Babies turned into toddlers!

At 5 weeks old I can't call them babies any more! The whelping pen has become the Toddler room and I could not be prouder (and extremely happy) at how well they use the potty boxes!! The trick was keeping the space super small with the potty trays taking up 2/3 of the space until they figured it out. We still have a mishap here and there but overall it's going great! This training will 100% translate to going home and learning to go outside. Puppy parents will only have to show the new puppy where you want them to go and learn how to communicate with each other.......should be super easy, right? The trick will still be to keep their available space small, don't let them free roam the house until they get this part figured out. One of my favorite quotes from Kerry Nichols, author of Puppy Brain is "Never give them the opportunity to make a bad choice." Wish I had know that when I was raising children.....

Hello Humans, look how nice we sit and wait.

The biggest change this week was the introduction of the play area. That made happy puppies!!! This area is set up outside of the toddler room so they still have that area for napping and night time. But now, several times a day we can do "curriculum" and play. So much to be learned in this area. We will continue to add new toys and work on new skills like sit, down, come, etc.

This space is also great for visitors to come play with us. We have started puppy, puppy, puppy recall and hope to get lots of practice with that learning to come! This command will be so engrained in them they will always respond to it, especially when they loose their listening ears and forget their name at 6 months old!

Puppy, puppy, puppy recall

I am finally getting to the point I am not living in fear of their cute little ribbons falling off and not being able to tell them apart! Their faces are changing so some have a different look, some are starting to get curly hair and little color like Tonka and others are more straight hair and whiter in color like Cypress. I still don't see much difference in personality, they are all snugglers and love to be held! I have never seen such cuddle bugs and we all love it!

When I first was considering breeding, I came across a book by Jeanette Forrey titled "The Ultimate Badass Breeder's Guide" and I thought.....that is exactly what I want to be! A Badass Breeder! I follow her guidelines along with my mentor, Cinnamon Hoekema and several other accomplished breeders then twist them all together to make me and Royal Goldens. This week I had an issue come up and I was so blessed to have a face to face zoom call with Jeanette. So thankful to have so much support from the breeding community. For all you new puppy parents, I highly recommend her follow up book "Raising the Empowered Puppy". https://royalgoldens.krtra.com/t/gsT8jGxvMhXc

Mom is down to nursing 5 times a day and staying in the house at night. Such big kids now!

They don't exactly sleep all night (I still have nanny cam to keep an eye on them) but they are fine without Mom and use the potty trays. It's a special treat when Mom does come to visit although I am pretty sure the 2 lb growth in a week comes more from the 3x a time pans of kibble! They have grown over 700% since birth. No wonder it seems like they grow so fast......they truly do!! A little of Mom's milk after kibble and we have a puppy coma!