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Originally Posted by cryjay I have two cats as well as my dogs. My bitch, (and we have had her longer than my male) LOVES my cats. She plays with them all of the time (and I swear my oldest cat thinks he is a dog :) ). As I think most of you know my bitch has now 8 little puppies in which to look after. They have started getting stimulated as appropriate for their age. And I will for sure be doing a lot of the stimuli posted. I have found it quite informative and thank everyone for so much information, however, I do have a few questions but will just ask one for now. I totally agree with introducing all the dogs to as many different animals and people at all stages in their life but as much as possible when they are young. What my question is though, right from the time my dog gave birth to her puppies she never minded the cats being there, either watching the birth or laying beside her whelping box. Now she doesn't even mind if they come in and still cuddle up to her ( my bitch and cats have always slept nuzzled into eachother) however, whenever my male dog approaches she gets very leary. Why?
And is there something I should know about this?
And okay I lied I have another question :). As far as I understand it takes a few days for the puppies ears to open so they can hear. How many days approximatley is this? When I run the vacuum I am sure they would be able to feel the vibrations through the floor... so when they hear the vacuum will they put two and two together? Also regarding children being around the puppies (besides my own) what age is the best age for this? As I know children often carry alot of cold bugs around and is this okay for the puppies? I want them to be very well socialized. I always take my dogs with me everywhere I can. My bitch can be put in anywhere with any other friendly animal and be totally trustworthy AND confident. And my bitch has only ever been scared once ( which is a really funny story for another time). She was well stimulated and I want to do the same for her puppies. I know it is a lifelong process to constantly stimulate your dogs, but the right start is the best start and that's what I really want to achieve. Any more ideas or ways to help accomplish this would be awesome.
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It's difficult to keep my cat, Stinky, OUT of a room containing puppies... he's fascinated by them.
As long as your bitch is
comfortable with the kitties in the room/around the whelping box, it's great for the pups. I would keep the door closed to the room, however, and keep your male out of there. Priority ONE is keeping your bitch comfortable in the whelping box/room, so you don't find yourself looking under the house for puppies in Canada in January. ;) I'd let the kids look in and help you when you're dealing with the pups, but have them leave mama at peace otherwise as well, for the first 2 weeks. She doesn't need to be worrying if you've picked safe enough of a haven for her to have her litter. Keep in mind, the pups are born blind and deaf, but they can see light, feel vibrations, and SMELL. One thing I did with the last litter I whelped, I would place old tshirts in the garage, in the van, etc... and then bring them into the whelping box for the pups to smell while mama was out doing her business.
They were placed on different surfaces as young as a week of age. They were placed in an inch or so of tepid water at 2 weeks. Now, all of this was done for a matter of a few seconds at a time - remember, you want to stimulate the pups, not scare the bejesus out of them. ;)
Once pups are being weaned onto food (around 3-4 weeks), I slowly introduced rauckus sounds.... like banging on the side of the whelping box at meal time, then introduced loud voices - by the time the pups were 5 weeks old, I could let out a shrill scream, and they'd all come falling over each other to get to me. (dinner time).
Pots and pans in the other room, being dropped on the floor.... praise the pups for NOT fleeing.... or when they recover from the scare. They figure out pretty fast what does not kill you makes you more confident. ;) Again, don't make a symphony of it, but a drop of an object which makes noise once a day is a wonderful thing.
Music. I would take the pups one at a time, and carry them through the house, and they heard everything from Pavarotti to Ozzy. Like Gretchen said, start low on the volume, and crank it up as time goes by.
Once they're a little older, in addition to Ann and Gretchen's suggestions, Home Depot and Lowe's are great for socializing young pups. (Not as many other animals as PetSmart - where you don't know if folks have their dog's vaccinated).... take them one or two at a time... puppies are a people magnet... before you know it, your pups have been around 1000's of people before they've even left your home.
You'll know when a pup is unsure, or stressing too much, so do everything in moderation. A few seconds at a time to start with.
As Ann said, it gets pretty challenging to find new sights, sounds, smells after a few weeks, but it's a fun game! It's amazing to watch the little ones conquer and destroy!!!
Once the pups are on solid kibble, you can toss the kibble around on the floor, and they'll search it out, and forage for it. I think this is excellent, as it gets them "hunting" for their food.
You can also pretty much have them potty trained by the time they leave your home. This will make your puppy buyers LOVE you, and it eases the relationship building a lot in the new home, if the buyers aren't constantly cleaning up puppy poop. :)
When you get ready to place your pups, talk to the buyers and explain exactly like Gretchen did.... all your hard work can go down the drain, if THEY don't do their part to keep the socialization going. That's not what you're after. :)
Hope this helps!