Three weeks old and all kinds of stuff is happening in the Puppy Nursery.
This is the first in a series of sound habituations that expose 3-4 week old puppies to sounds that are known to cause anxiety in dogs later in life. Exposure to these sounds during this crucial 3-4 week period (and then continued periodically during the next several weeks) significantly the maturing pup avoid anxiety during these events as it matures. FYI: Not an actual window, just a big screen with YouTuBe channel .
Sound Habituation continues with young 3 weeks puppies to habituate them to sounds that tend to cause anxiety in dogs. This early exposure does have significant results in diminishing this type of anxiety for dogs as they mature. Today is an introduction to Fireworks played on a large screen TV. It starts at a low volume. If puppies show no fright or stress, then volume is increased slightly. This is played for about 1 hour 2x a day. Volume then increased tomorrow.Expanded Puppy Pen includes low ramp and extended potty areaYellow boy and Lime girl using new potty areaFirst experience with Puppy food gruelYummy Gruel
We also have been exposing puppies to loud sudden sounds to test their “startle & recovery” response.(Hopefully, I can remember to video when we do it tomorrow!) Each day, a new sudden loud sound is done 3x consecutively about twice a day (usually in morning and then after dinner). We started with just a loud hand clap, then a loud rattle of their pen, and today a wooden spoon against a pan. All our doing great. Some don’t even startle by the 2 or 3rd “bang”, and even when startled, all recover immediately and do not demonstrated any true fear and anxiety. This is a great sign!
We are half way to meeting the family who will love us for our forever! But in the meantime…there are new experiences every day and going outside was a definitely a new adventure!
As we are getting really near to due date, an x-ray was completed to get a more accurate count of expected puppies. Well…vet counted 11. Let the fun begin. Oh, my!
We were able to get MUCH better lighting today and, even though puppies will be puppies, most are not tooooo blurry. We also included a picture of the beautiful color they are really developing already on their torsos. Just a beautiful bunch of babies for your Easter Sunday viewing! Pictured in their birth order… Blue…
T Last weekend, we removed the whelping box and created a bigger area for Jazz and the pups. This not only allowed more room for Jazz to nurse her growing 11 babes, it allowed for the next steps in their development. The sleep area is half heated still with heating mats and the other half…
Manding is an exercise from Puppy Culture which is the beginning of teaching a Puppy some positive reinforcement with treats as well as beginning social politeness training (specifically, not jumping up and deMANDING attention or treat). The MANDING exercise is often done with a clicker and treat. We don’t do clicker training, so I pair…
