Temecula Creek Doodles

This sweet litter turns four weeks old tomorrow! They’ve already completed their ENS and ESI training. The puppies have been busy exploring new novelty items as well as sound, touch, and grooming desensitizing. They have mastered their tray potty training and will be graduating to their toddler stage play area tomorrow. We will introduce crates and give them more room to explore. Each puppy is growing so quickly, and starting to show their unique personalities. So many more exciting milestones to come for these little ones!

Potty training, crate training, and desensitization are well underway, and the puppies are making fantastic progress! They’ve adapted beautifully to crate training, happily settling in for their post-playtime naps without any fuss. Despite the rainy weather, they’ve been having a blast splashing in puddles and zooming around outside, making every moment an adventure!

Today's novelty item was a hit! The puppies had a blast with all the crunchy sounds from the various types of paper. Introducing puppies to different objects, textures, and sounds is a great way to help desensitize them, boosting their confidence and preparing them for the world ahead.

We have three-week-olds, and these little pups are growing fast! Their eyes are fully open now, and while vision is still a little blurry, they’re beginning to recognize shapes, faces, and even sounds as hearing sharpens. Tiny teeth will start to peek through, signaling a shift toward puppy mush and solid food. Confidence is building with each step, though they’re still a bit wobbly. Playtime with siblings is in full swing, helping the pups learn social skills, while they continue to bond with mom and become more responsive to human touch and voices. With every passing day, they grow more independent, ready to explore the world (in tiny steps, of course)! Next up in our curriculum, we will continue with gentle handling exercises. We hold the puppies close to our hearts and faces, lightly touching their face, ears, back, belly, tail, and paws. On days 18, 19, and 20, we did a brief "loud noise exposure" session. At this early age, puppies do not yet fear sounds, so this is a great opportunity to start desensitizing them to loud noises. Additionally, once daily we will introduce a novelty item in the whelping box. The object will be unassuming and gentle such as a stuffed animal, stepping stool, cardboard box, etc. allowing the puppies to explore it at their own pace. We will leave the item in the box until the puppies fall asleep. Weaning begins as soon as the first signs of teeth start to show. At this point, we offer a mixture of warm water, puppy food, and supplements blended into mush. We will also provide a shallow bowl of water. Between three and four weeks old, the puppies will begin using a designated spot to go to the bathroom, we have found that the combination of a metal grate, tray and potty pads have been the easiest!

These cuties just turned two weeks! We are continuing to keep a close eye on them making sure each one is healthy and gaining weight. The puppies just finished up their ENS and ESI training, next we will start sound desensitizing and handling exercises. They have been getting extra chunky these last few days, and will start to open their eyes anytime!