The calendar doesn't always tell you when puppies are ready for their next experience! These guys aren't even 3 weeks old, yet, they have decided that they are ready for solid food.
Look at them go!
Some of the best parenting advice I ever received was to treat my boys as the individuals that they were. It sounds so simple, but it wasn’t easy to put into practice. For example when my second son was old enough to play soccer, I got him on a team, because his brother had started soccer at that age.
But as soon as I started noticing their differences rather than their similarities, everything changed. We spent a year home schooling one of them, while the other stayed in traditional school. We nurtured their love of different sports. We planned our family vacations to ensure that we spent time at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, but also did plenty of outside beach time.
Before I knew anything, I believed all of those terrible stereotypes about Pit Bulls. My first assignment as a volunteer at the shelter was to handle the easy-going dog so that we could counter-condition the dog-reactive dogs. We rotated through all combos in short sessions. Boy did I get educated! I was often paired with a….pit bull. Within minutes, I experienced first hand that dogs are individuals. Duh.
So, when I started raising puppy litters, I developed a spreadsheet of experiences they HAD to have and started checking off the boxes. I was especially fixated on making sure every puppy in the litter got the same thing. I often felt like a failure.
As I continued to study, and found the Puppy Culture protocol, and heard from expert puppy raisers that no matter how long you do this thing, every litter is different. WHAT???!!! But of course.
And here we are in our 3rd experience with a mama who doesn’t want much help from us in these early stages. I started fretting about how these poor puppies weren’t getting daily weight checks, weren’t getting ENS, were only getting very minimal daily handling. I focused on what they WEREN’T getting based on my handy-dandy spreadsheet.
But I found myself telling someone that these puppies were some of the sturdiest, stable on their legs before
Pups in the pool
Pups are doing so well!
Mama Boo is doing well too!
The pups aren’t even 2 weeks old yet, eyes are not open, but they are sturdy and wobbling around. Nice plump bellies means they’re getting all the nutrients they need from their mom.
We’ve been taking it slow with Boo, allowing her to tell us how much interaction she wants us to have with the puppies. At this stage of their development, the essential human interaction includes: changing the bedding, gentle handling that lasts about 5 seconds. While Boo is outside doing her business, I can accomplish both of these tasks for all 6 puppies. Oh the joys of a small litter!
When I complete my puppy chores, I let Boo back into the room. She races to check on the pups, looks at me, sniffs the soiled bedding, checks the pups again. Today, when I finished my puppy chores, I decided to carry a puppy to the door to let Boo back in. I wanted her to see me handling a pup and putting the pup back into the puppy pile. Boo responded to that with a relaxed body. And instead of checking and rechecking the pups, she settled herself by my side (not blocking me from the pups) and solicited attention, which I gladly gave her.
Have I mentioned how much I love dogs and giving them what they need?
Dog joy! Tashi and Dixie are good buddies.
We lost a pup last night. We'll care for the remaining 7 and make sure their amazing mama has everything she needs.
Early this morning, before the rain, we played.
Elsa - the husky - is the mama to these pups.
Tashi - the shepherd mix - is the NANNY to these pups!
Raising puppies requires everyone to pitch in.
