Puppy Development

The following is an estimated time frame for puppy development:

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• Puppies are born 59 – 63 days from breeding (almost always 59 days from ovulation).The birthing of the puppies, on average, is 5 hours. It often depends on the number of puppies born and can take up to 24 hours.

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• When puppies are 48 – 72 hours old, they can have dew claws surgically removed, and all puppies are checked by the veterinarian. We do not remove dew claws as a matter of course.

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• Around 10 days old, the puppies’ eyes open, and they start moving around.

• The weaning process is started at 4 weeks. They are introduced to puppy food. They receive their first deworming at this point as well. They are totally dependent on their mother and have no distinguishing personality. By 6 weeks of age, the puppies are weaned and no longer see the mom as often (she has not wanted to see them other than twice a day to relieve herself of her milk).

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• At 5 – 6 weeks of age, the puppies are taken to the veterinarian for their fist major check up. Ears, nose, skin, weight, heart, and mouths are checked. We look for any structural problems parasites in a stool sample, and the pups get a 4 in 1 vaccination. Also appointments are made for you to pick out your pup and to take it home.

• Weeks 6 – 8 are a crucial time for the pups to socialize with their littermates. It is during this time when the dogs learn proper dog behavior. A pecking order is established, and the pups are properly shown that they cannot bite, chew, and tackle without consequences. Puppy play is rough, and they learn more quickly from their littermates than they do from humans at this point.