Four weeks old and counting!
- bramblymountainfarm
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 30
Four weeks old opens a lot of new experiences for these little guys. First of all, now that the weather has finally warmed up, we have moved them to their outdoor space - the Puppy Shed! This shed has to be the most posh puppy house this side of the country. Everything is plastic, waterproof and washable, with solar powered lights (after cleaning with a headlamp last year, lights are the BEST). And it looks pretty darn nice too. It’s also been fantastic to have a fenced yard to put them outside instead of those movable pens that they somehow always found a way to climb over. My husband did a pretty great job.
Within a few short weeks, they have gone from blind, guinea pig-like creatures (for real, my daughter’s instagram feed started throwing her all these guinea pig posts because they thought she had developed a sudden interest after watching my videos lol) to walking, running, playing, growling, curious little balls of fluff!
And they begin to develop an interest in humans. When we approach the pen we are greeted with wagging tails and expectant whimpers in the hopes that they’ll either get some play time or we’ll come in and join them. I can set down their dishes of food and call “puppy, puppy, puppy!” and they come running, knowing to expect something good. It’s sweet to see the transition from totally mama-focused to people-focused. Although Lucy still trumps us all if she decides to walk by. Suddenly puppies are throwing themselves at the gate in a frenzied mass, trying to get as close to Mama as possible, people forgotten.
And that’s another thing that changes - food! Lucy begins to wean the puppies with fewer visits to the pen and I begin to feed them a lovely concoction of ground puppy food mixed with water, goat’s milk and a little bit of diatomaceous earth. Yum. It’s amazing how ready they are for it as they quite literally dive into it, paws and face and all as they lick the platter clean!
Zeke (Dad) is finally permitted to visit the puppies. Up to now, Lucy wouldn't let Zeke anywhere near the puppies and he peaked curiously into the room whenever he had a chance. Zeke has always been very good with puppies, just like with little kids. I've never seen him snap or snarl at anything smaller than he is, unless it's a weasel. They can climb all over him and he just tussles with him.
We also start allowing visitors! For puppy buyers to come meet the little guys and also friends and family who can help us socialize them. I try to invite all shapes, sizes and ages. Besides people visits to the pen, we rotate puppy visits a few at a time to the house as well, so they can acclimate to house life. Exposed to noises like blenders, TVs, vacuums, as well as cats and foot traffic, etc. It’s hard to believe that when we first started breeding we used to have 8-9 puppies in the house at once running amok! The chaos was insane. This is far more manageable. And cleanable.
Luke having fun running through the play tunnel!
Just one puppy left!
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