Whelping Puppies
8 Weeks

Countdown is on...

Puppies will be beginning to leave to their new homes, between 8 and 12 weeks. By 8 weeks puppies are usually ready to leave their littermates, and are ready for individual attention. Many breeders choose to keep some breeds longer to temperament test them, as dominant and subordinate behaviors start to develop, and depending on the breed, this is an important factor when placing puppies. Some pets are kept longer for show potential assessing. Some are kept longer until they are older for shipping. Some are kept until they can be altered or so genetic testing can be done. There are many good reasons a breeder will keep puppies past 8 weeks, and no good reasons to send a pup off earlier than this age. Pups are also ready to begin their housetraining at 8 weeks. Make sure your breeder, knows a little about your lifestyle, family, and dog experience, as she will need to know some things about your family, to properly place the correct temperamental puppy, with you.

They get a nice bath before they go.

They do not really need an ear cleaning, but I do this after every bath, as the product is also a drying agent, that will dry up any water you may have gotten in their ears. All dogs love a good ear massage and cleaning.

cuddles

 and blowdry

Their nails are done one last time. Be careful not to cut the quick, or your puppy will not be so trusting to just let you do it routinely. Frequent trimming will make the quick retract and enable you to keep your dogs nails short. It is nice to cut them as short as possible, as this makes the quick retract. Also have QUIK STOP on hand, in case you go to short.

Your puppy should be totally relaxed on his/her back in a submissive position. This puppy is totally trusting, and relaxed, which makes nail trimming easy. If your young puppy will not stay willingly in this position, Make him/her. You must be the dominant one, and win their trust and respect. Some new puppies, that haven't had proper socialization from original breeder, or just those puppies with pushy attitudes, that do not want to lie on their backs, may need some work to get them used to this position. A good technique is to put them on their back daily. Start with foot massaging, then go to individual toe massaging. Progress to pretend nail trimming daily and then on to the real thing. I have heard from some new owners that it takes 2 of them to hold the puppy down to trim nails and some even need to give a tranquilizer before grooming. It would be nice to attempt to make the puppy enjoy the grooming, rather than having it be a constant unpleasant experience for both dog and owner.

Have more than one person practice lying each puppy on their back, and teach the pup to be trusting of people to willingly lie on his/her back. This will make future Vet examinations and grooming much easier on both dog and owner. Picture of Emma lying happily and willingly on back for Stan.

With this breed (Havanese), their hair grows and causes "slipper feet", so I trim the hair from the bottom pads of their feet. This will be something the new owner will need to continue, along with routine combing, ear cleaning, ear hair plucking, and nail trimming. Some owners will choose to grow hair long, and some will prefer a shorter 'puppy cut'. Some will take their pups to a professional groomer, others enjoy the grooming themselves.

Your puppies socialization started with the breeder, but now it is the new owners responsibility to continue the process. The socialization that your puppy receives up to 12 weeks of age, is the most important, as that is the time when he/she forms his/her impressions of the outside world. 8 to 10 weeks is classed as a fear period, but I have seen puppies totally skip this fear period. For those puppies that are a little unsure of themselves, at this age interaction should be gentle and reassuring. Do not overwhelm puppies between 8 and 10 weeks. That is the age to explore their new home. They are not ready for the big world yet and besides, they haven't had enough booster shots to be taken out everywhere. LACK of socialization after 10 weeks can display itself in fear and aggression as the dog grows up. Improper socialization with rough unsupervised children can also form negative behavior. Make sure all child puppy play is supervised. Not only could the child hurt the puppy, but an over exuberant puppy could accidentally nip a child.

INCLUDE lots of human contact of all ages, affection, handling in all different positions (including the down on back position frequently), grooming and exposure to other animals. Put your head down near the dish as if you are going to share dinner, get all family members to do this. The Dog should NEVER growl to protect his dinner; Nip this quick if you get growling. A dog is a pack animal, and needs to have a leader. If he doesn't, then he will become the leader. For more info on growling read Top Dog.

Lots of play on their back...

Emma at 10 weeks... Puppies can be so cute, that it can be hard to establish dominance, however you have to.  You will NOT break their spirit, you will earn it. Puppies have to also learn that it is okay to spend time alone, she doesn't whine anymore when alone, she has learned that being alone is Okay.  She doesn't like to be alone, but is not afraid or anxious when she is left alone.

Courtesy of MistyTrails Havanese

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