The transition begins!
- Posted on 27th January 2012
- in Blossom (Daisy) 2012, Our Puppiesbefore2021
- by jvfairbanks
Goodbye two weeks, and hello three weeks! What I call “transition” this week reminds me of the turning from a caterpillar to a butterfly; I adore this week! We watch the puppies sleeping the earlier weeks but this is emerging week to me and has lots of fun firsts and building blocks. Daisy’s whelp have all their eyes wide open and we see an increase in activity as sight and hearing starts coming “online” so to speak. Their brains engage from newborn basic instincts of sleep and eat to that of “brand new things every moment”.
Despite eyes being open they do not see well just yet. Around 3 weeks they will be able to clearly distinguish forms as their sight also refine. This time is the mark of transition from newborn whelp to puppy. It is a week of huge development! By the end of the transition stage the puppies will have all the basics; that of sight, hearing, walking and the ability to eliminate by themselves, something they can’t do just yet without the help of Daisy.
This next week will also be their first nail trimming along with their beginning of slight stressing to help the doodles get use to new experiences. A puppy exposed to slight stressors makes for a doodle that is not frightened of new experiences in adulthood. We have a whole schedule of new experiences throughout the time they are with us. This week will also bring more refined sense of smell and at the end of this week we typically see teeth starting to emerge. They gain a sense of their nest and litter mates and become more aware of each other this week and mouthing of their siblings start (and continue) through the end of their nesting time.
As their eyes open and all the sense come online they start to investigate the world around them. The litter will try out their legs as they go backward and forward and move to the first clumsy attempts of walking. We typically see the start of running by the end of this week. They always make me laugh as they learn to run they have not figured out how to stop the run! Lots of wobbly legs and making noises as they start hearing each other and the first bark, then startle as they look around wondering who did that? 🙂 Sniffing is being noticed right now and through this week they start to gain a more refined sense of smell which will lead to them finding their first food other then Daisy’s milk bar. I love this week as we watch the doodles move from whelp (newborn) towards the first emerging of each baby doodle personality, pack order and puppyhood status. Tonight we move our whelp box into what we call the puppy play pen. This gives them more room to run and roam safely while they typically use their whelp box “nest” to sleep next to their siblings for the next few weeks. The play pen also allows Daisy to come in and out as she starts to leave the litter alone longer as she feels they are well on their way. The first two weeks she is very attentive making sure they are all feed, warm, and clean. Slowly she will also transition. And so it all starts this week and I am always amazed at the growth that happens. In just 5 weeks they are ready to join they forever families.
More to come, but for now, enjoy my cell phone video clip of the puppies this early morning. I have found the video camera in the packed boxes so more video snippets will be coming this week.
Parents, Warning! I uploaded to utube. At the end of the video snippet there are old snippets of Daisy’s first litter being born. I myself think birth of the doodles is always amazing, but you might get questions from your children and it is actual birth videos.
Tags: [media id=1]
