Novel scents – week 1

In the first couple weeks of life, puppies are called neonates since they are born unable to see, hear, and walk. They can’t even pee and poop on their own yet (mom stimulates them to go). They do have scent and tactile senses, so during this period it’s possible to help them develop those senses. Thanks to Avidog who started the novel scent program, we’ve done this with all our litters. The puppies get to smell mostly natural items that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Here are some of the scents they experienced in week 1: grass, redwood, leather, pine tree, apple. We live in Gravenstein apple country, being in Sebastopol, so apples were an important addition!

Though the puppies can’t hear, they can feel vibration and were exposed to a lot of vibration since we had a big tree taken down and chipped right outside their room.

Here’s a link to a video of the huge chipper (for those interested in such things!): https://photos.app.goo.gl/cAJarXdfCeF57i1b8