Dogmatique Standard Poodles

Week One

As of their one-week birthday, the pups have had their first vet visit, where they had a quick checkup and had their dewclaws removed. Although we don't dock our pups' tails, we still remove the front dewclaws that standard poodles have. An active dog like the standard has a high risk of catching and tearing the dewclaw later in life — and can sometimes rip it off entirely. At this young age, the procedure is fairly straightforward and the pups show no signs of discomfort afterward.

Some of the pups (like Dark Green here) have a bit of white on their feet that will disappear as they get older.

Because there's always someone in our room to watch over the pups, Gwyn feels very secure about their safety, and is learning to not worry about them for short stretches. Within a few days of whelping, she's been using her rest periods and bathroom breaks to go outside and lounge in the sun for a few minutes (one of her favorite activities — we sometimes call her the rare solar-powered poodle). She tries to convince us that she is ready to chase a tennis ball again, but we are making her take it easy for now. At any rate, anything over a few minutes and she's back inside doing a head count and getting everyone cleaned up.

Gwyn's energy level is much improved from what it was after whelping ten puppies in 8 hours, and her appetite is excellent. However, it takes a lot of food and energy to nurse around the clock. Because she can't nurse ten pups at once, we still have them eating in shifts to make sure everyone is gaining weight nicely. However, instead of five on/five off, we let the pup with the lowest percentage weight gain from the previous day nurse on all day for extra nourishment. Often, a pup that has a bit of trouble nursing at first finds itself pushed off the nipple because it hasn't got the strength to compete with its brothers and sisters. If we don't watch for this, a pup can have trouble catching up.

Four pups snuggle while their brothers and sisters nurse.

In the first week, the pups' weight increases by about half, and they'll be double their birth weight by the middle of next week. When they're born, they can fit in the palm of your hand with their heads peeking out above your fingers. Now, you almost need two hands to pick them up. Because they're eating so well, they're still sleeping comfortably between nursings. They've had their nails clipped and will continue to do so often because they grow so fast.

The pups' eyes and ears are still closed (and will be for another week or so), and they can still only crawl around awkardly because their legs won't hold their weight yet. Because it takes them so long to get from place to place (and because if they go to the wrong place, they sometimes can't get turned around), we spend a lot of time getting them going in the right direction toward Gwyn in the whelping box. Although they can't yet hear properly, the pups are making many more sounds, from cooing to little yips (when facing the wrong way from mom or siblings). They mostly like to be together in a big puppy pile or snuggled close to Gwyn.

More at Week Three!

Dogmatique's summer 2010 litter (from our dogs Danté and Gwyn) is here! Mama and babies (all ten of them) are doing great, and the pups will ready to go to their new homes starting in mid-August. Our family-raised puppies are vet checked, microchipped, and will have had their first vaccinations. They are registered with the Canadian Kennel Club and have a lifetime of support from Dogmatique.