Our beautiful Poochon Biscuit gave birth to a beautiful litter of Cavapoochon puppies. The puppies are now 6 weeks old! Time has absolutely flown by and we love watching them grow and learn something new every single day. In this post, we’re going to give some insight into the life of our cavapoochon puppies week by week.
Week 1
In week 1, the cavapoochon puppies did very little, so this will be a short one! All the puppies enjoyed their first feeds from their mother as soon as they were born. They fed around every 2 hours and then slept the rest of the time. This allowed Mum to get some well-deserved rest. For us, week 1 was about taking care of Biscuit as we could do very little for the puppies at this stage.
During week 1, the puppies’ eyes were still closed and so were their ears. From birth, they could move independently but only drag themselves around the bedding area. The theme of week 1 was eat, sleep repeat!
Week 2
Week 2 was pretty much the same as week 1. The puppies ate every 2 hours or so and then slept the rest of the day. They continued to shuffle around or drag themselves, however by week 2, they were getting a little stronger. In fact, by the end of week 2, they were attempting to lift themselves up onto their limbs.
Week 3
Week 3 was an incredibly active week. This week we saw the most rapid change in our cavapoochon puppies.
First of all, in this week, they all fully opened their eyes. They started to do this at around the 14-day mark. But as their third week of life progressed, their eyes opened more and more each day. During week 3, their eyes opened fully and they started to stare at us as we held them.
We noticed that the puppies’ hearing developed in week 3. If we make a sound loud enough, the puppies will react by looking in the direction from which the noise came. This put an end to our lack of consideration for how much noise we made during their nap times!
Last week, the puppies were incredibly wobbly on their little legs. In week 3, we could see them all walk strongly. They still wobbled a little at this point, but their movements are now very deliberate and strong. The puppies’ tails started to wag quite strongly at times during week 3.
Their teeth started to come through and we could feel teeth under the gums when they bit on our fingers. One of the puppies who is larger by far than the others had a couple of front teeth poking through the gums by the end of week 3.
Week 4
At the end of week 3 and the beginning of week 4, we started to wean the puppies. This was a slow process. Taking a small amount of kibble, we soaked this in water until we were able to mush it with a fork. We added some wet food to the kibble and mixed it all together. We put the food in very shallow bowls so they puppies could reach it with ease. To encourage the puppies to eat, we put the food onto our fingers so the puppies could smell the food. This worked a treat. By the second feed, the two larger puppies had navigated their own way to the bowls and were tucking in greedily. The smallest of the litter needed a little encouragement (I think he enjoyed being held as he ate!).
As week 4 progressed, we found our own routine with feeding times. We fed the puppies in the morning, in the early evening and again before bedtime. Naturally, Biscuit began to spend less time with them and would only let them feed from her for short periods of time.
By week 4, the puppies were running around the room. Their legs are incredibly strong and they are all confident walkers and runners! They will follow us around the home and are very much enjoying playing wit the older dogs in the home.
Week 5
We continued to wean the puppies throughout week 5 and they all did incredibly well. Weighing them every two days, we could spot any significant changes, or spot signs of weight loss in any of the puppies as they make this important transition. Fortunately, all puppies put on a good amount of weight and really enjoyed their food.
Feeding time became quite chaotic during week 5. The puppies knew where the food was kept and, at their feeding times, they would wait to be fed. In their utter excitement, they would jump up and down and even bark.
During week 5, we had to make some changes. The puppies were tall enough to climb out of their bed (this was a large dog paddling pool with high sides) so we placed them in a crate at night time. During the day, when they needed to be contained, they remained in their playpen. Prior to week 5, the door could be left open without any danger of them climbing out. This allowed Biscuit to jump in and out of the pen at her leisure. However, during week 5, they realised they could climb out of the pen! We therefore ensured the door was closed and locked from then on!
Week 6
If I had to describe the puppies in one word at this point I would use the word ‘fast’. At this stage, the cavapoochon puppies are incredibly fast. We leave the room and before we know it, they are under our feet. This makes it very difficult to walk and has led to many trips and falls. This week, we have decided to purchase collars with bells for the puppies just to give us some warning!
They are all incredibly strong and trying to climb the stairs. All the puppies still huddle together when they sleep which is adorable! They spend less and less time with Mum every day and eat more and more of their own food.
Sometimes the puppies will go to the toilet on their puppy pads, but this is not always guaranteed! Puppy training will become much easier once the puppies have their first injections and can go outside into the garden.
We can really see their characters coming through. Toffee, the eldest is playful and cheeky. She is the largest of the puppies and the greediest! But she is also beautiful, gentle and cuddly. She has built a strong bond with her big brother, Castiel (from a previous litter). The two of them will play for hours on end if they could!
Bo is the only boy and the smallest of the litter. He is soft and gentle and loves his belly rubs. He plays well with all the puppies and other dogs in the home. The way he trots around the home is adorable.
Pudding, the youngest and the puppy who lost her ear flap (see previous post) is a very gentle soul. She does enjoy her playtime, but she will often seek out affection from humans and loves to cuddle wit the older dogs in the home.
We absolutely adore them all!
