. We do have oral calcium on hand, just in case. Eclampsia in dogs is different from human eclampsia, and it usually happens when pups are 2-3 weeks old and a bitch has to deal with a large litter. I think it is quite unlikely in Keena and Gilda's case as they have been eating really well, and they do not stay with puppies all the time.  For more info on eclampsia click here.

Gilda and her puppies

Gilda has an enormous appetite, and her puppies are getting plump. They get all their nourishment from her.

This week the pups will be handled often, and they will be exposed to a variety of noises, sights and smells. This helps in the development and stimulation of puppy senses.

Keena's pups are entering second awareness/identification week

One of the best books on puppies is Another Piece of Puzzle: Puppy Development by Pat Hastings and Erin Ann Rouse. The book includes Kathryn Lanam's article on behavioral development of puppies. According to the article the 5th week (28-35 days) is a second awareness/identification week.

During this week puppies need physical and mental challenges, and their play behavior becomes much more sophisticated. I could see today that pups are making a really fast progress. They started to use the box with wood chips to go to bathroom. It is not easy for them as they have to climb out of the box to do it, then they have to climb back. Of course exercise like this helps develop their strength and coordination.


We are having a really warm spell - yesterday the temperature was reaching 90, and today was around 75. These pictures were taken today when pups were playing outside on the grass. They were chewing on each other, on Keena and they tried to chew on me too. They are now also showing stalking behavior. They like to be touched, they wag their tails, and they snuggle. Some of them growl more than the others.

Light Blue Male.

This is Green Male.

Yellow Female.

White Female.

Light Blue Male drinking water.

After playing hard, pups zonked out and fell asleep.

The world has opened for Gilda's puppies

Gilda's puppies are just over two weeks old, and now they can see, hear and walk (though they are not quite steady yet). The world is now wide open!
Puppies weights are:
Males
Sage 910 gr
Green 730 gr
Purple 880 gr
Red 750 gr
Females
Orange 730 gr
Lime 765 gr
Cream 820 gr
Pink 960 gr


Today pups and Gilda were dewormed with Fenbendazole.

Since this is a litter registered with Deutscher Teckelklub, pups will be inspected by a Breed Warden and tattooed at the same time. For the summary of breeding and registering with the DTK, go to http://www.teckelclub.org/breeding.php

Puppies' new explorations

Today puppies are five weeks old. They are doing really well. We started to take them, individually and in a group, upstairs, where our kitchen and dining area are. This way they have a chance to get used to the sounds of every day life - the sounds of the dishwasher, blender, fridge, kettle etc. They also get a chance to stretch their legs and run, and to meet other dogs.

The pups also spend some time in our mudroom (this is where the pictures were taken), where our washing machine and dryer are located.

They enjoy playing with toys but nothing beats the attractiveness of the antlers and deer legs. The antlers you see in the picture were given to us by Marty and Mikki Vlach from Nebraska as a gift, and puppies are putting it to a good use.

Today I opened the mudroom door that leads outside, and I let pups explore. We are getting some snow today but it is not cold, around the freezing point. I kept Emma away from the pups as I wanted to observe their reaction to the snow and lower temperature. They were not too sure about the whole thing at the beginning, but they all made it outside on their own. They seemed to enjoy the experience but at the end they were mentally pretty tired. Well, tired puppies are good puppies :-)

Puppy development in the third and fourth week

According to J.P. Scott Ph.D. the third week of puppy's life is the transition "period, one of very rapid change and development. At its beginning the eyes open, and at its end the puppy gives a startled reaction to sound. It can walk instead of crawl, and can move backward as well as forward. Its first teeth appear, it takes solid food, and it begins to urinate and defecate without assistance by the end of the period, which typically occurs just before 3 weeks of age.
At approximately 3 weeks of age the puppy first begins to notice other individuals at a distance and shows evidence of conditioning and habit formation. This is the beginning of the period of socialization, in which its primary social relationships are formed. At almost the same time the mother begins to leave the puppies unattended, so that there is a tendency for the strongest relationships to be developed with the litter mates rather than the mother. During the next few weeks it is easy for the human observer to form a positive social relationship with the puppy. This period of primary socialization comes to an end somewhere around 7 to 10 weeks of age, which is the normal period of weaning.

Basically the puppy before 3 weeks of age is highly insulated from its environment by the immature state of development of the sense organs, by the lack of ability for conditioning, and by maternal care."

Now when puppies are 3 weeks old we will start exposing them to various stimuli. We will continue with touch conditioning, and they will get toys made of rubber, fabric, metal, glass and leather. They will be put on various surfaces.

In this upcoming week puppies teeth will start to erupt. The first teeth to come will be the canines followed shortly by the incisors. In wirehaired dachshunds there is a correlation between the texture of the coat and the timing of the teeth eruption. Puppies with shortest hair will have the teeth early, while pups whose coats will grow longer and and soft will have their teeth quite late. Even now we can see the difference. Olive's teeth are already coming out and her coat will be the shortest. You can see the difference in the coat between Olana (left) and Olive (right). Olana's teeth have not erupted yet.