One Week Old!!! What lies ahead!

I can't believe they are one week old!! Time is flying by!  Even the smallest "Peanut" broke the 1 lb mark yesterday. 

Yesterday was a busy day, we moved them into larger quarters which should last for a couple of weeks.  They were crawling out of the baby pool. The shredded paper is easier for them to crawl around on.

They have had their nails clipped once, have started their early neurological stimulation exercises, received daily massages, been weighed daily, been taken out into the sunshine a couple of times, been handled by many different people (all with clean hands!), been put in four different places, and on a few different surfaces already!

They also had a bit of constipation and gas yesterday because we thought they were hungry and fed them when they probably really weren't hungry.  They got overfed so we spent the afternoon massaging tummies of nine pups.  I successfully got three to poop on my lap - the joys of puppy raising!  Why we always have towels on our lap.  But that is why we kept Sinco from them for most of the afternoon so they wouldn't eat anymore for awhile.  Sinco was very good trusting us to take care of them and laid by the pool while we were trying to get them to feel better.

This morning they are sleeping and have been nursing.  They look very good with very soft and shiny coats.  The red pups are always vocalizing so it is hard to know when they need something.  It will be interesting to see how that carries over as they get older. 

We have been doing the Early Neurological Stimulation (Battaglia) exercises with them.  8 of them think it is no big deal but the red bi female "wild child" is quite sure I am killing her.  There are 5 exercises to do once a day from day 3 through 16.  One is to hold them perpendicular to the floor with the hind legs dangling, one is to hold them carefully upside down, one is to hold them on their backs in your hands, one is to rub a Q-tip on the pads of one foot and the last is to place them on a cold wet towel than has been in the fridge.  Each exercise is done for 3-5 seconds and no more. Studies have shown that puppies given mild stress during this sensitive period seem to show improved adaptation to stress, better obedience in training and faster habituation to strange stimuli.  Some studies have followed the stress with gentle massage which enhances the serotonin system.  This helps elicit the relaxation response.  I have been doing a lot of gentle massage on a daily basis with all of the pups.

Myra has done this with most of the litters she has personally raised. Then there was one litter of hers where she was not raising it and it was not done.  I see a huge difference - similar genetics but difference is socialization and stimulation can make a huge difference in intelligence, problem solving, biddability and socializing.  Already 10 different people have visited the pups.  Myra is planning some puppy parties with kids in her neighbor who don't get have a lot of positive experiences with dogs - this will be great for the puppies.  We are making lists of different things we want to do with them and we hear others have done.  Hopefully with the 24/7 care they are getting between Myra, me and others we will be able to give these pups lots of experiences. 

According to the scientific article that Myra and I have read that it is day 9 when the sense of smell comes in and the eyes open between days 10 to 19 (but clear vision is not there until day 28) and ears open around days 18-to 20.
 
The article mentions that between days 21 and 56 you want to have exposed the puppy to the major stimuli you will want them to accept.  So hunting dogs should have been exposed to gun shots and other loud sounds by then.  Dogs going to homes with kids should have been exposed to them by now.  Agility dogs should have been exposed to many different kinds of surfaces, moving boards, rides in cars, wheelbarrows, whistles, horns (like at trials) and trial noises.  All dogs should have been exposed to engine noises, vacuums, dropping pots and pans, thunder, loud yelling, sirens, car horns, handling by lots of different people, grooming etc.  So there is a lot to do between day 28 and 56!!!!  Very busy time for pups!  The goal is for the new stimuli to be associated with a relaxation response prior to day 56.

Week 9 is a well documented fear period for pups and so it is ideal that pups are placed either in week 8 or wait until week 10.  Due to the number of things I like to do with pups before they go to their new homes it is hard to let them go before week 10 however I am flexible. 

Days 42-56 have been shown the best times to start to foster them with humans meaning increasing their exposure to humans and potentially to their human family.  Not necessarily the time to place a pup in a new home but to habituate them to humans.

August 6th (start of week 8) is the time of their CERF exam, August 13th is the date of their chiro appointment and August 20th is the date for their first professional photos.  After that they are free to go to their new homes.