Russbaca Retrievers

Tabi whelped 7 puppies on the 2nd of January, 4 boys and 3 girls, with our boy Woody. Both fully health tested with excellent results, they’re lovely affectionate dogs.

7 Weeks old

This week the pups were moved to a larger pen, in an area where they see more comings and goings. They’ve also had their vet check, microchip, 1st vaccine and final wormer this week. The vet trip also meant a car ride – they sat in their crates quietly taking in the new experience, which is exactly what we hope for. They were pretty confident in the vets and loved the attention they received.

6 Weeks old

All the pups have been outside for a walk around and an explore, we usually like to do this earlier but the weather has been horrible, very strong winds, heavy rain most days and absolutely freezing. We picked a time where the rain had stopped and the wind was gentle. The pups enjoyed the experience, it wasn’t long before they were running around like they’d done it a thousand times before.

They enjoy running around the office with chews and toys multiple times a day, and they’ve seen a few more new people this week. They’ve enjoyed some blueberries in addition to the other stuff they’ve already experienced.

5 Weeks old

At the start of this week the pups were all weighed and wormed, and they had some more new visitors.

They also interacted with and balanced on a wobble disk with no fear – this is something we get all of our pups to do, it’s a great introduction to uneven surfaces in a safe environment.

At the end of this week the visits from future puppy owners happened, we were pleased with how confident the pups were, they happily sought out people for fuss and games.

Food wise they’ve enjoyed some tripe, dried beef chews and hairy rabbits ears.

4 Weeks old

This week they experienced banana and pineapple, and enjoyed exploring the office outside the pen. They had several different toys in their pen and listened to some different music, like jazz, and various pop and rock songs on the radio. But most importantly they’ve had loads of cuddles!

3 Weeks old

This week their teeth have begun to emerge, and so we’ve begun to wean them. They began by lapping up some puppy milk, then the next day they had some Natures menu puppy raw food – both of these were devoured, they ate a healthy amount and took to the whole process really well. So then we moved onto soaked Millies Wolfheart Riverside kibble which they really enjoyed.

They’ve also had their wormer at the start of the week, nails clipped again and a toilet area added. They’ve been pretty good at using the toilet area considering their age, we’re happy with their progress. A few days after adding the toilet area we removed the dividing board that was splitting the pen in half, so they now have free reign of the entire pen. We vary the time we give them full access to the pen depending on how the litter is progressing, but 3 – 4 weeks old is pretty typical.

As for new experiences, in addition to weaning, pen expansion, and toilet area introduction, they’ve also played with some noisy soft toys, an empty dog food bag, and a few trusted family members have spent a little time with them. They’ve heard the hoover, various things on tv and classical music for roughly an hour everyday.

2 Weeks old

1 Week old

Newborn