For the first two weeks of a litter's life, I tend to only pick them up as necessary. If the mom is a good one, she does most of the work such as feeding, cleaning and stimulating them. Once that two week period is over, then I start handling them more often each day. Most times, the pups are quite unhappy with me holding them and I certainly can understand that. You must take into consideration that their sense of smell is becoming quite keen and they know I am not mommy! Also, their eyes are just beginning to 'unfog' and if their sense of smell is good but their eyesight isn't yet, people can be quite scary! So, small steps of sitting by their pool and stroking them becomes routine; then some soft handling and talking. By the end of three weeks, they are becoming accustomed to me and doing much better.
When visitors begin coming over at four weeks old, the pups can still be rather shy but with lots of visits, they begin to look forward to the company.
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| Rainbow Girl at 2 wks. 2 lbs. |
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| Teal Boy at 2 wks. 2 1/4 lbs. |
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| Purple Girl at 2 wks. 2 1/4 lbs. |
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| Green Boy at 2 wks. 2 1/2 lbs. |
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| Black Boy at 2 weeks. 1 3/4 lbs. |
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| The group shot to add perspective to just how small they really are compared to the head shots! |
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