No Longer Neonates! Stages of Puppy Development

The pups are a full two weeks old now (all of them -- it gets tricky when they were born on different days)! And you know what that means?

They're not considered neonates (newborns) any more!

Yup, puppies have developmental stages just like humans do, but instead of using human-term descriptions like "infant" or "crawler" or "toddler" (which would be silly anyway), canine behaviorists have come up with their own classifications for pups.

So, for those inquiring minds out there who want to know, here are the classifications as described in Another Piece of the Puzzle: Puppy Development compiled by Pat Hasting and Erin Ann Rouse (editors):

• Pre-Natal Period (before birth)
• Neo-Natal Period (1-14 days)
• Transitional Period (14-21 days)
• Awareness or Identification Period (21-28 days)
• Second Awareness/Identification Week (28-35 days)
• Socialization Period (5-16 weeks)
• Curiosity Period (5-7 weeks)
• Behavioral Refinement Period (7-9 weeks)
• Fear Imprint/Impact Period (8-11 weeks)
• Environmental Awareness Period (9-12 weeks)
• Seniority Classification Period (13-16 weeks)
• Flight Instinct Period (4-8 months)
• Second Fear Impact Period (6-14 months)
• Maturity Period (1-4 years)

And yes, each period contains certain windows of opportunity during which certain tasks are easier for pups to learn and remember long-term, and certain critical times when the pups are more susceptible to acquiring long-term fears.

To help the pups become all they can be, we're trying to use these periods for their benefit. :o)

I won't bore you with the details of each stage (if you're interested, the book listed above covers them in detail), but I will let you know what the pups are in for this week.

Over the next seven days, if they haven't already, the pups will:

• hone their motor skills (walking, sitting, standing, moving forward, moving backward, etc.)
• begin to develop usable vision (right now they look like little Mr. Magoos!)
• they'll begin to pee and poo on their own (already have)
• their first teeny teeth will begin to emerge (poor Elsie! poor other pups!)
• they'll start lapping liquids
• their ears will unseal and they'll start to hear (we'll see startle responses to noise)
• they'll learn to use their voices more specifically and deliberately (already are)
  
• they'll start showing interest in their littermates (already are)
  
• they'll wag their tails appropriately (have just started)
• and Elsie will naturally be spending less and less time with them (already is)
  

So what will we do? In addition to the Early Neurological Stimulation we've already been doing since they were whelped (thanks to Sundancer Labs' Theresa's telling us about it before the pups were born), we'll...

• increase our paying 1:1 attention to the pups (no problem there!)
• add safe toys and visually-stimulating objects to the whelping box (no problem there either!)
• we'll introduce new surfaces to their feet (one minute only, once per day). They've already been on linoleum, paper, and fleece in the whelping box; next we'll add carpet, rubber mat, wood laminate (our kitchen floor), brick (our family room floor), tile covered concrete (the kennel room floor), hardwood (the rest of the floors in our house), and doggy beds (soft, fabric covered pillows).
• I'll continue working at my laptop at the kitchen table and answering the phone there (instead of my office) so the pups have activity around them.
• we'll be careful about super loud, sudden sounds this week (like the coffer grinder or vacuum cleaner), but will continue normal noise-making activity like usual (doing dishes, running the dishwasher, running water, putting dishes away, listening to the radio quietly, listening to TV quietly, etc.)
  
• And, we'll continue holding the pups and clipping their toenails and petting and cradling them.
  

So that's the plan for puppy development this week (documented with pictures and photos of course).

We'll keep you updated!

'Til next time,
Joan

P.S. Whoever said puppy raising was brainless must've been brainless himself. :o)

Elsie, the Tease

Poor puppies!

In this 4-and-a-1/2-minute video clip (below at end of this entry), Elsie enters the whelping box to stimulate the pups to pee and poo (something she knows to do right on time, both instinctively and by the pups' specific vocalizations) and to groom and clean up after them.

She doesn't, however, have any intention of nursing them.

The pups don't know that, though.

Poor kids.

So she licks and grooms and cleans, and they try and try and try (to nurse). But it's tough for them when she's standing, and they're just not quite tall enough yet.

Oh, and it doesn't help that Elsie has already "nested" the bedding material into a pile so they're scrambling mostly on moistened linoleum she's just licked or they've just pee'd on (and she's just cleaned up). Believe me, it doesn't make for good traction. (I put fresh paper and bedding in right after Elsie stepped out.)

LOL...not to worry. She returns later (after the video clip is done) to nurse them heartily.

She must be teaching them patience and moderation, eh?

'Til next time,
Joan

Red (Miss Scarlet) Snuggles with Aunt Jeanie

Squeezable Mr. Green!

Two Weeks Old: Then and Now

We're all two weeks old now!

Here we are then (right after we were born):

Here we are now:

My, how we're growing!

Miss Scarlet Learns to Howl !

The pups are finding their voices! :o)

LOL...and, boy, do they have voices. Miss Scarlet (red-ribbon cream pup, you'll see her from about half-way through this short clip until it ends) has a delicate little howl, but it's a howl none-the-less.

Oh, and HER eyes are opening, too. :o)

They're growing fast and learning new things everyday.

Enjoy!



'Til next time,
Joan

Eyes!

Yup, our eyes are opening!

This is our Blue boy. Isn't he handsome! How can you resist a face like that???

'Til next time,
Joan

Sea Legs and Voices: The 6-minute Version

If you're interested in seeing all the pups getting up on their legs, view this version of Sea Legs and Voices.

It's just about 6 minutes long (longer than I normally like to post), but their vocalizations are incredible. It's worth a peek.

And, I think, at one point or another, you get to see each pup try out his/her legs. :o)

I uploaded this one through You Tube instead of Blogger, so you can view it either here or there. Again, you may have to wait a minute or two from when the blog entry first appears (11:05 a.m. EDT) to give YouTube a chance to process the video.

Enjoy!

Sea Legs and Voices

We're getting our sea legs, and we're finding our voices!

Look: Our Pads Turned Black!

Nursing Tail

More Puppy Faces :o)

Puppy Faces at Ten Days

We're Looking Like REAL Dogs Now

At ten days old now the pups are starting to look less like fetal pigs (sorry, but that's exactly what came to mind from my biology days when I first saw the sleeping newborns with their pink, hairless snouts) and more like Labs.

Their noses are more defined and darkening; their eyes are looking more like close eyes and less like a series of wrinkles; their ears are flopping; and their ears and snouts are getting denser hair coverage, hence more color. :o)

Take a look:


Just wait 'til their eyes open (should be any day now!).

'Til next time,
Joan

Life Lessons from Elsie, the Dam, Part One

So the pups are ten days old now, and that makes Elsie a "mom" for only that long. But you'd never know it.

Over just these ten days Elsie has moved from confusion and uncertainty to confidence and clarity. Though once unsure of what to do or how to handle herself, now she operates as if she's been mothering litters for centuries.

How I wish growth for humans could be as swift and certain!

Lest you think I'm a french-fry-short-of-a-Happy-Meal, I can assure you that I realize much of Elsie's "growth" is rooted in instinct. I know she's, well, a dog, and that I and other humans are not.

But I do think I (and we) can learn from her.

Here's my growing list of lessons from Elsie (and what illustrates the lesson to me) as I watch her assume this new role with grace and ease:

1. It's okay to not know everything; that's why we need others. (Elsie's confusion about her labor and whelping)
   
2. It's even better to admit we don't know and let others help than to pretend we do (when we don't) and make things worse. (Elsie's allowing us to help her in her delivery)
   
3. Everybody needs a break sometimes. We can't be on call 24/7. (Elsie's recent forays outside and away from the whelping box)
   
4. Boundaries are good things; they protect us. (the whelping box walls and how they keep these maneuvering, squiggly pups safe from accidental harm) Boundaries can even be liberating! (knowing the pups are safe allows Elsie the freedom to come and go without stress or fear )
   
5. Even when you do all the right things, you may end up with outcomes you didn't want or expect. (losing "yellow" earlier this week to suffocation)
6. We can't only be givers; to be healthy, we sometimes need others to give to us. (Elsie's need for our affection after investing so much of herself in her pups)
7. People aren't mind-readers; when we're in need we have to ask. (we wouldn't have known of Elsie's need had she not "asked" for our attention; we assumed she was content mothering her brood)
8. We don't have to let other voices, no matter how loud and insistent, pressure us into doing less-than-the-best. (Elsie's selective deafness to the pups cries; she nurses them when they need to be nursed, but not always when they want to be nursed; she knows better than they do what's best for them)
9. Taking a break from responsibility -- taking time to play -- is restoring and good. (how invigorated Elsie seems after romping with her buddies, Baxter, Kenya, and Ridge )
10. Our circumstances, even good circumstances, may call us to do unpleasant things for a time. But these won't last forever. These too will pass. ( Elsie's licking and stimulating the pups to void and defecate into her mouth and then ingesting it -- something she will only have to do for about two weeks, but something that, if she didn't do it, could have even worse consequences for her pups)
    

So these are my first ten Life Lessons from Elsie, the Dam. :o)

I'm sure the list will grow, and I'll post Part Two when I have ten more.

In the meantime, I (of course) have ten Life Lessons from Newborn Puppies (would you expect anything else?!). I'll post them tomorrow or later in the week.

'Til next time,
Joan

Blue and White Gets Breakfast

In this video clip, Blue-and-White tries out his hind legs as he scrambles to get his share of breakfast.

Watch how he find his own way into the breakfast bar!




'Til next time,
Joan

Puppy Check-In: One Week

Well, we're all eight days old now. And...

• We all weigh more than two pounds now (we've doubled our weights since we were born).

• Our ears are flopping over like they should (we don't look like Yoda or Mr. Spock anymore).

• Our pads are darkening.

• Our noses are darkening.

• Our faces have hair.

• We whine, whimper, grunt, and yip.

• We lick things now, too.

• We're experimenting with our hind legs. Some of us can even take a couple really wobbly steps before we tip over.
  

We scootch across our bedding pretty fast now (it's a race to the milk bar when Mom comes in the whelping box).

Mom sometimes sits up to nurse us because she doesn't like our little toenails scratching her. But Grandma (Mom's human) trimmed our nails this week so they wouldn't be so sharp.

And we're sleeping lots and lots and lots.

That helps us grow. :o)

We'll be back in a week with another update!

A Thought from Elsie

I love my puppies...

And my people love me. :o)

'Til next time,
Joan

What a Difference A Week Makes!

Here's last Saturday (during the labor/delivery lull...Elsie still had two pups to deliver yet when this picture was taken):









Here's today:








The pups are growing fast! Everyone has doubled in weight except the runt (white), but she's still growing proportionally. Most are near or over 2 lbs. (they were near or just over 1 lb. at birth).

They're starting to push up with their rear legs now, too -- not standing yet, but getting there.

Their eyes are still closed, their ears are still sealed, and Elsie still has to stimulate them to pee and poo.

They yip, grunt, sigh, yawn, whimper, and whine. They're starting to wag their tails. And, boy, are they fast! Their commando squiggle has become far more controlled and purposeful than it was six days ago -- they know how to hone in on Elsie and are quick to grab a teat.

These guys are getting rounder and looking more like puppies every day!

'Til next time,
Joan

Our New Web Site (for our breeding endeavors)

Hey all,

If you have a minute, I finally got most of our web site up -- the one we're setting up for our breeding endeavors so that people can find information about us and our Labs quickly and easily.

Our name as a breeder is "Stoney Ridge Labrador Retrievers" ("Stoney Ridge Labs" for short).

"Stoney" was the name of our first-ever Lab (a black female) and the dam of our first-ever litter (several years ago).

"Ridge" you all know from this blog (he's our fox-red male stud). :o) It also happens that we live on Ridge Road. So "Ridge" works.

Hence, "Stoney Ridge."

You can visit the web site at www.stoneyridgelabs.com. Either copy and paste that URL into your web browser, or just click here if you want to see the site.

I'm still working on it (still have to add our contact info and some other things) but most of what's needed is there (including Ridge and Elsie's certs and pedigrees).

If you take a look, let me know if I'm missing anything important or if you see any glaring errors. We're not looking to do this breeding thing big time at all. We're only planning on one litter per year, alternating years between Kenya and Elsie so they only have litters every fourth or fifth heat cycle. Next year will be Kenya's turn (if her certs come back okay).

BUT, it sure would make it easier to direct people to a web site for specific information about our dogs, instead of this blog, which is fun but not super information heavy.

So, if you have a moment, take a look and let me know what you think. I welcome your input (constructive criticism, too). I'm not a web site designer, so what you see is the best I could come up with.

Any thoughts?

I look forward to your comments.

'Til next time,
Joan (who will be back with normal pictures, observations, and postings tomorrow -- was trying to get our AKC stuff and the web site stuff taken care of today).