puppy timeline
0 weeks gestation: Mating
A female dog usually comes into season every 6-9 months. They are fertile for about a week, during which time they mate with a carefully-selected male. We favour natural matings, though sometimes use artificial insemination.
4 weeks gestation: Ultrasound
The gestation period is about 9 weeks. We often perform progesterone testing prior to mating, to pinpoint ovulation, so that we can know due date within a 2-3 day window. Early signs of pregnancy include rising appetite, sleepiness and swollen nipples. We often perform ultrasound at 4 weeks gestation to confirm pregnancy.
9 weeks gestation: Birth
Mum goes into labour around 63 days after ovulation. Signs of labour include panting, restlessness, contractions and nesting behaviours -eg. going into the breeding box or under the bed of their favourite human, "digging" amongst blankets and collecting items such as clothing that smells like us. Our Mums show incredible patience, calmness, fortitude and trust as they enter labour. Labour can take up to 12 hours, with a puppy born every hour or two on average. Our girls typically birth around 7-10 puppies in a litter. Puppies are born inside our home, next to our bedroom in our dedicated puppy room. They are cleaned by mum and begin breastfeeding soon after birth.
0-3 weeks - Newborn Puppies
Puppies sleep together with their littermates, with Mum spending most of the time in the room with them. Their primary senses of smell, taste and touch guide them, as their eyes and ears are closed. The room is kept quite warm for the first week as puppies cannot yet regulate their temperature. Puppies are weighed every day initially. Puppies are exclusively breastfed till about 3 weeks and feed as often as every 2 hours. Puppies who fail to thrive sometimes need extra formula feeds. Mum more than doubles her intake of food as her milk production surges.
3-6 weeks: Growing Puppies
This is an exciting time of development as puppies' eyes and ears begin to open at around 3 weeks. They also begin to walk on unstable legs at around 3 weeks and are very capable on their feet by 6 weeks. By 4 weeks they are becoming interested in what lies beyond the box! We allow short periods of time outside in a protected area, where they begin to play with one another. They continue to breastfeed but are introduced to solid food, following raw feeding principles, beginning with goat milk then watered down mince meat and Leading Raw puppy mix. At 6 weeks they take their first trip in the car to the vet, where they are health checked, microchipped and given their first vaccination.
7-8 weeks
This is a busy time for us, cleaning up lots of puppy poo, feeding puppies 3-4 times a day and performing testing so that we can match puppies with their new families. Puppies are fully weaned from breastfeeding and are ready for their new home.