Dog Blog Issue 3

A taste of what’s to come

Goodness, the pup’s are making great progress in their development. There have been some huge changes of the last couple of weeks, and, with their teeth coming through, they’ve had their exciting first taste of goat’s milk, meat (exciting)… and their first worming (not so exciting).

The world is really opening up to these little ones, and every new sensation brings a chance for learning and interacting with their littermates, objects, sounds and, of course, smells. Life is just such fun, and while they are having fun, they are starting their education.

Play to Learn

Along with new teeth, the puppies are also developing their senses. Puppies’ eyes begin to open once they reach two weeks of age, and their sight, at first just a blurry haze, improves over the next month or so. Their hearing is developing, too, with their ears opening at around the same time. It must be such a cacophony of sights and sounds and smells, touch and taste! The Girls - which one will become the new K9MD Detective?

Now the pups can really start to interact with their world, and each other, and their individual personalities begin to emerge as we can compare them at play. They can wag their tails in pleasure, and we can observe which are the more adventurous or inquisitive as they grow more adept at walking… and barking! This is the age when socialisation begins, which is a vital stage in any puppy’s development. They are absorbing new information all the time, and their brains are starting to make connections, which help them learn behaviours and dog etiquette. They might even start to realise there is a pecking order in their little pack, and sometimes they might have to wait to get what they want. With the joy of new teeth, they will be practicing biting their siblings and learning the outcome, as they elicit squeals in response. And they learn what it feels like to be nipped themselves - all valuable knowledge for the future: with power comes responsibility!

Mum will not be enjoying this testing of the teeth at feeding time, and will be encouraging her litter to begin the weaning process. The puppies are becoming more aware of more than just their immediate surroundings, and in between feeding time with mum, and lots of sleep, they spend more and more time experiencing new things - solid food, the vacuum cleaner, music, the television, ‘phones ringing, and people - people are pretty exciting, as it happens, and the puppies are starting to realise they can interact with them, too. As the pups brains develop, they are ready to learn the first skills they will need to live alongside humans, starting with toilet training. They also become more skilled at playing with objects.

Courtesy of Claire Penno of Flagstaff Kennels, here are a couple of videos of the puppies at three weeks of age in their new playground.

The pups have already begun exploring the play tunnel, prompting much conversation. Golden boy is the bravest, and is clever enough to work out not only how to get in, but the important lesson of how to get out again.

Round of applause, young man!

We’ll talk more about toys in our next blog, along with the ‘fear factor’ - another new experience for these little ones.