Suzy-Q/Eli "National Park" 5 week

  (Green Boy "Denali") -wavy/straight brown (Blue Boy""Yosemite") -wavy/straight brown

 (Pink Girl "Rainier") -wavy/straight brown (Purple Girl "") -curly apricot 

This week the puppies will begin to spend a lot of time outside during the day.  

Puppies are all very steady on their feet now and are getting really playful (especially with each other).  They are doing great with their potty training by using the potty area about 85% of the time.   We have  introduced crates to the puppies this week and when they are in their whelping box this is where they will begin to spend most of their sleeping time as it is the only spot in their box with a soft pillow to lay their heads. 

Puppies began to eat soaked kibble this past week and are now eating solid dry kibble beginning the process of weaning.    Mom has already begun to distance herself a little by spending less time in the box with them.  This time away will gradually increase over the next 2-3 weeks. The puppies had their first barrier challenge this past week as well.  When they are really interested in their food I place it behind a barrier so that they can use their problem solving skills to help work through problems or obstacles for the reward of food.

This week 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.  They have begun to teach them important dog manners.  This is the week our puppies usually hit what is called a fear period.  This period can last only an hour or a few days.  We will take extra care to be sure that if they exhibit and fear towards anything  we will scale back and individually help them overcome those fears slowly.  This is also the week we begin "Manding" with the puppies.  Manding is the behavior of the puppy sitting when he/she wants something.  It's a way for them to communicate with us in a polite way.  It's always best to have a dog approach and sit (without being asked) rather than jump up  because they want something!  By the end of this week they will all have caught on and will begin expressing this very desirable behavior when they are approached by a human (as long as we have a treat. LOL).

Suzy-Q/Eli "National Park" 2 week

  (Green Boy "Denali") -wavy/straight brown (Blue Boy""Yosemite") -wavy/straight brown

 (Pink Girl "Rainier") -wavy/straight brown (Purple Girl "") -c urly apricot 

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Puppies are all doing great.  Everyones eyes have opened.  They are starting to move around a bit. Puppies are starting to get a lot of handling. Handling by children of this age is a daily occurrence here at the Thompson household because we have a built in 4 year old here to help socialize them.  

At two weeks of age the puppies leave the neonatal period and enter what is called the transitional period.  Traditional period is typically between days 14-21.  During this time we will begin to introduce them to a new novel item and or have a new experience daily.  These items and experience will help to build a healthy startle/recover/curiosity/and exploration cycle with the puppies to lay the foundation for a confident puppy. This week we will take a dermal nail trimmer to the puppies nails to begin to get them used to vibration and trimming of the nails.  These puppies will have a lifetime of grooming and will need to be handled by their feet and toes on a regular bases.  Doing these things with them early and using items like this that cause vibration regularly will help to start to set them up for success for their many groomings they will have.

Suzy-Q/Eli "National Park" 3 week

  (Green Boy "Denali") -wavy/straight brown (Blue Boy""Yosemite") -wavy/straight brown

 (Pink Girl "Rainier") -wavy/straight brown (Purple Girl "") -curly apricot 

This past week they have all begun to toddle around really well and have become very vocal. They were introduced to 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. 

This week puppies leave the transitional period and will enter the socialization period.  During this time their ears open and they begin to hear.  We will start some sound protocols with them this week.  Some of those include listing to classical music, exposing puppies to common "upsetting" appliances such as the vacuum and blow dryer,  and doing 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. 

Suzy-Q/Eli "National Park" 1 week

  (Green Boy "Denali") -wavy/straight brown (Blue Boy""Yosemite") -wavy/straight brown

 (Pink Girl "Rainier") -wavy/straight brown (Purple Girl "") -c urly apricot 

Puppies are 1 week old and have all almost doubled their weight. Oddly enough they all weighed the exact same this morning. The first 3 weeks they grow so fast. Momma is still doing most of the work right now feeding, cleaning, and keeping them warm and happy.  We are enjoying giving them short times of daily handling. Suzy-Q is really a great momma and very attentive.  She is defiantly one of those mommas who is concerned if her puppy is winning either when he/she is off by themselves or if I am holding them and they wine.  Yet she is not overly anxious with people or other dogs around like most mommas are.  We still keep all of that to a minimum (especially other dogs. We don't allow them in the room with her) right now while the puppies are so young.  We will begin to allow more and more of that once the puppies are closer to 2 weeks old.

Just an FYI I had surgery on the September 1 and it will require a long recovery.  I have lots of help with the puppies but I will be a little MIA when it comes to updating the website getting info out to you and responding to request.  Ideally I will do a video every even week and photos every odd week. But please know there may be times I do not get this done at all or  times if I do it does not come at their week mark so please be patient with me over these next few week. I will have a lot of extra time on my hands to get computer, email, website, and texting done because I will be down in bed a lot but I also likely will not feel up to it.  Also my extra time may need to be spent directing those around me to help me and also to do what needs done with the puppies on a daily basis.   

 The puppies are entering their 2nd week of the Neonatal period.  When the puppies were 3 days old we started Early Nejaurological Stimulation (ENS). We will continue doing ENS until they are 16 days old.  ENS is a combination of different tests and stimuli that is designed to get your puppy comfortable being handled, desensitize him/her to discomforting touch, and get their brains working.  We preform a serious of test (for lack of better works) from handling the puppy upright, upside-down, on his/her back, tickling his/ her toes, and setting them on a cold surface.

Suzy-Q/Eli "National Park" Newborn

  (Green Boy "Denali") -wavy/straight brown (Blue Boy""Yosemite") -wavy/straight brown

 (Pink Girl "Rainier") -wavy/straight brown (Purple Girl "") -c urly apricot 

Suzy-Q has had a long weekend.  After sleeping with Suzy/Q on the floor in the bathroom for three nights in a row they finally came early this morning.  We have two girls and two boys.  They all have a beautiful big white blaze down their heads and face that extends down under their chest.   

The puppies have begun life and are in what is called the Neonatal period. Neonatal period last for two weeks.  During this time we pay close attention to the little pups to be sure they are thriving and growing.  Making sure everyone is eating and gaining weight.  Momma does most of the work right now and we just do a lot of observation.  Mom will tend to and care for her puppies instinctively and make sure all is well by keeping them fed, clean, and warm. We will begin stroking them and handling them right away to get them used to touching and handling as much as momma will permit.    

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