Tux x Ellie Puppies - Weeks Seven & Eight

Weeks 7 and 8 are always a busy time with puppies.  Unfortunately for a few days during this time I was quite ill and am very grateful for the wonderful teamwork from the rest of the family as everyone pitched in to care for the puppies.  Visits were curtailed while I was sick but before and afterwards we had lots of people come over to help socialize the puppies.  
It's not just visitors that help to socialize the puppies, the older dogs in the house are good "nanny" dogs to them and it helps the pups with learning to read and understand canine body language.  




During these weeks we work to help the puppies develop good housebreaking habits.  First thing in the morning they go out to potty and have become very comfortable eliminating outdoors.  

Before bedtime they are also let out into the pen which means they've gotten used to being outdoors in the dark and are now completely unfazed by it.

Puppies at this age are busy!  They bite and chew and run and bark and need to be stimulated with new experiences.  In order to provide an enriched environment to the pups we make sure that we regularly rotate the toys in their indoor and outdoor pens.  They have different types of equipment to climb on and crawl under.  They enjoy the tunnel immensely, not only using it to run through but also to jump on it as a type of trampoline.  On warm weather days we gave them water to play in which is a fun activity for them.  

In addition to playing outside in their pen the puppies are also taken out into the yard to run and play on the grass and explore.  It's a nice time of year to have puppies with milder temperatures allowing for lots of time in the fresh air. They also get to explore other rooms in the house which they do with much delight.

Meal time is a lot more civilized than in the previous couple of weeks and the puppies have been introduced to different proteins including chicken, turkey, beef, boar, lamb, venison and duck. They've also had salmon and pollock oil and probiotics added to their meals. 

Individual one on one time with the puppies has been important to their development as well and it's so nice snuggling with them and working on little exercises such as sit and attention where they are rewarded with small treats. 

The puppies has car rides in this time as well. Trips for their structural evaluations and chiropractic assessments as well as their veterinary check up went well.  They also had their temperament tests and I'm delighted with the gentle, fun and confident puppies that Tux and Ellie have produced together.

Frequent updates and photos are posted on our Northrock Barbets Facebook Page if you would like to follow the litter's progress.