The content below is the week summary of the update from our Vizsla breeder on the things she does with the puppies and where they are at in their development. The activities below are an example of what a reputable breeders does to help puppies prepare to live their best lives. This post is part of our How To Raise & Train A Vizsla section. Click here to see more weekly updates.

In this third week of life, puppies are introduced to more toys, different textures and sounds, and goats' milk.

Notes from week 3:

• Things are really hopping!
• Important milestones occurred over the past week
  • their eyes have opened
  • wag their tails when they see people
  • ears are opened
  • now ‘growl' and try to play with each other
• Finished with the Bio-sensor exercises
• Each puppy still gets lots of snuggle time with at least one person a day, other than the breeder
• Had a few more visitors now
  • people
  • rest of the family dogs (who all love puppies)
• A couple of intrepid pups managed to climb out of the whelping box
• Moved to a larger play area
  • a tiled room off of our kitchen
  • leaves doors open to hear the sounds and activities of household life
• Introducing concept of potty training
  • washable potty pads next to their fleece bedding
  • puppies are getting pretty good at stumbling off of the bed onto the pads when nature calls
• PVC “play gym” which we hang different toys and other items from
• Exposed to lots of different textures (wood, metal, plastic)
• Exposed to different sounds
• Learning to look up and focus their eyes on things above their heads which is an important skill for a bird dog that needs to mark birds for retrieves!
• Mom can easily jump in and out of when she needs to take a break from the puppies
  • spending more time outside of the enclosure after feeding them
  • which encourages the puppies to move around and explore in their search for her
• All are walking well although still very wobbly!
• Introduced variety of toys of different types and textures each day and the puppies interact with them
  • licking them
  • trying to nurse from them
  • falling asleep on them
• Radio in the room plays a local radio station to hear a variety of things
  • talk shows
  • Gospel on Sunday mornings
  • local high school sports
  • classic rock music
• Two more trips outside
• Introduced goat's milk
  • smell the milk and are drawn to it
  • didn't yet have the hang of drinking
  • Mom jumps in and demonstrates and then cleans them afterwards
  • puppies also lick each other