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Sheerah's 2020 Puppies ~ 3 Weeks Old

6/13/2020

4 Comments

 
Welcome to week 3!  As you can see from their photos, the puppies are more alert and awake than the last 2 weeks.  Mobility is also on the rise!  Though it’s tottery, the puppies can now walk.  Below is Luna showing you that she can walk as she sniffs the grass for the first time.
Picture
As you can see, the puppies had their first foray outdoors this week.  They got a brief introduction to grass, a distant lawn mower sound, our cat, and all the smells on the pleasant summer breeze.  ​Walking means it’s potty training time.  See below how we now have a designated potty area for the puppies.  The potty area is the right of their box where the newspaper is. 
Picture
We believe house training begins as soon as the puppies are mobile at 2-3 weeks old.  (You can read more about our house training process here and here.)  We use the Misty Method to train our puppies.  The premise of the Misty Method is to capitalize on a dog’s God-given instinct not to soil the place where they sleep.  The puppies now have two areas – a sleeping area in the gray box with a towel and potty area on newspaper in a plexi-glass box.  They cannot yet access the rest of the whelping area.  We change the towel in the sleeping area several times a day to teach them it’s a clean area and transfer sleeping puppies from the potty box to the sleeping area.  (Yes, the puppies do sack out in there at first, but my children are good at catching them and moving them.)  When the puppies do eliminate in the potty box, we cover it with fresh newspaper to keep it clean while preserving the smell to make them come back again.  We also eliminate the smell in the sleeping area by cleaning it with Bio-base Biodeodizer, which works naturally to eliminate the source of bad odors by using viable bacterial cultures (read more here), and it smells amazing!  This is hands-down my hubby's favorite Life's Abundance product because, yes, puppies do make messes; and, yes, they are quite smelly at times.  Spraying on biodeodizer immediately makes the odors begin to dissipate.
​
Picture
Luna demonstrates a big development milestone the puppies achieved this week - being able to sit! (While Midnight in the background appears to be snoring in his sleep :)
​The puppies’ weights as of this week are Luna - 2lbs, 6oz; Midnight - 2lbs, 5oz; Hiro - 2lbs, 4oz, and
​Bella - 1lb, 14oz.  These four puppies are full and content and growing very well.
 
Since the puppies can now see and hear, they are already being socialized to the normal household sights, smells, sounds, and sensations.  They are in a room off our kitchen and near our washing machine.  They already are familiar with a myriad of household occurrences – doors closing, washing machine running, coffee pot brewing and beeping, happy voices (and grumpy voices), hands touching them, soft surfaces, hard surfaces, cool surfaces, radios, a blender, and on and on – and all of this without any real purposeful socialization on my part because they are part of our daily routine.  As they grow, I intentionally socialize them to as many things as I can, while being conscious not to overwhelm or overstimulate them.  We always, always let them get plenty of rest because that's an important part of puppy growth and development.
​
I’ll close my post today with snapshots from the week.  As you can probably guess, the cuddle sessions are getting longer!

​Thanks, as always, for stopping by!
4 Comments
COLLEEN A. MOCHNOC
6/15/2020 07:29:45 am

Hi Vanessa & Family
Your comments on the puppies are so fitting & now the children & the puppies are all enjoying each others attention. Your children are growing up so fast, but time waits for no one. Thanks for sharing we look forward to see what is going on in the Russell homestead.
Take care & be safe.
Colleen

Reply
Vanessa link
6/19/2020 02:10:05 pm

Thanks, Colleen! Yes, time waits for no one, and children grow so quickly. The children, especially the 2 youngest, often ask first thing in the morning when they crawl out of bed - "May I hold my puppy now?" :)

Reply
Laura L.
6/15/2020 08:39:16 am

I can't tell you how much we find ourselves looking forward to these updates. It makes us wonder, who is luckier: you guys for getting to enjoy being around these cuties, or the pups on the receiving end of so much loving? Either way - thank you so much for letting us watch them grow; it happens quickly, doesn't it?!

Reply
Vanessa link
6/19/2020 02:11:45 pm

Hi Laura - I'm delighted that you look forward to the updates. So much happens before 8 weeks old and not many people get to witness it; so we hope the small glimpse we give is enjoyable :) Soon it will be your turn to watch your little one grow up at Russell Homestead :)

Reply



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    Vanessa from Russell Homestead.  Follower of the Lord Jesus, wife of my knight in shining armor, mother of 5 wonderful children, and joint-keeper of the Russell homestead.  Thanks for stopping by!
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  • Home
  • Mini Schnauzers
    • Mini Schnauzers - The Basics
    • Current & Upcoming Litters
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Nutrition >
      • Nutrition - The Basics
      • Recommended Products
      • Life's Abundance-FAQ
    • Past Puppies
    • Puppy Photo Updates
    • Testimonials
    • Past Puppy Blogs
    • Documents
  • Goats
    • Our Goat Herd >
      • Goats - The Basics
      • Velvet
      • Nickel
      • Llama
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