Below are pictures of our current litter of Paisley’s 1 week old puppies.
Pictures of Paisley’s 1 Week Old Puppies
Developmental Information about Puppies This Age
Scroll below the pictures to read more developmental information on newborn puppies.
Below are a couple of pictures of our set up for two litters. These pictures are of past litters.
There is a scale behind Sydney’s whelping box. Puppies are weighed at least daily.
The box to the right of Paisley’s whelping box is where we put the puppies while we change out the pads.
The portable table to the right of Paisley’s box is where we put the scales to weigh Paisley’s puppies.
The white fencing strip between the two boxes slides forward and back giving us a means for walking between the two litters both inside the boxes and outside between the couch and the boxes.
Both Paisley and Sydney have their own water bucket. Producing milk for ten puppies requires a lot of water. The first few days, we actually serve them “breakfast in bed”. Most of our mamas don’t want to leave their puppies (including Sydney and Paisley) even to eat, drink, or go potty for the first two or three days. Now at a week, they drink outside the boxes when thirsty. We feed them as much as they will eat. Litters this large usually leave their moms too thin even when they are eating five or six times their normal amounts of food.
This next picture shows our kitchen table turned into a bed. Someone is usually awake and up for the first 3 or 4 days. (We take turns.) Then from day 4 to when puppies are 2 weeks, I (Karen) sleep on the table, get up multiple times a night, and listen for crying puppies while getting light sleep.
Developmental Information
Puppies usually double their birth weight by 10 days of age. They have been doing a lot of growing over the past week. However, that is about all that happens during their first week. Their eyes and ears are still closed and they are still scooting around on their bellies.
The mom is still spending most of her time in the box with her puppies, but will occasionally come out of the box for an hour or two of “mothers day out” time several times a day.
The moms are eating a huge amount of food when nursing a litter of 1 week old puppies. In order to keep their weight on, we let them eat as much as they want. For larger litters, this is often about 4 times as much as they normally eat. The moms also need access to a lot of fresh water. Making enough milk for larger litters takes a lot of nourishment.
We are continuing with daily ENS (early neurological stimulation). You can read about ENS on our Raising Puppies page . In addition, puppies are handled often every day and are being monitored 24/7 including overnight. We are still weighing them daily and giving them probiotics daily.
Please wait until puppies are at least two weeks old before making definite plans and booking flights to pick up puppies. We don’t anticipate loosing any puppies, but it does sometimes happen in those first couple of weeks. We’ve only lost one puppy (ever) after two weeks of age.
We’ll continue keeping you posted on how Paisley’s 1 week old puppies are growing on a weekly basis. See our Available Puppies page to get to pages of Paisley’s 1 week old puppies at other ages.