The weeks have absolutely flown by and our cavapoochon puppies are growing and developing well. We wanted to put together a guide for The First Month in the Life of a Cavapoochon Puppy. All puppies and different breeds of dogs develop differently and hit these milestones at different times. Here’s our experience of some of the most important markers in the first month of our cavapoochon puppy.
Week 1
Week 1 is a rather quiet time in the life of a cavapoochon puppy. This is a chance for the owners to get some rest following the birth of the puppies!
During the first few weeks of a cavapoochon puppy, they sleep for around 22 hours a day. The other 2 hours are spent feeding. The mother will barely leave the puppies and spends most of her time either feeding the puppies, cleaning them or getting herself some much-deserved rest.
The puppies will make small movements around their bed to find their mother or to huddle up with their siblings. Their movements are slow and they move around in a shuffling type motion.
There is very little for humans to do at this point, other than to ensure the mother has plenty of clean water nearby and importantly plenty of food. Humans need to help Mum to keep the bed clean. I would remove the bedding perhaps three or four times per day in the first week. Mum was still bleeding and producing heavy discharge at this point. She wasn’t keen on me touching or moving the puppies so this was a delicate process.
For a detailed description of Week 1 in the Life of Our Puppies here.
Week 2
Week 2 in the life of our cavapoochon puppies was very much like week 1. The puppies continued to grow and gain weight. They started to look more like dogs now though than little lumps. Mum would clean the pups constantly and their coats were becoming nice and shiny.
Like week 1, during week 2 the puppies would spend around 22 hours a day sleeping and the rest eating. During week 2 we decided to weigh the pups daily. We hadn’t done so in week 2 because Mum was rather nervous about us handling them. Each puppy gained weighed an average of 40 grams per day.
Their movements became more purposeful as they shuffled around the bed.
Mum would leave the bed more often, but only for short periods of time.
Week 3
During week 3 we saw a huge change in the puppies.
First of all, they began to open their eyes. This happened on day 15. We were anticipating this as most puppies open their eyes between days 10 and 21. Looking closely we could see Crowley, the eldest of the puppies had what looked like a small amount of moisture around his eyes. Upon closer inspection, we could see his eyes were starting to open. On the same day, we could see Matilda and Castiel were also beginning to open their eyes too.
The following day, it was clear to see that all the puppies had their eyes wide open. They couldn’t quite focus but it was wonderful to see their beautiful eyes!
Mum was happier for us to handle the puppies during week 3. By the end of the week, we were enjoying puppy cuddles! Mum would still come to check on them when we held them, but she was much more relaxed.
We wormed the puppies for the first time during week 3 using Panacur. It was funny to see their little faces as they tasted something other than milk!
The puppies started to move around a little more in week 3. They were beginning to stand up and tried to walk. They were very wobbly and would frequently fall down, but it was adorable to watch their wobbly legs as they tried to take those first steps.
As the puppies were able to move around much more towards the end of week 3, we started to wean them. We introduced a small plate of food and encouraged them to eat. The food we used was kibble soaked in water so it was incredibly soft. We then mushed it into a paste. We then added a tiny amount of wet pouch food in jelly to give the food some extra taste and smell. It took a few attempts for them to get the hang of this, but by the end of week 3, they were all enjoying tiny amounts of food. We fed them little and often to introduce them to food.
Week 4
By week 4, all the puppies were up and walking around. Two of them would even run around! They became very curious about their surrounding by week 4 and clearly wanted to be let out of the playpen. Under careful supervision, we would let them run around the living room.
Their Dad, Blue was very excited to see them, out of their playpen and walking around. He enjoyed playtime too! In turn, the puppies saw Blue as another playmate. They will be learning so many new social skills from their Dad who is a big loveable softy!
By week 4, the puppies spent less time sleeping and much more time playing. When they woke up, they would make little noises and movements towards the playpen gate. At this point, they were like little toys. They would walk or run around and play for 20 minutes or so and then stop where they stood and suddenly fall asleep.
All the puppies were confidently eating by the end of week 4 and enjoying their meal times. Whenever Mum would walk past, they would automatically cling to her teats. And in turn, Mum still had the natural instinct to go and feed them whenever she had eaten.
Up until week 4, I had stayed downstairs at night with the puppies and Mum. However, in week 4 we made the decision to move the puppies upstairs into the crate at nighttime. This allowed me to get some much-needed sleep in my own bed. But also, the puppies were sleeping for much longer periods. They were sleeping pretty much through the night at this point. I closed the crate at night time and Mum would remain on the outside. If they needed feeding, Mum would wake me and I would open the crate for her. By this point, this would occur perhaps once a night.
I hope you enjoyed this post on The First Month in the Life of a Cavapoochon Puppy. More puppy posts to follow!
