HOW WE CARE FOR OUR CHIN
Puppies
Puppies
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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). Puppies receive their first dose of Strongid (dewormer) at 2 weeks.
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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. They are also dewormed with Strongid.
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By 6 weeks old, the puppies have fully transitioned to their kitchen pen and mom has weaned them naturally.
Our pups are naturally reared and weaned straight onto raw food, we do things as natural as possible. 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 leave water and high quality kibble with them. They are also dewormed again with Strongid. |
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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.
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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. They are also dewormed once again with Strongid. |
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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.
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Puppies with aunt Lily (Champion LPH Chiyoko's Lily)
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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. Following their vaccine, the puppies are given a rebalancer, Adored Beast Antivaccinosis, to help their little systems heal.
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.
- 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. Following their vaccine, the puppies are given a rebalancer, Adored Beast Antivaccinosis, to help their little systems heal.
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.
At 12 weeks of age the puppies are examined by our veterinarian once more, given their second vaccine and wormed with Interceptor. Once again, following their vaccine, the puppies are given a rebalancer, Adored Beast's Anti-Vaccinosis, to help their little systems heal.
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.
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.
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Socialization & Training
Now that the puppies have had 2 sets of vaccines they are ready to further their puppy socialization. We like to enroll our puppies in a local puppy socialization class that is generally 6 to 8 weeks in duration. They learn the basics of leading, sitting and recall. This class is then followed up with a puppy obedience class. We find these classes invaluable for both puppies and new owners. |
Gizmo completing his puppy class, photo courtesy of Gizmo's mom, Karen.
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