Tachi's 2018 Puppies - 4 Weeks Old

4 weeks old!  So much has changed in our puppies' ever-expanding world this week.  They are now walking and romping with each other.  Though they spend the majority of their day sleeping, they are now much more aware of the world around them when they are awake.  Since their eyes and ears are much more developed than last week, they are now learning all kinds of things through their senses.  Of course, we don't have to intentionally socialize them to normal household noises.  Our household of 7 people supplies lots of interesting sounds - vacuum cleaner, door opening and closing, adult voices, children voices, plates clattering, a washing machine, and on and on.  I did start playing short youtube clips of puppy sound desensitization for them.  I play these clips softly to give them a gentle introduction to sounds like a circular saw, a hair dryer, a siren, horns blowing, etc. 

The puppies are doing well with lapping up milk.  They now look forward to their bowl in the morning and the evening.  Just this morning, we introduced Life's Abundance Small and Medium Breed puppy food softened in goat milk. (You can read all about Life’s Abundance on our nutrition page.)  This litter is very eager for food!  Tachi has been showing us some signs of weaning in the past week, such as leaving the puppies for extended periods of time.  It is becoming nearly impossible for her to feed all 8 at one time - there simply isn't enough room!  Over the next week, we will gradually increase the amount of food we give them while decreasing how much milk they get from Tachi.  

The puppies are growing beautifully!  I put their 4 week weights on their individual pages.  King remains the largest at 2lbs, 9oz and Angel and Noel the smallest at 2lbs.  They are now sporting simply adorable Lupine ribbon whelping collars.  The collars are super soft and gentle.  The children LOVE these collars because now they can readily identify "their" puppy.  I will soon be switching them over to Lupine's 6-9" small collars.

Above, you can see that the whelping area has changed once again.  (Notice Mary being a good girl and using the potty box!)  We expanded their area this week to include a play area.  They now have 3 areas - sleeping area, potty area, and play area.  They are doing excellent with sleeping in the proper place and not soiling that area.  A few of them are using the potty box, but most toddle to a quiet corner to do their business.  To continue to train them, we clean up messes often (Life's Abundance Biodeodorizer to the rescue!) and place them in the potty box when we see them wake up or after eating.

Below are lots of pictures from this week.  The children can now spend long periods of time with them.  MJ was playing with them the other day for about 20 minutes when I heard her say, "Mommy, they are all falling asleep!"  They still tire quickly and need their sleep.  You'll also see a few adorable sleeping positions that I captured below.

Thanks for stopping by!