GOAL: The time to create a stable adult dog is from birth to 16 weeks.
What is going on with your puppy from Birth to 12 Days?
This is their First CRITICAL Period.
A newborn Doodle puppy doesn't look much like a doodle in the beginning. They go through many different stages of puppy development during his first sixteen weeks. Doodles are considered puppies from birth to one year of age and go through several puppy stages and development periods. However, each doodle develops differently, with smaller ones tending to mature earlier and the larger not being physically mature until two years old.
As soon as your puppy is born we make sure that they are sound and healthy and then we immediatly allow their mom to clean them up. They make their way to snuggle up to her for warmth and to be fed. This is referred to as Comfort-seeking: Rooting behavior, seeking Warmth/nutrition. They typically prefer to lay all piled up.
The first milk the mother produces, called colostrum, is rich in antibodies that provide passive immunity and help protect the babies from disease during these early weeks of life.
During this time all puppies must be stimulated to defecate and urinate. Their mom does this by licking their little bottoms. Puppies first experience the sensation of being petted when washed by their mother's stroking tongue.
This is a very critical week in the life of your puppy. We watch them very closely for any signs that they are failing to thrive. We also place rails in the moms birthing room to help prevent the puppies from getting behind their moms and being laid on. This is the number one concern for us......New moms are notorious for laying on their puppies.
At this time your puppy only responds to warmth, touch, and smell. They cannot regulate body functions such as temperature and elimination. They twitch alot during their sleep which is a sign of a healthy thriving puppy.
During this stage the puppies sleep 90% of the time and eat the other 10% of their time with approximately 6-8 feeding daily. All their energy is funneled into growing, and their 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.
WHAT WE CAN DO DURING THIS TIME:
Day 0: Birth - We weight each puppy and place a color coded tag around their necks to identify them. They are weighted twice daily to ensure they are getting enough milk.
Day 1 & 2: We watch vigor and health and we begin puppy stimulation.
Day 5 -7 : Puppies begin to crawl around 5 days and by day 7 they are crawling easily.
Days 3-12: Early Neonatal Stimulation Continues.
The puppies are in our nursery and we have staff to watch and care for them and their moms 24/7.