HOW WE RAISE OUR PUPPIES
Newborn to 12 Weeks
Newborn to 12 Weeks
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Our puppies are born and spend their first few weeks in a quiet room off our bedroom, or in our bedroom, wherever mom feels safe and is the most comfortable. Our females are used to sleeping with us so sometimes they prefer to have their puppies in a playpen right beside our bed, to be honest we prefer this too! Our puppies receive a lot of attention from day 1, we also do Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS).
At 4 weeks they begin the transition to the heart of our home, our open-style kitchen, where they see and hear all of our daily activities and receive tons of cuddles from us and visitors. |
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By 6 weeks old, the puppies have fully transitioned to their kitchen pen and mom has weaned them naturally.
At this age they are used to sleeping in their crate, with the door off, if they want some alone time or on the open bed. They are using their potty area (either pine litter or a plastic tray with a pee pad) and are becoming acquainted with our other chin. We prefer open, low style ex-pens for this stage as mom can hop in and out as she wishes (she's usually weaned them by this point but still likes to visit) and the puppies can see everything that is going on. Puppies start using the litter tray to potty at 3 to 4 weeks old and, weather permitted, are going outdoors by 7 to 8 weeks to help facilitate potty training when they go to their new homes at 12 weeks. |
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8 weeks old Summer litters have the great experience of playing outside, the puppies are 8 weeks old in this video. For reference, our puppies are still quite small at this age, generally ranging between 1.5 and 2.0 pounds. |
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We always try to make first experiences as positive as possible, here Aunt Lily is teaching the puppies that car rides are fun as they head to the veterinarian for their 8 week old veterinary appointment. We go for a few rides to acclimatize puppies to motion and being confined to their crate, they quickly learn to settle and enjoy the ride.
The 8 week old veterinary examination includes: - a physical examination by our veterinarian for overall wellness including body condition, skin and coat, oral/dental, eyes/ears, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, urinary system, gastro-intestinal tract, musculoskeletal, neurological and genitalia - insertion of a CKC microchip for unique identification of each puppy - a combination vaccine for distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza combo, chin are highly sensitive to and are known to react to leptospirosis, coronavirus and kennel cough vaccines, do NOT give these vaccines or a combination vaccine that contains these. |
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Puppies go through a Fear Imprint Period (or Critical Period) at 8 – 10 weeks old. There is increasing evidence that suggests it is better for puppies to remain in the breeder’s home with the dam and littermates until after the fear period to avoid anything that could be interpreted by the puppy as traumatic or scary. Everything about the experience of traveling to a new home can cause fear in a puppy, so avoiding those things during this fear stage is important. The longer a puppy gets to stay with his dam, the more time he has to develop traits and good habits that will help him in the short and long term. We believe that by keeping our puppies through this period, they have the opportunity to continue to learn socialization skills with our other dogs and we are able to continue to introduce new things to them in their known safe environment where the other dogs also help to teach them not to fear new things.
As the puppies learn acceptable behavior and improve their socialization skills, our other chin enjoy interacting with them. The puppies are 11 weeks old and Grandma Aimi is 11 years old in this video. As you can see in the 8 week old video above and the 11 week old video below, three weeks makes quite a difference in the development of a chin puppy. At 11 weeks the puppies have better balance, coordination, strength and confidence compared to at 8 weeks. For reference, our puppies are still quite small at this age, generally ranging between 2.0 and 2.5 pounds, having them remain with us a little longer does not mean that new owners miss the puppy stage.
As the puppies learn acceptable behavior and improve their socialization skills, our other chin enjoy interacting with them. The puppies are 11 weeks old and Grandma Aimi is 11 years old in this video. As you can see in the 8 week old video above and the 11 week old video below, three weeks makes quite a difference in the development of a chin puppy. At 11 weeks the puppies have better balance, coordination, strength and confidence compared to at 8 weeks. For reference, our puppies are still quite small at this age, generally ranging between 2.0 and 2.5 pounds, having them remain with us a little longer does not mean that new owners miss the puppy stage.
At 11 to 12 weeks of age the puppies are examined by our veterinarian once more, given their second vaccine and wormed.
At this point we believe that WE HAVE GIVEN OUR PUPPIES THE BEST START POSSIBLE, they are physically and mentally ready to transition to their new homes to continue critical socialization with their new families to 16 weeks of age. Upon leaving our home, our puppies are used to sleeping in a pen with an open crate, vehicles rides, wearing a collar, walking on a lead and grooming.
Our puppies go to their new homes with the following:
At this point we believe that WE HAVE GIVEN OUR PUPPIES THE BEST START POSSIBLE, they are physically and mentally ready to transition to their new homes to continue critical socialization with their new families to 16 weeks of age. Upon leaving our home, our puppies are used to sleeping in a pen with an open crate, vehicles rides, wearing a collar, walking on a lead and grooming.
Our puppies go to their new homes with the following:
A "Welcome Home" kit containing food (we feed a combination of raw and high quality kibble), their favorite toys and a blanket that smells like home to help with the adjustment to their new home. We will also walk new owners through what they should have ready for when the new puppy comes home, for example a puppy pen, bowls/bottles, pee pads.
Registration documentation - a copy of the puppy's CKC Certificate of Registration, pedigree and microchip information. Each of our puppies participate in the national pet recovery database, CANADACHIP, this database allows anyone with a microchip scanner to read and enter the microchip number on the CKC site to immediately retrieve your information and call you to return your lost puppy. Unless you are purchasing a show potential puppy, all puppies are placed on a non-breeding contract. This means that the puppy is to be spayed/neutered by 1 year of age. The CKC Certificate of Registration will be transferred into the new owners' name upon receipt of proof of spay/neuter. If purchasing a show potential puppy, the CKC Certificate of Registration will be provided as soon as it is updated by and received from the CKC.
Veterinary Certificates of Examination, which include a record of overall wellness, inoculations and wormings given and timing/recommendations for future veterinary care. We follow Dr. W. Jean Dodd's inoculation protocol. Generally our puppies have their first vaccine at 8 weeks, second at 11 to 12 weeks, third at 16 weeks and then an annual booster at 1 year and 4 months of age. Annual vaccinations are not required thereafter, every three years is sufficient, and further studies may show that even these are unnecessary. Rabies should not be given before 6 months of age, and not within 6 weeks of any other vaccines. Recent studies show that vaccines may be effective for 7 years or more; titre testing is an excellent way to avoid overvaccination. We worm our puppies at 3 and 6 weeks of age with Stongid-T, they are then wormed as recommended by our veterinarian at 12 weeks of age.
Complimentary pet insurance - we enroll our puppies with the CKC preferred pet insurance provider, Pets Plus Us, 6 week HEADSTART PET INSURANCE TRIAL PROGRAM. Each new owner receives a 6 week voucher of complimentary pet health insurance, up to $1,000 of Accident & Illness coverage, 24/7 access to PetHelpFone™, 24/7 access to Pet Poison Helpline®, access to our Compassionate Care Line and one month of complimentary coverage when they convert to a permanent paid policy at any time during the 6 week period.
Warranty - a 2 year limited warranty on genetic health issues that Japanese Chin may be prone to (knees, eyes and heart).
Registration documentation - a copy of the puppy's CKC Certificate of Registration, pedigree and microchip information. Each of our puppies participate in the national pet recovery database, CANADACHIP, this database allows anyone with a microchip scanner to read and enter the microchip number on the CKC site to immediately retrieve your information and call you to return your lost puppy. Unless you are purchasing a show potential puppy, all puppies are placed on a non-breeding contract. This means that the puppy is to be spayed/neutered by 1 year of age. The CKC Certificate of Registration will be transferred into the new owners' name upon receipt of proof of spay/neuter. If purchasing a show potential puppy, the CKC Certificate of Registration will be provided as soon as it is updated by and received from the CKC.
Veterinary Certificates of Examination, which include a record of overall wellness, inoculations and wormings given and timing/recommendations for future veterinary care. We follow Dr. W. Jean Dodd's inoculation protocol. Generally our puppies have their first vaccine at 8 weeks, second at 11 to 12 weeks, third at 16 weeks and then an annual booster at 1 year and 4 months of age. Annual vaccinations are not required thereafter, every three years is sufficient, and further studies may show that even these are unnecessary. Rabies should not be given before 6 months of age, and not within 6 weeks of any other vaccines. Recent studies show that vaccines may be effective for 7 years or more; titre testing is an excellent way to avoid overvaccination. We worm our puppies at 3 and 6 weeks of age with Stongid-T, they are then wormed as recommended by our veterinarian at 12 weeks of age.
Complimentary pet insurance - we enroll our puppies with the CKC preferred pet insurance provider, Pets Plus Us, 6 week HEADSTART PET INSURANCE TRIAL PROGRAM. Each new owner receives a 6 week voucher of complimentary pet health insurance, up to $1,000 of Accident & Illness coverage, 24/7 access to PetHelpFone™, 24/7 access to Pet Poison Helpline®, access to our Compassionate Care Line and one month of complimentary coverage when they convert to a permanent paid policy at any time during the 6 week period.
Warranty - a 2 year limited warranty on genetic health issues that Japanese Chin may be prone to (knees, eyes and heart).
