The puppies continue to thrive — and they are two-weeks-old today! We will do official two-week photos later.
Something I find interesting is that the Wildflowers are likely not all the same age — the smaller puppies were likely “made” a day or two after some of the others.
In dogs, eggs are released over a brief period of time and available for fertilization for a day or so before they are no longer viable. The first puppies born (Mallow and Paintbrush) were likely the last puppies made, and this fits with their lower birth weights. Their eyes are not as open as the other puppies — this also supports the conclusion they are “younger” than some of the other puppies.
This will in no way impact them in their lives. But given the pace of development in newborn puppies, a difference of even 1 - 2 days in age is noticeable.
Our day began as usual with some out-of-the box nursing. Mariposa was one of the group left to sleep in the whelping box but she woke up and started to explore.
Puppies at this age are being flooded with new sensory information and their increased awareness of the world — thanks for their rapidly developing brain and increased information from vision — can make them suddenly scared or anxious. When this happens, they slink to the ground and back up a bit — like this:
Then they seek safety — like this…
Imagine if the puppies were outside. Their increased mobility means they can walk away from the safety of the den and that makes them extremely vulnerable to predators. It is biologically functional that puppies at this age start to evaluate potential threat and use freeze/retreat in response to the perception of threat.
Their skill in assessing what is real threat and what is not will be refined as they develop but right now their vision is blurry and likely what they see is shapes suddenly appearing — as if a hawk is flying down to grab them.
I am very careful with the puppies so as not to startle them. I avoid sudden hand movements over their heads, and I do not just grab and lift them — like a predator would. Instead, I touch them firmly before picking them up, and I intentionally support both the front and rear of their body.
The puppies will not remember being terrified or hurt — but their brains are absorbing information and being hard-wired.
Exposure to stress absolutely — no question — can change a puppy. There is likely a dose effect, which means repeated or prolonged stress is likely worse than an isolated or occasional instance.
But stress matters and remember — stress is defined by the puppy and not the human. Unless you are talking about stressing out a human — and then the human gets to define the stress. Like flying, for example — very stressful to this human.
But I digress — sort of…
When people minimize a procedure like dewclaw removal by noting the puppies seem to object more to being restrained than actual pain, they are reflecting a lack of understanding — being restrained IS stress for a puppy. In fact, restraint is one way lab animals are intentionally stressed so that researchers can examine the effects on their (removed) brains. Yuck.
Sage and Bob
We should not worry about whether a procedure or an event will be remembered by a puppy (or an infant) — we should be worrying about how the brain got wired as a result of the physiological reaction to the experience.
Clarkia
If you want to know more about how traumatic events are incorporated, I highly recommend the book, The Body Keeps the Score. Also, reading up on ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) will give you insight as to why we should care about this kind of stuff.
Again, there is a LOT of research about this — there is really no question that bad experiences/stress in early life can change things.
Clover
And so I pay attention to all that, understanding that building resilience comes from mastery — and mastery happens when we have successful developmentally appropriate experiences.
Clover
It is a constant balance — pushing and nudging a bit but not flooding and creating fear/stress.
Buttercup and Larkspur
Confidence — not anxiety — is the goal.
Afternoon Video - Click HERE to see puppies before Lunch #4 and after Lunch #4.
EVENING: LOTS OF PHOTOS FROM THE DAY
Larkspur
Clover
Two weeks old and already planning her escape — my kind of puppy!
Lupine, Mariposa, Mallow and ??
Clarkia in the front
Carlos checks in
This is the aftermath of one of the afternoon’s outside-the-box shift nursing sessions…
Paintbrush — walking!
Clarkia is a puppy with a ton of presence.
Lupine — yes, her mouth is open a lot.
This is Sage — his abscess is almost all gone.
I love this sweet photo of Daisy with Clarkia.
Okay — these are the official Two-Week-Old photos but two disclaimers are in order.
First — puppy eyes are blue! And they are even bluer with a blue background so do not be alarmed by the color of their eyes.
Second — two-week-old puppies are not easy to hold and photograph. One peed on Dear Husband, several gnawed on him, they stuck out their tongues, and just generally were an entertaining bunch of miscreants.
But we tried!
Someone sent this — I love it so much and plan to use it (and the other one that arrived with it) in photos when they are older.
Paintbrush
Mallow — he wanted to chew on DH’s fingers
Clarkia — she insisted on squinting
Sage — Tongue-out Tuesday?
Another biter — Mariposa
Lupine is overly fond of her tongue these days
Buttercup
Larkspur
Clover having a Bad Hair Day
And one of many hilarious outtakes…
Yep — Lupine