Thursday, September 27, 2007
Crooked Creek Website
I wanted to let everyone know, I'm just fine. My website domain name www.crookedcreekcairnterriers.com is down and they are working on it. It has gone through a migration, just like the Designer Dog Avenue website and now there are features that are not functioning correctly and now I believe the domain is down. This is why you see a different temporary page. I trust that they will get it up as soon as possible. Thank you for the calls and emails, we're all ok!!! You may contact Crooked Creek Cairn Terriers at crookedcreekcairns@verizon.net.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Just a thought on Nature
Regarding nature and separation from the young. (after the previous blog about puppy development and 8wk old puppies annoying their mother!) Ever wonder why teenagers are so difficult!? Think about nature and the time period that a parent needs to separate from their young. Teenagers are growing up, needing independence and are preparing to step out on their own. Just like 8 week old puppies, weanling foals, etc, Teenagers annoy the heck out of their parents. My father once told me, parents are supposed to be annoyed by their teenagers and teenagers are supposed to be annoyed by their parents. That's how they are prepared for separation and stepping into the world on their own. I didn't quite understand what he meant until I became an adult. Now as I look at these little 8 week old puppies that are jumping in their mother's faces, licking, nipping, pouncing on their mom, no wonder she's ready to say "See Ya!" I hope I'm ready when my teenagers grow into adults and are ready to separate...... My father is a smart man. I hope my kids think that about me some day.
How old should a puppy be before being sold?
Years ago, puppies would be weaned from their mother's and sold at 6 weeks of age. This is no longer acceptable practice. The breeder's code of ethics say a puppy should be 8 weeks of age, before being sold or adopted. There are 15 states which have laws governing the age by which a puppy may be sold or adopted to a new family and in most states it is 8 weeks of age. At Crooked Creek Cairn Terriers, puppies may go home at 8-9 weeks of age if being picked up, and may be shipped at 9-10 weeks of age.
Puppy mills and bad breeders will take puppies from their mothers at 5 weeks of age and sell them. Puppies don't even have all their teeth through their gums at 5 weeks of age. They've only been toddling around since 3 1/2- 4 weeks of age. At 5 weeks, they are toddlers in that they are starting to be playful but are clumsy and they still sleep most of the time. At 6 weeks, they are gaining coordination and are being weaned from their mothers, but most still nurse along with their solid foods. At Crooked Creek Cairn Terriers, we don't wean the puppies from their mothers. We allow the mothers and puppies to decide when to wean based on their instinct and individual needs. Puppies are introduced to solids at 4 1/2- 5 weeks of age, but most aren't eating on their own until closer to 6 weeks of age. Most of our puppies wean on their own by 7 weeks.
By watching puppies and their mother's instinct, you can tell developmentally when weaning and separation should occur. Mother's are so protective the first few days of life that they usually have to be forced to leave the puppies to go potty and eat/drink. It is their instinct to keep the puppies warm, and frequently nurse the puppies to nourish them and maintain the fragile puppies. Pupppies are like infants in that they have difficulty maintaining their temperatures initially. It's being snuggled up to Mom and littermates, that they stay warm. Their blood sugar stays stable by nursing frequently.
By the time the puppies are 1 week of age, the mother's instinct is still strong, but she is more willing to leave them for short periods of time. Watch out if you think you can touch or take them without her noticing though! By 3 weeks she's more relaxed about the human interaction and seems content to let you touch them and hold them. By 4 weeks she may leave the puppies for longer periods of time, just returning to them to nurse them. At 5-6 weeks, she's completely comfortable with the puppies being taken for longer periods of time, but is anxious to see them returned to her. She starts to wean them usually at 6 weeks, but some bitches vary in when they wean their puppies. By 8 weeks, the mother is annoyed by these little bundles of energy and says "See ya!" as the family takes their new puppy home.
My parents raised Siberian Huskies when I was a child and teenager, and as I said, it was common practice to sell the puppies at 6 weeks of age. Our Lobo would howl and cry for days when the puppies were taken from her so early. My father said he quit breeding because he couldn't bare to hear them cry for their puppies. But from what I understand now, if we had weaned them and sold the puppies at 8 weeks vs 6 weeks, their instinct would have been ready to give up the puppies and it wouldn't have been traumitizing.
So as you see, if we understand and listen to nature herself, we would understand why puppies should not be sold until developmentally ready. If a breeder sells puppies before 8 weeks of age, it may be reason for concern about the practices of that breeder.
Puppy mills and bad breeders will take puppies from their mothers at 5 weeks of age and sell them. Puppies don't even have all their teeth through their gums at 5 weeks of age. They've only been toddling around since 3 1/2- 4 weeks of age. At 5 weeks, they are toddlers in that they are starting to be playful but are clumsy and they still sleep most of the time. At 6 weeks, they are gaining coordination and are being weaned from their mothers, but most still nurse along with their solid foods. At Crooked Creek Cairn Terriers, we don't wean the puppies from their mothers. We allow the mothers and puppies to decide when to wean based on their instinct and individual needs. Puppies are introduced to solids at 4 1/2- 5 weeks of age, but most aren't eating on their own until closer to 6 weeks of age. Most of our puppies wean on their own by 7 weeks.
By watching puppies and their mother's instinct, you can tell developmentally when weaning and separation should occur. Mother's are so protective the first few days of life that they usually have to be forced to leave the puppies to go potty and eat/drink. It is their instinct to keep the puppies warm, and frequently nurse the puppies to nourish them and maintain the fragile puppies. Pupppies are like infants in that they have difficulty maintaining their temperatures initially. It's being snuggled up to Mom and littermates, that they stay warm. Their blood sugar stays stable by nursing frequently.
By the time the puppies are 1 week of age, the mother's instinct is still strong, but she is more willing to leave them for short periods of time. Watch out if you think you can touch or take them without her noticing though! By 3 weeks she's more relaxed about the human interaction and seems content to let you touch them and hold them. By 4 weeks she may leave the puppies for longer periods of time, just returning to them to nurse them. At 5-6 weeks, she's completely comfortable with the puppies being taken for longer periods of time, but is anxious to see them returned to her. She starts to wean them usually at 6 weeks, but some bitches vary in when they wean their puppies. By 8 weeks, the mother is annoyed by these little bundles of energy and says "See ya!" as the family takes their new puppy home.
My parents raised Siberian Huskies when I was a child and teenager, and as I said, it was common practice to sell the puppies at 6 weeks of age. Our Lobo would howl and cry for days when the puppies were taken from her so early. My father said he quit breeding because he couldn't bare to hear them cry for their puppies. But from what I understand now, if we had weaned them and sold the puppies at 8 weeks vs 6 weeks, their instinct would have been ready to give up the puppies and it wouldn't have been traumitizing.
So as you see, if we understand and listen to nature herself, we would understand why puppies should not be sold until developmentally ready. If a breeder sells puppies before 8 weeks of age, it may be reason for concern about the practices of that breeder.
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