Our puppies received excellent care given to them by their mother from birth to about 4 weeks of age. The momma dog takes good care of her puppies by keeping them warm, fed and clean, while only leaving the puppies briefly for food & water, potty breaks and a little attention from us. Our job is to keep the bedding clean & take care of momma so she can do her job.

 

At three weeks of age the puppies start to get their teeth and the momma dog begins to step out for longer intervals. Poor momma... she really needs a break!  Check out the cute video below!  At this point we begin feeding soaked puppy food or "porridge", as it's sometimes called, to her puppies along with a little water. We are still changing out the bedding several times a day to help keep the puppies clean & healthy.

 

By 5 weeks the momma dog backs off even more so that eventually she's just there for a quick visit here and there usually when she feels the need to let the puppies nurse and only for a very short time. Just imagine all those sharp teeth! The momma has also moved on to no longer sleeping with the puppies. Its ok, she checks on them and we provide extra blankets when needed. Our job at this point is to continue to keep the puppy bedding clean throughout the day and to supply puppy porridge on a regular schedule. Sticking to a schedule helps the puppies adjust to the new routine of being dependent on our care instead of their mother. (Current feeding times are 6:30 am, 11:30 am and 4:30 pm.)

 

By the 6th week momma has the puppies fully weened. However, she does continue to visit her puppies on rare occasion but she no longer allows them to nurse on her. It seems she just enjoys snuggling their little faces against her own. Check out the adorable video below  when I happened to catch the our momma Cayanne nuzzling her babies from the inside of their kennel. I had the pups out for a feeding so to protect herself the momma jumped into their kennel and she kept the climbers out.

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It's our rule is to keep the puppies in our kennel until the 6-8th week depending on how well the puppies have weened. This is a very important time for the puppies to continue socializing and learning important dog behavior from their mother & litter mates. No breeder should ever allow a puppy to go home before their 6th week.

 

Now It's Your Turn.....

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At this point your puppy has adjusted to eating dry puppy food and is on a 3x a day feeding schedule. You can begin to change this schedule to twice a day but please do so slowly by reducing the midday meal so that your puppy has time to adjust to the new feedings and larger meal on either end.

 

When you bring your new puppy home, he or she may not eat right away. Don't be concerned if this happens, as it's a big adjustment for them. They will eat when he or she is ready. *We put food and water down at the same time for meals and we offer just the water bowl in-between. If the puppy doesn’t eat/drink take it up and offer it again later. We don’t leave bowls down as it encourages grazing and interferes with their schedule. This is especially important while you are potty training as it will be easier to predict when your puppy has to go outside.

 

We will give you a small bag of puppy food from our supply to take home. If you plan on changing from the brand of feed we use you will need to mix a little of our feed with their new feed; slowly increasing their new feed and decreasing the old one over several days. Changing puppy feed usually causes diarrhea so don’t be surprise when this happens. It will go away in a few days.

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On a weekly basis you should assess how settled your puppy is in-between meals. If the puppy is having periods of play followed by sleep, then it is likely you have a good balance in the quantity of food you are giving. Your puppy should settle to sleep for the night without needing to get up until the morning. There are exceptions to this rule as they may occasionally wake up in the middle of the night for a wee. It may help to plan their last water dish before 7pm.

 

We hope this information if helpful to you. Now all you have to do is... relax and enjoy your new puppy! 

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Thank you for chosing us to raise and love your puppy!

We have enjoyed every moment!