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Our puppies are...

  • HANDLED FROM BIRTH

  • RAISED IN OUR HOME, IN A SAFE, NURTURING ENVIRONMENT

  • EXPOSED TO NEW EXPERIENCES DAILY 

  • STARTED IN BASIC HOUSE MANNERS

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"At birth, puppies are blind, deaf and toothless, unable to regulate body temperature, or even urinate or defecate on their own. Puppies depend on their mother and littermates for warmth, huddling in cozy piles to conserve body temperature. A puppy separated from this warm furry nest can quickly die from hypothermia—low body temperature. Cold, lonely puppies cry loudly to alert Mom to their predicament."  ~ theSpruce.com

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"For the first two weeks of life, puppies sleep nearly 90 percent of the time, spending their awake time nursing.All their energy is funneled into growing, and birth weight doubles the first week. Newborns aren't able to support their weight and crawl about with paddling motions of their front legs. The limited locomotion provides the exercise that develops muscles and coordination, and soon the puppies are crawling over and around each other and their mother."  ` theSpruce.com

Neonatal Period

At Brimka Haus our puppies are born in our home, surrounded by people that love and dote on them. We are with the dam during the entire whelping process to ensure she is comfortable and to assist if that should become necessary. The whelping box is located in a quiet part of the home, near the bedrooms.  

 

The whelping date is known due to progesterone testing done during the heat cycle.  The benefit of knowing the whelp date helps ensure pups will be born on the correct day.  If early whelp occurs a reproductive vet can be sought out. If whelp isn't apparent after one to two days of whelp date a c-section might be considered. 

The Whelping Process

0-3

0 - 3

 0 - 3

This period of time is the most critical.  The pups have to be kept warm and mom needs to be as stress free as possible. It is in these first few days that most puppies die.  They are unable to see or hear.  They rely on their sense of touch.  The pup can feel the heat from mom and will move towards the heat.  If the pup was not born prematurely then he/she should have a strong instinct to suckle.

 

Keeping a constant watch during these first few days is critical. Mom's post whelp health is very important, any constant restlessness or spike in fever is need for veterinarian intervention. Also making sure each pup receives the all-important colostrum during the first 12 hours of life is necessary for survival.   Without this colostrum there is little chance of a pup surviving, unless supplementation is provided.  

 

Beginning from birth, the pups are handled daily and with the utmost care.  Shortly after birth, the pups are weighed. Their weight is monitored daily for the first two weeks to ensure adequate growth.

The First Few  Days

0 - 16 

The pups feed and grow during this time and mom is the primary caretaker. Without mom the pups would have a difficult time surviving.  It is extremely labor intensive and emotionally draining to care for neonatal orphaned pups. Having a healthy doting bitch is critical to raising puppies at this age. 

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Neurological stimulation: From the third day until the 16th day of life our pups are exposed to once daily neurological stimulation. It is believed that this window of time is a period of rapid neurological growth and development, and therefore stimulation has the most benefit. Some noted benefits of the Bio Sensor program are improved cardiovascular performance, stronger heart beats, stronger adrenal glands, more tolerance to stress, and greater resistance to disease.​ 

"Humans handling pups at this time provides a mild stress, which acts to improve pups physically and emotionally. Pups handled during the first two weeks grow faster, mature faster, are more resistant to diseases. They are more stable, handle emotional stress better, are more exploratory and learn faster than pups not handled during this period." ~ Dr. Ed Bailey

The Neonatal Period

Our Puppies Are Handled From Day One

14 - 21 

During this time your pup is slowly moving away from a helpless creature to one of more independence. He begins to walk and eliminate on his own. He begins lapping milk and gains an interest in mush. He begins to vocalize such as growling and barking and some non-verbal communication is observed such as tail wagging. Teeth buds appear at about 21 days of age.

 

His eyes open at about 12 to 14 days of age and ears open at about 19-21 days.  This begins a whole new auditory experience. Our puppies are whelped in our home and remain in our home until they leave with their forever family, exposure to household sounds are inevitable.  Some of the daily sounds surrounding the pups are a sump pump, a washer and dryer, a water softener, a dehumidifier, a toilet, a vacuum cleaner, a TV, music, children playing, and other dogs barking. These household sounds and noises help ensure a balanced and confident pup. 

 

At about this time, we begin clipping the puppies' toenails weekly, and their feet and toes are touched and rubbed daily. This is very important as we want the puppy to become accustomed to having its feet touched.  If you continue this at home you will have a much easier time with clipping toenails.  

"...so by three weeks of age visual cues and auditory cues can be added to the olfactory and tactile modalities and the pups are hitting on all four environmental perception cylinders. Though not yet functioning in a totally coordinated way, that's the total sensory pathways the dog will ever have. All four modalities firing together and total absence of fear makes the three to six week period the most critical for socializing on humans and on dogs. This is when the breeder's responsibility is greatest. And what are the breeder's responsibilities? The main one is the breeder must ensure all associations the pup makes are positive." ~Dr. Ed Bailey

Touching each toe

The Transitional Period

3

Weeks

Old

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