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Puppy Development from Week 1 - 8

"Amber" - January 2021

With her delightful bundle of fur-babies

Newborn Puppies

Although they rely on mum for a lot at this stage, newborn puppies are not completely helpless. They can use their front feet to drag themselves towards a heat source or their milk supply. This means their mum, not milk alternatives like cow or goat milk.

Newborn pups have no teeth yet. But they can move their heads about to search for a nipple, and they can latch on and suck strongly. Their mother leaves them only to eat, drink and for bathroom purposes. While she is away, the puppies will crawl together to preserve their body heat.

They may also crawl under a heat lamp source to keep warm. In every other respect newborn puppies are completely dependent on the care of their mother.

Newborn pups have little control over the rear end of their bodies.

The mother washes them and licks their bottoms to encourage elimination, licking up and swallowing anything they produce to keep her babies and their nest scrupulously clean.

1 Week Old Puppies


Puppy development week by week is really exciting to watch when puppies are first born. The puppy will grow rapidly during his first week to ten days. In fact, he may even double his birth weight!

He’ll look plumper and stronger too. Changes are taking place under his eyelids to prepare them for opening.

A puppy’s eyes don’t open suddenly, it is a gradual process. And usually begins during the second week of life.

2 Week Old Puppies


Some big changes have taken place during the last week of puppy development stages. 2 week old puppies will often have their eyes fully open, or at least partly open.

Ears open at this point too, so your puppy will begin to hear. You can see that their eyes are now open and the puppies are beginning to look a little more dog-like.

We will be handling the puppies more now. It’s an exciting puppy development stage! And most puppies are wormed for the first time at two weeks old.

But it doesn’t stop there. Things are about to get much more interesting. At some point between two and three weeks of age, puppies will begin to stand up.

3 Week Old Puppies


The last week has brought a dramatic change in strength and mobility. The puppies’ rear legs start to catch up with the front.

Most 3 week old puppies can stand and sit, and are beginning to totter about. They are also starting to develop their individuality.

No longer are they just a row of identical little fat furry sausages! 

At 3 weeks old, this is also the point at which puppies start teething – cutting their first deciduous baby teeth.

Obviously the teeth are appearing for a reason! 

We will start to offer the first tastes of solid food at this point. Especially if the litter is a large one and putting a strain on the mother dog.

It is lovely to watch a litter of 3 week old puppies beginning to interact with their brothers and sisters.

This is when play begins and you’ll even hear the puppies start to play growl at one another.

4 Week Old Puppies


4 week old puppies will look much more dog-like than their younger selves. They are running, playing enthusiastically, and have started to wag their little tails.

The puppies will start to show bowel control as they move away from the other puppies to defecate. And solid food is becoming a major part of their diet.

If the weather is warm enough, puppies will also be spending some time outdoors now. 


Some mother dogs will lose interest in cleaning up after their pups at this point or soon afterwards.

Keeping things clean and sweet smelling now becomes our responsibility. And many puppies will be wormed again this week.

Vocalisations are becoming stronger at this puppy development stage. The litter will greet their mother noisily when she returns to them, and try hard to follow her out of the whelping box whenever she leaves.

5 Week Old Puppies


By five weeks old, the mother dog is spending more of her time away from her puppies. The puppies themselves are now eating solid food several times a day and gradually being weaned of their dependency on her milk.

Puppies will still suckle ravenously when their mother returns and she will now often feed them standing up and only for a short time.

She will also be teaching the puppies not to bite too hard.

This is a key turning point in the development of the puppies’ relationship with people. 

We are increasingly spending more time with them helping and teaching them to be familiar with the sounds and sights of a human family environment to ensure they develop into confident, friendly dogs.

6 Week Old Puppies


We will arrange for each 6 week old puppy to have their full vet health check, puppies are also given their first C3 vaccinations & microchipped.

6 week old puppy dogs are fully weaned and eating four or five small meals of solid food each day.

A 6 week old puppy doesn’t depend on his mother’s milk any more but he does need her help and guidance.


Puppies Still Have a Lot to Learn at 6 Weeks

Bite inhibition training continues at this age. The puppies are learning not to bite too hard from the reactions of their mother and siblings.

Six week old puppies need this important interaction and won’t be ready to leave home for another couple of weeks.

Puppy growth is not quite so fast now. But the puppies will still grow strongly for the next few months. Puppies will again be wormed again this week.

7 Week Old Puppies


The 7th week, for most puppies, is the final one with their brothers and sisters. All that remains is for plenty of great socialisation experiences to be packed into this week, with final checks on health.

We will aim to have the puppies trained to pee and poop on puppy pads or newspaper. 

We will have been whistling to the puppies at meal times to get them used to coming to a human signal.

As the week draws to a close, many puppies will leave for their new homes. By the end of this week, most puppies will leave their mother for good.

8 Week Old Puppies 


OPEN DAY - PUPPY SELECTION & COLLECTION


For most puppies, this is the first week in their new home. Potty training is now underway and puppy socialisation plans are being made.

At 10 weeks old your puppy will need to have their C5 vaccination and nasal heart worm injection. 

It’s a good idea to get him checked over by your vet in any case.

It’s an exciting time for puppy development stages! But there will be some settling in challenges for you new puppy owners and some adjusting for the new puppy to life without mother and siblings.

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