Week One
The first week is when we closely watch over the puppies and make sure that everyone is thriving the way that they are supposed to! Any naturally-occurring birth defects such as cleft palates will make themselves known. The mother does not want to leave the room for more than 5 minutes, so we all team together to clean up the room during her bathroom breaks. During these breaks we also weigh each puppy take note of any dramatic changes.
It can sometimes take a week or more for us to go through the waiting list applications and notify future owners that their puppies are born.
Please be patient, as the new mother is our main focus of love and attention at this time.
Week Two
Between 10 - 14 days after birth we start to see their little eyes open. They are still unable to see much other than lights and shadows. This is when we really start holding them and interacting with their paws. They also get their claws clipped for the first time, which becomes a weekly activity.
Once the puppies are two weeks old, they receive their first deworming with pyrantel pamoate. As a rule, we always deworm puppies, even if the mother is clear, because all mothers carry dormant eggs that they pass onto their offspring through their milk. The puppies have no immune system at this young of age, therefore those dormant eggs hatch. They get their second deworming at 4 weeks of age.
Week Three
When the puppies are three weeks old, we start to offer them a mixture of soaked puppy food with cottage cheese and goat milk to start helping mom out. This is usually when we start to see them "coming alive" and interacting with each other. They also will start mock play-fights with each other and are walking a talking.
