7 Weeks + 4 Days

Pictures taken 3/1/2025

The puppies have matured by leaps and bounds this week, both in looks and behavior. I always know the difference between these few weeks is staggering but it continues to surprise me still.

So far we've gotten really good at napping in the kennels and in the few days before pickup day we will progress to trying to sleep at night in a kennel. The biggest hurdle will be potty accidents as bladder control at this age is an impossible ask--my primary goal however is relaxed, silence for bed in the kennels. This week I will also do a lot more leash work. At this age my expectations are pretty low for leash walking but we want to get them used to the feeling of pressure from the leash so they don't thrash around in protest and have a decent understanding that they can't move wherever they'd like to.

In addition to the crate and leash training I will start separating the puppies for increasing amounts of time. They've been weaned from mom for about 1.5 weeks and did great with that, but the next hurdle is encouraging a bit of independence from one another so when they go their separate ways we can try to eliminate any feelings of separation anxiety. This is especially important when you have a litter of just two.

Time permitting I'd like to additionally do a water/swim exercise with the puppies. They haven't needed a full bath yet, just spot cleaning as needed so a swim exercise in a shallow bin would be a great time to give them that exposure.

Beyond training we have one more round of both deworming & vaccinations to complete!

Just shy of 7 Weeks Old

Pictures taken 2/23/2025

This past week we've been getting the puppies out of their 'home' and doing a lot more supervised exploring around the house. By the looks of the forecast I think we can even venture outside this week! Crate training is still going well, we aren't quite to napping in the crates yet but it's getting there!

Before pictures we used the Dremel on their nails to get them nice and short, we still have a few more sessions to get them how we would like--ideally nails should just be short stubs that never come close to touching the ground. The best way to keep this going is doing their nails weekly so the cuticle doesn't grow long within the nail and then maintain. Wrigley thought getting his nails ground was like a spa, totally relaxed and zero flinching or squiggles. Olivia did amazing too, just sat nice and still whereas Wrigley really sank into a state of relaxation haha!

Coming up during week 7 we will work hard on leash training, since Dachshunds are so small and fragile it will mostly be desensitizing rather than getting them full-blown leash trained but it will help a ton. We are also working on riding in the car so that we're good to go for Thursday's appointment with the vet.

6 Weeks Old

Pictures taken 2/17/2025

Puppies are really getting the hang of clicker training. We've done barrier challenges and introduced some really odd things (light & sound children's toys, small decor statues, dish of snow...) into the whelping box to create of sense of curiosity and bravery to the unknown. Potty training is going quite well so far, Olivia is a bit more cognizant of where she goes and Wrigley kind of goes where and when he feels the need, time will help tremendously with this. Wrigley is super playful and intelligent, he's the first to catch on and check everything out every time. Olivia takes a bit more time as she's mostly just seeking attention from me but quickly follows Wrigley's lead. They're a really great sibling pair to have during these early learning stages--they balance one another out and help each other to learn things that aren't inherent to their individual personalities. Coming up this week we have more crate training, introduction to collar & leash, riding in the car, meeting some of our adult dachshunds, and hopefully if we get any decent weather (I doubt it though) we might venture outside for a short time. I really like to socialize them to the outdoors but winter in Indiana makes that really difficult for such tiny puppies.

5 Weeks Old

Pictures taken 2/11/2025

This week we really start getting into playing fun games & laying the foundation for training. We do barrier challenges by placing a reasonable obstacle between the puppies and their meal so they can experience difficulty and overcome it. Last week we started 'loading' the clicker and we're still getting that connection established between the click and reward, this usually takes a bit longer for dachshunds.  During week 5 we will introduce the puppies to crates. We start by allowing them to have short meals in their individual crate with the door open. The next goal will be with the door closed and later napping quietly in the kennel.

4 Weeks Old - Bonus Pictures

Pictures taken 2/6/2025

Almost 4 Weeks Old

2/2/2025 These little ones are doing wonderfully, we're just exiting the transitional phase of the puppy culture program and will start doing some different activities with them. This week I offered them their first sloppy meal but they weren't all that interested--mom's milk must be too good.

Female - Black & Cream - No Pattern

12 ounces

available