The first 10 weeks as a salt of the earth dachshund

 The first few weeks of a puppy's life are very crucial. We start introducing ENS (Early Neurological Stimulation), which gently and briefly exposes them to a series of stressors once a day . This will help improve cardiovascular performance and build more tolerance to stress. Here is a link to help explain why these exercises are so helpful in producing amazing puppies.

ESI (Early Scent Introduction) is done by introducing a new smell every day and determining the puppy's reaction. This helps to enhance the puppy's ability to identify and react to different scents. 

We start nail trims that will continue every 3 to 7 days depending on nail growth rate.

 At the start of 3 weeks, we start introducing brief sessions of loud noise exposure.

This will continue until they leave at 10 weeks old. 

We start gentle handling exercises like rubbing ears, opening the mouth, touching all paws, slight tugs on the tail, etc. These exercises help us build trust with our puppies. This will also set them up in the future to handle veterinarian exams with confidence.

Grooming is a large part of your new dachshund's life, so we also start introducing brushing and the vibration/noise of an electric razor for paw pad trimming. 

We will transition the puppies to a grow out pen and add a separate potty area to get them used to going to the bathroom in one spot. 

We will introduce goats milk in a bowl when they are consistently mobile and stable on their feet, allowing them to dictate the rate of the weaning process.

 We continue loud noise exposure along with gentle daily handling exercises with increased pressure.

We start adding exposure activities to our grow out pen. These items consist of pillows, stuffed animals, chairs, balls, brain activities, small climbing structures, tunnel, unstable surfaces, etc. 

We start adding mush to their diets until around 5.5 weeks and then transition to hard kibble as tolerated. 

We will begin car rides and crate exposure. 

Puppies will have their first health check, fecal, and first set of vaccinations at 6 weeks old.

We will continue positive crate exposure and begin shutting the door for short periods of time.

We will continue loud noise exposure along with daily handling exercises with increased pressure. 

We continue exposure activities to our grow out area.

Around 8 weeks old, 2 weeks after their initial set of vaccines, puppies will be safely introduced to the outdoors in our fenced in yard.

 Puppies will have their 9 week check-up and receive health clearance from our veterinarian. Any puppy that will be traveling by third party transportation will receive a Health Certificate within the appropriate time frame for travel.

They will get their second set of vaccines, second fecal, and will be microchipped. 

It's GO HOME DAY for all puppies cleared by our veterinarian!