Part 2: Period of Curiosity 5 - 7 weeks
The Second Stage of Socialization is called the Period of Curiosity. (5-7 wks) This period is where weaning begins, the puppies are curious, they have little sense of fear, the participate in group activities & play and is usually when the dominance order begins.This is an extremely important time in the puppy’s life. The puppy is totally dependent on the environment; what ‘we’ provide for them to stimulate and develop their genetic qualities. It is also very important for them to receive attention from humans. There will be rapid change and growth in this period. During this period the puppy acquires full use of their eyes and ears, and their legs become stronger and more coordinated. At the beginning of this stage the puppy still have little sense of fear and is quick to approach anything and anybody. By the end of the two weeks though, they will begin to be more cautious in their approach, which is part of learning to discriminate among sites, sounds and smells.
Sexual play is also evident at this age. Mounting is quite common among males and sometimes females. This is a normal part of puppy play and is important in teaching puppies what is normal sexual response as they mature.
The puppies are actually starting to show behaviors that are common in this next stage of development. They have started to show sexual play and mounting on each other. The puppies are also showing clear signs that they want to explore outside of the area that they have been living in! We are starting to allow them in other parts of the house and they will go outside on the deck this week. (more below..)
October 24/10
It is so hard to believe we are at this time in the puppies life already! The puppies have explored the house, the deck and today they were in the yard. The weather has not been cooperating and thus, the pups have not been out in the yard much, as it has been under water a lot of the time! We have had SO much rain. I hate rain to begin with but then to have it now when I want the puppies to explore and experience so many things is quite frustrating!
I noticed today that the pups are also entering into the latter part of this phase as they are just starting to be a bit more cautious in their approach to things.
We have had a variety of visitors in the past few weeks. The pups love to meet and play with everyone. Having said that, it is obvious the puppies recognize the human ‘pack’ within the house. They greet us with such enthusiasm first thing in the morning or after they wake or when we return home from being out. There is NOTHING like being greeted by 6 exuberant puppies that lavish us with kisses, wags and excited talking!! I am going to miss these guys tremendously!!
My litters are always raised in the house so I hear what is going on and I get to observe and interact with them on a continual basis. Most nights, I get to sleep all through the night and I was even late for work once this week as my puppy alarm clock slept so long! They seem to be very content during the night. Now, that does not mean that they sleep all night…..lol. I will sometimes hear them playing together but then they settle down and go back to sleep again. When they are playing, they will sometimes get into a little puppy ‘squabble’ but this does not seem to last long and/or Faith steps in a breaks it up.
I find this litter to be quite ‘uniform’. “Type” wise they are super nice and I am really happy with their fronts/rears and their movement. They seem to be put together very well. They have really nice heads with good ‘stops’. I really like their ear sets and I have even noticed on one pup that one ear is just beginning to ‘stand’ up. It does not stay up for long but it is nice to see the strength there. I will double check their bites tomorrow but I am pretty sure they all have very nice bites. They all have good feet and their fronts are nice and straight. The one boy is bigger and stockier than his sisters which of course, it should be. The girls are pretty similar in their size/weight although there are some subtle differences. You really notice it when you pick them up. Some of the girls are definitely heavier than a few others. I had a few visitors today who have been supplying me with my raw goats milk. One of them has had many german shepherds and is very familiar with the breed. She was surprised to hear that they 6 wks old (they thought they were older) and how heavier they were when you picked them up. Their comment,” wow they are sturdy puppies”. Course, this is also partly due to them being raw fed puppies. They enjoy their food immensely! They are weaned for the most part however, if they can get some milk from mom they are happy! Faith is very patient with them and allows them to feed for short periods. It is fun to watch the pups try to get some milk from her! They try different tactics, with the funniest being when they come over her back and stay laying there as they drink. Most often if they are going to get some milk from her, it is when she is standing still.
Faith continues to play and interact with them. I love watching her play with her puppies. They enjoy biting her feet, face, and tail. She loves it when the puppies chase after her. They will also try and steal a ball from her when they can. All the puppies enjoy chasing a ball (well, usually it is a small tomato, or apple). If they are not chasing or chewing them then they are carrying them around. (usually with one or two puppies chasing the one with it in their mouth!). They play with them for a period of time and then find out they can also eat it!! I also gave them some beans out of the garden for them to play with. They seemed to enjoy them! They have different ropes to play tug of war with and they seem to always find a towel or something similar to pull and drag around! These puppies also seem to have taken after ‘mom’ in the agility department. When your leg or something else is in their way they don’t crawl over it/them, but instead they actually jump over them! (and succeed!! ). They also like to ‘paw’ at you and each other. It looks like they are ‘waving’ at times. If you get down on their level to play…look out! They like to grab your hair, hand, toes, jewelry, ears, fingers and a few other body parts that I won’t mention. Their teeth are sharp! It would be nice to be able to clip those little teeth like I do their nails. I have a few ripped pieces of clothing thus far. They had their first bones this week and gnawed at them for a period of time. These were leg bones cut into smaller portions. I need to get some better bones for them. I have some lamb bones at the butcher that I need to pick up. These are ‘softer’ than beef bones and better for them than the leg bones. I have also started to add ground chicken neck/backs to their diet and they seem to really enjoy this! Their stools are awesome!
The different personalities of each puppy are becoming more distinct. Dark sable girl (Geisha) loves to interact with people and is the first to come running to you when you call the puppies. She also loves to give you kisses and wants to be picked up initially. She also loves to play with the balls and play tug. The smallest sable girl (Gucci) is getting darker and darker in her coloring. She is getting tough to distinguish from her darker sister! I used to say that Gucci is the ‘sweet’ puppy but she is really coming out of her shell!! She is still sweet but she is a go getter and can be quite strong minded! She also comes quickly when I call the pups and wants to shower you with kisses. She does not want to be ignored when you first call the pups but will go off on her own and get into some kind of trouble quickly. The largest sable girl (Garbo) is also getting darker in her coloring, is quick to come running when called and wants to be ‘loved’ up like her sisters. She loves to play with her toys and play tug. Out of all the pups, I think she is the “thinker”. She actually reminds me a bit of Faith’s brother Axel as a young pup.
The boy (Gizmo) in the group continues to be the pup that is ‘middle of the road’. I am not quite sure if this is because it is his ‘nature’ or if it is due to him being a male and he is just taking a bit longer to mature. In my past litters, I have had mostly boys with only 1 or 2 girls, so it is interesting watching or observing this litter. Gizmo also loves to play with balls/toys and playing tug! He is masculine with a really nice head and good bone. If this boy was not sold to a good friend and I did not have Dangi……..I would be tempted to keep him!
The 2 black and tan girls are very similar in many ways. They look the same, and are very ‘even’ in their drives/temperament etc. They both like to play with the balls and like to carry something in their mouth. They also like to tug on anything they can! They are both quite bold in their play with the other pups and in exploring their environment. Having said that….I think purple collar girl (Gabby) is more into the ‘balls/toys’ etc. She is also the puppy (along with the sable girl Garbo) that plays and interacts the most with Faith. The remaining black/tan girl (Gia) is also quick to come running when called and likes to make sure that I give her attention/kisses first thing when I greet/call the pups. The black/tan pups will be quite dark as adults and they will likely look like Dangi as adults. I believe all the pups have the black stenciling on their toes (including the sables) and thus they will all have exceptional pigment as adults. All the pups also have very nice coats!! I did not have any pups in this litter with a stock coat. They are all normal coats.
This week the puppies will explore the yard more, the barn and be introduced to the sheep and barn cats! They have walked/stepped on different surfaces with no issues/problems. Next week, they will have an opportunity to visit a lamb close up, go the vet for their check ups and we will also do some puppy testing.
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