Birth - Week One
This page was the page documenting the progress of the 2020 L Litter for its owners. We've now expanded access to all to see our puppy-raising processes and give prospective owners insight into our methods.
The whelping
Puppies and mom are all doing great. Vroni (“Nini”) went into stage one labor Friday morning. The first puppy was whelped at 1:15am on Saturday, 10/3 and whelping finished around 8:00pm. As the father is Pan, we are unofficially calling this the Panini Litter.
Nini is a consummate mother. She handles all duties herself and then presents the puppy to you for weighing. Within a few hours, the suckle reflex kicked in and everyone was nursing. Puppies receive the bulk of immunity from their mother’s colostrum (first milk) shortly after birth. Their intestines are designed to absorb antibodies at that time, but this capacity is thought to close within 4-12 hours of birth. So it is critical that colostrum is in and puppies nurse immediately. Plasma can be provided at this time to supplement with antibodies that may be missing or ensure puppies that received limited colostrum are also protected. We provided all puppies with plasma on the recommendation of theriogenologist Dr. Marty Greer. Additionally, puppies GI tracts are born sterile and must be seeded with desirable bacteria, usually from Mom. To this end, Nini has been supplemented with Nusentia, and puppies have all received their recommended doses of GI synbiotics and Nursemate from Animal Revival. Puppies were supplemented with raw goat milk and some formula containing IgY and Bio-Mos(r). Neonate puppies also cannot maintain their own body temperature or produce additional red blood cells until several days pass! So they are very dependent on mom at this point, and us to support her care for them.
Puppies are weighed twice daily and any weight loss or stall is triaged. Temps dropping below 94 or rising above 100 stop digestion, and several other processes. Pups thus must be kept hydrated and warm - and Mom too! The whelping room is 80 degrees the first three days, so we rotate ice packs for Nini once she settles down to nurse. High quality (and quantity) maternal attention has been demonstrated in many species to be critical to the physiological health of puppies as adult, particularly in ensuring a health stress response. The breeder sets up an environment designed to make Mom as content as possible to maximize the time with her babies (however, this is a rare concern in the drahthaar breed, who tend to be dedicated mothers). Nini leaves her puppies for no more than ten minutes every few hours to relieve herself, although she has been going on a daily light jog since the third day.
What’s going on now
We continue to adjust the environment to ensure the comfort and health of mom and her babies.
Yesterday we began early neurological stimulation ("ENS") as recommended by Dr. Carmen Batagglia and the Puppy Culture protocols. We also began early scent introduction ("ESI") as recommended by Dr. Gayle Watkins of Avidog. Because puppies eyes and ears are closed, we begin working stimulating the senses that we DO have access to. Like human babies, parts of the brain that are unused are pruned, while those that are used are prioritized for growth. We use scents the puppies will encounter in life, but are not encountering in the whelping box. Their first scent was mint from the garden, and as you can see in the video below, today they were on wings. They have also experienced 6 unique human scents so far.
I'll periodically add photos to the gallery here, so if you check back you may see new photos, but the best place to look is the Google Photo Album. We'll update you again soon on their progress!
Week Two
ENS is continuing well. The people in our last video are our immediate family, which has great advantages as Nini knows and loves all of them and readily welcomes them in the whelping box, so we can start socialization early. Everyone has bottle fed the pups at least a little, just to associate new human scents with something good.
Someone asked a good question. The orange stuff you see on some of the pups is staining from the umbilical cord drying solution we use (Super7 by Vetricyn). It will wash off in time, but ensures that the open wound is clean and dries in a matter of hours, sealing out opportunistic infection.
You will notice rubber mats on the floor on top of a liner. Both the liner and the rubber mats are there to provide additional traction. The latest research indicates that we should be trying to make our whelping boxes approximate certain features of the natural den, particularly the enhanced traction provided by the dug out concave surface. This collects the puppies together to preserve heat, but also means their back feet have some traction and they can begin to toddle faster and use their developing joints the way they will as adults. We do not want to see puppies laying with their knees hyper-extended, as this puts pressure on the hip joint and is suspected to contribute to laxity. Usually soft blankets do not provide sufficient traction, so what you see here is Drymate (which also whisks liquid down to the floor below, away from the babies and mom) and some bath mats. (The danger of having the legs in unnatural positions holds true for human babies, as well, and many orthopedists recommend they not be swaddled tightly with their legs excessively extended.) Keeping a stable, high-traction surface is believed to allow puppy joints to develop properly. However, it is easy for Nini to accidentally tear a mat as she is a thorough cleaner, or to reposition herself and the pups away from it as she moves about the box, so we must constantly supervise and keep pups on high traction.
Competition for food at this time is normal and healthy, and serves many purposes. It is believed to stimulate puppies to potty in addition to mom’s licking, and gets them motivated to be up and learning the difficult, physically taxing new skill of walking. When they rest you will see their muscles spasm and twitch. This Is called activated sleep, and occurs because the puppies are not strong or mobile enough to develop their muscles sufficiently at the rate they are growing. The brain sends impulses to trigger the muscles, developing neuromuscular strength and coordination. The puppies also got their first nail trims today under Mom's supervision; this makes nursing easier on her so that she'll be comfortable as possible to spend longer with her puppies.
Puppies are starting to toddle as of today (10/10), actually lifting themselves with their legs and trying to figure out how to coordinate efficient movement from there. They often roll over like little potatoes. Soon it will be time to provide them with new experiences in their whelping box, such as encountering new textures and unfamiliar shapes. Keep an eye out for a bright pink crocodile and some other interesting new objects to appear soon...
We’ll let you know when eyes and ears open! Potty training foundations begin shortly, as well. The puppies will increasingly be able to eliminate on their own, and their instinct to keep the den clean motivates them to move a few inches away from their sleeping place to potty. We will start taking advantage of that instinct soon.
On 8 days old, we are already seeing the pups making an effort to keep their sleeping area clean. Notice how the puppy above moves away from the litter and then makes a 180 to go back to the pile as soon as he or she has finished. This is actually quite early! What precocious puppies. It is time for Vreni to spend short periods away from the the pups for a break at this time, so we will be setting them up on a nest area surrounded by pee-pee papers that allows them to move off at this point. Once the instinct is more solidified, we will open the top layer of the paper and put some grass, leaves, and dirt in. Although it is commonly thought that house-training is a matter of teaching "right" and "wrong", in fact it is simply the development of a scenario preference (in dogs' cases, particularly substrate and olfactory preferences). The way you "win" at house training is simply having a puppy or adult dog in the right place at the right time to consistently relieve themselves where you prefer. If you yell at a dog for pottying indoors, there is no way for their brain to make the distinction that you are angry because they are not outside - they believe they simply must hide from you when they need to go. This is a huge trust-breaker for your dog to think that he or she lives in a place where a biological need is persecuted, and it also lengthens the housetraining process by making your dog nervous and unlikely to want to potty outside in front of you!
You'll hear some light music in the background. This is "Through a Dog's Ear" by Lisa Specter, which we believe is available on YouTube and Amazon Prime Music. We will be using this and other classical music during restful times to condition the puppies to relax to this noise. A few days after ears open and puppies acclimate to having this new sense, we will be interspersing short durations of a variety of noises we want to habituate the puppies to, including gun shot and field trial noises, city noises, kids and other dog noises, door bells, vacuums, traffic, etc. It is important for your dog to learn what noise and other stimuli should be ignored as background information. For puppies, the human world is at first stimulation overload, a veritable sensory assault. It is for them as it was for you walking through Times Square, NYC or Tokyo, Japan, or another foreign and overstimulating location for the first time. You move slowly, observing the sights and sounds, as your brain decides which stimuli to not notice anymore. In contrast, NYC commuters walk briskly through these areas, noticing only what they must to assist them getting to their destination. This will be a recurring theme in your dog's education.
Late last night (10/15) and increasingly into this morning, we have most eyes opening. Nini is spending longer intervals outside of the box, and receives an (overwhelmingly) enthusiastic reaction when she returns. Puppies are lifting themselves up on their hind legs and coordinating back-front alternate leg motion much better at this point! They are able to use their legs properly even on just the Drymate liner or the wee-wee pads over the traction mats, so we've transitioned to the below arrangement when Mom is out to facilitate their instinct to keep their sleeping area clean. We've also introduced their first objects, chiefly for their eyes to reference at this point as they move about, but orange seemed a little disappointed the pink alligator toy did not have any milk.
Week Three
Everyone is healthy and progressing as we move through this week. We're still very much in the eat, sleep, repeat cycle of things, but puppies are toddling very well now and are starting to try to play with their brothers and sisters ("try" being the operative word here). It's endearing and a little funny to see them try to coordinate paw smacks and body tackles even though they're not exactly professionals at walking yet.
Some firsts for this week include their trips outside. Daddy Pan has observed the litter and appeared quite satisfied and pleased with himself (as usual). Today (Wednesday) in particular they tried their first goat milk out of a bowl. Not everyone was enthused while others were so excited they got completely covered in it and had to get bathed by Nini. Mom does a great job watching the surrounding area and dropping in to check on the puppies periodically, but also enjoyed some nice bonding time with Simone.
They have all entered the beginning of the sensitive (or "critical") socialization period, which lasts until about 12-18 weeks of age (and we highly recommended considering your dog still a work in progress until adult maturity). Over the next few days, we will be exposing them to a variety of visual, auditory, and other sensory stimuli. The goal is to create dogs that are optimistic and not fearful in the face of novelty - we want dogs to be as or more curious that something unknown could mean good things will happen (e.g., fun to play with, predict food, treats are inside or around it, etc.) as they are hardwired as adults to be cautious.
By the way, we thought you might all enjoy photos of the puppies' father, grandfather, and great grandfather! First is Pan, then Flic, then Duro.
Mid week three, we are progressing to some semi-solid foods. We know it is prime time to do so as Vreni wandered over after eating the other day, and unceremoniously regurgitated up some pre-digested food of her own for the puppies. Yum! Thanks mom. This is common in wild canids, but has not survived in all dog breeds or even individuals within breeds. As gross as it may seem, it's actually great when you have a mother who can do this. As we mentioned when the puppies were just born, we did supplemental feedings including IgY and Bio-Mos. Later, we added Nordic Naturals Omega-3 oil (as DHA is CRITICAL to brain and nervous system development) and two different kinds of probiotics (10+ strains) designed to survive the stomach and make it into the gut. Now, we are feeding raw, organic milks, yogurts, and kefirs from cows and goats (probiotics), and also a variety of finely ground meats including bear, venison, turkey, beef, chicken, and pork. To this, we add a variety of prebiotics, such as winter squash (acorn and butternut), and potatoes, as well as more Bio-Mos. These are pre-biotics. Even if your puppy will be transitioned to a kibble (which we will begin shortly), having this start on whole, fresh foods with a variety of pre- and pro-biotics - and in particular, even those which are highly perishable and thus cannot be provided in shelf-stable form such as an all-purpose probiotic supplement or treat - is a major advantage. The most important piece of that advantage is permanently enhancing the gut microbiome due to the critical role it plays in the immune system (both in dogs and humans). Just as in humans (although there has been comparatively less research for dogs), it is believe that there is an early period in life in which the gut microbiome appears to be "imprinting", and bacteria are colonizing seemingly quite permanently at that time. The window to easily add and nurture these good bacteria closes at some point, so we get a variety of fresh/raw/fermented/minimally processed/organic foods into the puppies as early as possible. Vreni's regurgitation ability is such a valuable aid in this process because this is another way she can provide her puppies with what is in her digestive system already (optimized precisely for the environment the puppies have been born into), and in particular, HER digestive enzymes. There's good reason to believe this is the most effective and efficient way we can enhance the puppies' gut health, their associated immunity, and set them up for some hopefully iron-clad stomachs as well.
Week Four
The puppies have busted out of their whelping box (literally - they demanded freedom), so they've been moved into their "weaning pen". Preliminary housetraining is going quite well. A few are already religious, but some still try to make it all the way to the toilet and... oops. Neuromuscular control won't be perfect until several weeks after they've arrived to their homes already, but we are very happy with their progress. Everyone has learned what a bed is, and they're very good at getting comfy in them and make almost zero potty mistakes near their beds.
They continue to be accomplished eaters and have added pheasant, fermented fish stock, sardines, Primal digestive elixir (excellent stuff), and raw kefir to their diet without incident. Simone is off to get them some crow and squirrel this afternoon. Despite all our provision of great variety, Vreni continues to regurgitate her food for them. In other news, the pups have a date with a lovely little 2 year old coming over for dinner this Saturday evening so that they can play with and get delicious treats from a very young human (we may introduce bacon for this special occasion). Why? It's estimated that 77% of dog bites are between kids and a dog they know. That is to say, the kids weren't out on the street getting randomly attacked by "bad dogs"; most commonly, their own dog or the neighbor's dog bit them. As trainers this comes up frequently. I find it is hard to understand dogs' fear of children - how could they possibly think a tiny human would or could hurt them? But then, I remember Chuckie. The unpredictability, strange gait, random screaming and volatile behavior of children is just terrifying for dogs that have not been given the advantage of positive, early socialization to them, and/or whose parents have not taught mutual respect between dogs and kids. To this end, we've gotten in some young people already, but please do remember to get your puppy around children, and make sure they think it is positive. Arm children with liver treats, cheese, etc., but give adult strangers regular treats or the dog's regular diet. Control interactions with children immediately (e.g., "Hi there, do you want to give this dog a treat?" "Do you want to see his tricks?") so that they behave in ways your dog understands, and associate themselves with food for you. Don't let the children decide how to interact with your puppy. For more info, head over to Stop the 77 and keep in mind that there are trainers certified to deal with this work in particular (https://www.familypaws.com/).
A lot of our work at this age is socialization, and not just to children. Dogs need to be socialized to literally everything - noises, tile floors, marble floors, ceiling fans, bicycles, dump trucks, balloons, umbrellas, puffy down winter coats, hoodies, the toilet flush noise, etc. It's not very intuitive to humans, but anything puppies were not positively exposed to during their sensitive (or critical) socialization period will be perceived as novel and therefore caution-worthy as an adult. As breeders we try to knock out as many of these as we can. You'll see a video of the pups relaxing to thunderstorm sounds this morning, and learning about the kitchen and dining room this past weekend. You'll also notice they live in what is called an "enriched" environment designed to stimulate all of their senses, and to limit what their brains will identify as "novel" or "potentially dangerous" later in life. They have many more opportunities than litters used to be provided to learn about the world and how to interact with it. The Puppy Culture creator has a great, short blog on this matter with a nice list of references at the bottom, click here to see it. Toys are rotated daily and at least one new and unexpected thing or experience happens each day. We're looking forward to warmer weather later in the week for some more outside time.
Week Five
We cannot believe it is week 5! Simone finalized his placements as you all know. We’re setting that up for week 6, then they get their first round of vaccines on week 7. Theriogenologist Dr. Mary Stankovics of Pleasant Valley Vet in Washington, NJ will be doing these. The puppies will come with a nomograph advising on the best vaccine schedule based on the immunity likely provided from Nini.
Everyone is very happy and healthy and doing very well. They are really practicing running and playing. They had a squirrel tail to play with but Mommy took it and no one knows where it is now, so now they have woodcock and pheasant wings. This week we did Puppy Culture barrier challenges (just a fun problem solving exercise), and we’ve had several visitors. We did additional clicker training, and puppies are coming to whistle and kiss-kiss noises. We’re currently working on handling for treats, focusing on Dr. Dunbar’s top areas: feet, collar, tail, etc. We’ve also been playing in the kitchen, living room, dining room, and bathroom. (Fun fact - the poodle was raised in Japan where my bathroom was about the size of a hall closet, and you had to step up into it. He’s been suspicious of toilets and, in particular, bathroom trash bins, ever since.) We’re also doing alone time sessions with us. Next week we start some car acclimation and some crate training, working up to short durations of happy crate alone time. They are already thinking of the crate as the safe place of rest.
Now is a good time to see if there will be any puppy classes with supervised play sessions in your area, and/or put feelers out for local similarly aged and sized puppies for play dates. You’ll also want to do some advanced planning on getting in for visits during the sensitive/critical socialization period. If children are or will be a part of your life, do make an effort to have several POSITIVE experiences with the ages of children you expect your dog will experience in his or her life. Anything you would like your puppy to enjoy or tolerate as an adult, think about a strategy to introduce in positively.
Week Six
Can't believe it's mid-week six! Major developments include approaching 99% success rate with their litter box, first car ride, Intro to Crate Training 101, and ongoing clicker training. Puppies welcome additional visitors this week, bringing their count just under 40 people. On Friday they will go on their first long car trip to the vet for their first check. Pups continue to spend time outside in the good weather. Simone has been introducing them to the smell, sight, and feel of pheasant and woodcocks, and they have also heard the shotgun outside their room 3-4 times at decreasing distance. We're continuing to play firework, thunderstorm, and field trial noises. Keep in mind their relaxation music has been through Alexa, so when puppy comes home if you have an Alexa you can say "Alexa, play spa music", and your puppy will hear familiar sounds to which they rested.
While we're at it, I thought we would list some great additional general puppy resources, especially as we're heading into colder AND pandemic months. A key priority for your puppy remains socialization with people, and then with dogs, starting with dogs of similar age and size, and working up with positive experiences with variations in size, age, breed, etc.
Madcap University, creators of Puppy Culture, have some excellent free content still if you register for the university and add the free courses to your cart. The one on welcoming home a new puppy remains free because it is still unedited, but goes through crate acclimation, building alone time, and a variety of other immediate puppy concerns. This is free from one of the best names in puppy training, so you might want to give it a go. https://madcapuniversity.com/collections/frontpage/products/with-open-arms-and-a-level-head-how-to-bring-a-puppy-into-your-life
Facebook Group: Pandemic Puppy Raising Support Group - everything (except, in our opinion, their food recommendations) is typically great! https://www.facebook.com/groups/pandemicpuppy/
Absolutely anything in The Whole Dog Journal's behavior column written by Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA. When in doubt, call us, or google "Whole Dog Journal [insert topic / issue here]".
And do not forget, Dr. Dunbar has his own website with a digital training textbook that can easily let you revisit the information in his books. https://www.dogstardaily.com/training/digital-dog-training-textbook
Week Seven
Just going to go straight to pics and video after some housekeeping, because there's just too much and you should see it!:
-
Check out the Google Photos. Many high-rez photos and additional videos were added.
-
As you can see, these are enrichment-seeking, optimistic puppies who have already learned that we are sometimes looking for specific behavior, and they should try to figure out what the human wants because it pays off. Continue to have a symbiotic partnership with your puppy, not an adversarial, conflict-based dynamic. Do not get into the habit of policing your puppy or permitting them to learn and rehearse the wrong thing (e.g., setting them up to fail) and then "correcting" it. Using process of elimination to deter your puppy with pain, force, or fear for exhibiting natural behaviors that occur to it with the hope it will one day be too inhibited to do anything but "the right one" is a long, ineffectual process fraught with risk and unhappy adult dogs whose behavior is only as good as the credibility and intensity of the threat coercing it. Training can be very simple: in any given situation, ask yourself "how do I want my dog to behave?" Use management (leashes, crates, baby gates) to prevent "bad" behavior from being rehearsed and inadvertently reinforced until you have taught your puppy what it is that you want him or her to do, proofed it to the necessary distraction level, and motivated them to want to do it. We hope you will continue to create a dog who is pro-actively looking for opportunities to see what she or he can do to earn reinforcement (food, treats, play, praise, access to fun opportunities) from YOU, who thinks novelty has a good chance of being enriching, and lives a life of joy and confidence. Your dog does not need to work for, impress, or please anyone else; your dog and your relationship with your dog only needs to work for you and your family - never be afraid to advocate for yourself and your dog.
-
Susan Garrett's Home School The Dog (4 month program) is available for $50 over the next few days. Please, please, please consider this program. Susan is, in my humble opinion, the single best performance and sporting dog trainer working today: https://dogsthat.com/secret/
-
Nice Whole Dog Journal on fitting in your training to Covid-19 2020 Quarantine Life: "Quarantraining"
-
Don't forget to sign up for Trupanion FREE month of coverage before you pick up your puppy (or same day, or at latest, the day after) using Ca' Rigada's code: BR1DC72720
-
Puppies receive first vaccines per Vroni's nomograph (you will receive a copy) on Monday following the schedule recommended specifically for the litter by the CAVIDs lab at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (If you want to be REALLY nerdy, CAVIDs just released their manuscript. To put it simply, results summarized below in navy text). Please show your vet the nomograph and the vaccine record from our theriogenologist. They may not be familiar with this yet. (Please try to reassure them and show them Dr. Mary Stankovics vaccinated the dogs, NOT "the breeder". If at all possible, it would be best to carry on with the recommended protocol, results below speak for themselves):
-
Nomograph pups age at protection
Distemper: 15.9 weeks
Parvo: 15.9 weeks
Non-nomograph pups age at protection
Distemper: 21.3 weeks
Parvo: 22.5 weeks
% Nomograph puppies protected
Distemper: 95.6%*
Parvo: 90.5%*
* same as sample of 5,000 adult dogs from the population
% Non-nomograph puppies protected
Distemper: 85.5%**
Parvo: 81.7%**
** significantly lower than both nomograph pups and sample of 5,000 adult dogs from the population
-