Pawlite Best Friends

I got a great question from one of our puppies new families, so I wanted to share my response here as well. The question was if there is a specific schedule they should have the puppy follow for waking up, walks, etc. The answer is it depends on your puppy, and learning to read your puppy is one of the most valuable skills you can develop as a puppy (or pet) owner. Today, the puppies woke up at 6, ran around for an hour, ate breakfast then fell asleep for a bit more than an hour before we loaded them into the car where they continued their nap for another 45 minutes. That is a typical sleep/wake cycle for them, an hour- an hour and a half up, 2+ hours asleep. However, they then enjoyed puppy yoga followed by playing with kids, so high activity and excitement for an hour and a half. They passed out in the car for another 45 minutes, woke for 5 minutes to potty then slept for another 4 hours, which I expected due to their higher level of activity. If I woke them at 2 hours I would have had a pack of very tired puppies who are much more likely to bite, chew on things and be fresh. When they let me know they had to go potty all woke up, played for half an hour then I put them back away, I got a few puppies who fussed for 5 minutes but they were all asleep again within 15 minute and will now probably have another hour- 2 hour nap. Essentially, we may have a base schedule- 1 hour up, 2 hours napping, but we need to be flexible and read our puppy, if we don't we risk exacerbating and creating behavioral problems. Tired puppies often act like excited puppies, but they don't know how to settle. Teaching proper sleep, wake cycles in puppy hood creates an adult dog who can regulate their emotions much better #tiredpuppy #puppyyoga #naptime #sleepypuppy #bedtime

Some photos from their first full bath today! We also did a preventative anti-resource guarding exercise and of course, lots of playtime!

How do I get 11 puppies outside multiple times a day at only 6 weeks old for potty training? I teach them to follow me and to come to my puppy recall/tapping from an early age, essentially as soon as I introduce food to them. This is their very first recall and gets them excited to show up for me and they know when I summon them, they know good things are coming!

The puppies had a very busy week! They visited a Montessori School, the women's home that their mom does therapy work at, my families house and yesterday they got to go outside for potty time for the first time! Now they get to get used to weather, a little pool, playing in grass, etc until they are ready for the big yard! They have also continued practicing their puppy recall, sound introductions, handling exercises, individual water introductions, and experienced with new things daily!

Here is an example of one of the puppies actively taking themselves to the potty pads! They are obviously not 100%, but it's fascinating to see them do this at exactly 4 weeks old.

I assure you they will not all be staying, but you can see how happy they are for lovings and cuddles. Laurels tail is going a mile a minute which is typical for her

Enter, the Can Curtain! This is a common noise maker, often used with working puppy litters to build sound resilience and nerves, I find that our puppies really enjoy it and we haven't had any with sound sensitivity so far, though this is not the only noise we introduce. You can see the puppies are curious about the new item and that's exactly what we want, bold and curious puppies who are not afraid of new things or sudden changes.