June

June's puppies

November 5, 2021

The babies have had a big week this week!  They are all teething and almost have their little molars.  They have adjusted to eating solid foods with just an occasionally nursing 'snack' once in a while. They are all sleeping together piled in a crate.  They aren't quite developmentally ready to separate from their littermates yet but they will practice having periods separate from each other over the next weeks. They are doing well using their potty paper when they are inside and they spend lots of time playing outside.  We feed them outside and they go potty right after they eat so they are getting lots of practice going potty outside.  

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They all had their Neopar shot earlier this week.  Neopar is a Parvo specific vaccine that is effective even in the presence of mom's antibodies. They will be ready for their full 5-way puppy shots at their vet check when they are 8 weeks old. 

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This week we will work on having them take treats and practice sitting to be polite.  This lays the foundation for future training.  June continues to interact with the puppies daily to help them learn dog manners in a way that only mom can teach! 

October 27, 2021

June's babies are almost 5 weeks old!  They are all growing right on schedule.This is week three of the socialization period. This week the puppies have begun to learn and be shaped by other adult dogs in the household but especially mom.  Learning dog manners is a skill that can only be taught by other dogs! We always watch interactions with other dogs closely. Mom is really the best teacher as she will stop or pin puppies that are overly energetic or that aren't picking up on cues to settle down.  This interaction is important to learning good dog social skills. They are also learning how to use their teeth without causing damage.  They teach each other that lesson as they constantly mouth and play with each other.

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We will give the puppies their Neopar vaccines this week.  Neopar helps develop immunity to Parvo--it is the only vaccine that is effective at this young age as these puppies still have passive immunity from nursing with mom.  Some vets prefer to give full immunizations at 6 weeks of age but shots at this early stage are less than 30% effective.  They have a much better immune response at 8 weeks. Our neonatal specialist recommends waiting until 8 weeks for full immmunization.  Parvo is the most prevalent puppy illness so getting a head start with Neopar is important.  We will talk more about vaccines in the take home information.

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We will have FaceTime visits this next week so we can assign puppies to specific families and make sure everyone is well on the way to making take-home preparations.  

October 19, 2021

The babies are about 3 1/2 weeks old and everyone is learning and growing right on schedule.  They are just starting to have little teeth buds erupt and they spend their days wrestling and chewing on each other.  They have started having short visits outside every day and they have playtime with "their girls" everyday.  This week Lottie made little crowns for the girls and everyone was introduced to new toys and play spaces.  They spend time being held and snuggled every day!  June still nurses multiple times every day.  Once she starts standing up to nurse we will introduce soft food along with their potty training area. 

October 12, 2021

Everyone has their eyes open and all the babies have started to toddle around on wobbly little legs.  This week we will introduce a new bed/sleeping area along with our new pee/pooping area to help start these little ones on a path to easier potty training. In the beginning we have one soft bed area and the rest of the pen is potty area.  We use the puppies' natural instinct to keep their bed clean to help with potty training--the minute they step off their bed to go potty they will be in the desired area. Once they are accustomed to use the paper/grate area for potty we will be able to make their play/sleep area bigger. 

This week puppies will leave the transitional period and will enter the socialization period.  During this time their ears open and they begin to hear.  The puppies live in our living room so they are naturally exposed to a variety of noises that will help them adjust to family life: TV/movies in the background, children playing, vacuums running etc.are all familiar sounds to these babies.  Over the next few weeks we will also work on some startle recovery exercises. For startle recovery exercises we will randomly make sudden unusual noises that may startle the puppies ever so slightly to help shape their emotional responses. We watch closely to make sure there isn't a fear response and if necessary we will work with individual puppies more gradually to help them adjust to the noises. 

Girls

Boys

October 8, 2021

June had seven babies in the morning of September 30!  As always, she had a quick and easy labor and she is a fantastic mom.  She had her babies are at the Moffitt home where they are loved by the Moffitt girls every minute of the day.  They get lots of handling and snuggling and great introduction to life with a family.  They are all just starting to open their eyes and are creeping on insteady little legs all around their whelping box.  This next week they will open their eyes and they will begin to see the world around them as they get more and more steady on their feet. June is eating and drinking well and providing lots of milk for these sweet babes.  

Previous Puppies from June