Pregnancy

Dogs are pregnant for approximately 9 weeks, or 63 days. During this time, our job is to keep the mother well fed, well exercised, and relatively stress-free. The mother will visit our veterinarian at least three times—once for a prenatal health check, once for an ultrasound, and once for an x-ray. The first ultrasound is to simply confirm her pregnancy so we can begin accepting deposits and preparing to whelp. The X-Ray is for later in the pregnancy to get a more accurate count on how many puppies we are expecting. The mother is fed with proper nutrition as recommended by our veterinarian as well as prenatal and postnatal supplements.

WEEK ONE

In the first two weeks after the puppies are born, we focus on familiarizing the pups with human scent and human touch. Puppies are born blind and deaf. To minimize stress, we do not remove the puppies from their mother for long periods. We do not want the puppies to associate the smell of humans with stress of any sort—rather, we want them to associate humans with safety and comfort.

We desensitize the puppies to human touch while they are in the whelping box with their mom. From birth we touch their feet, ears, tails, mouths, stomach, etc. This helps the puppies to accept invasive human touch as a normal part of their lives. This will minimize any problems later on in life when your dog needs grooming, nail clipping, teeth brushing, etc because your dog is very familiar with these experiences already.

We also utilize Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) and Early Scent Introduction (ESI) protocols from days 3-16 of the puppies’ lives. ENS stimulates the puppies’ nervous systems a little early, which gives them a little headstart in life. ESI gets the puppies smelling novel and unique scents from birth to get the olfactory system working well and sharpen their limited senses at an early age.

For more information check out our YouTube videos on Newborn Puppy Care, Early Neurological Stimulation, and Early Scent Introduction!

Week Two

Around week 2 the puppies’ ears will open and they will begin to hear sounds. We will start to expose them to as many new and different sounds possible with a playlist loop of dogs barking, children crying, sirens, alarms, doorbells, all kinds of things puppies will hear throughout their lives. At this age, puppies do not have a fear response yet, so they will accept all these sounds are normal and nothing to be concerned about. This will greatly aid in your dog’s lifelong confidence and lessen its natural fear and wariness of strange or loud sounds.

During this week we also begin introducing toys to the puppies, starting with large stuffed animals and other large soft objects that cannot hurt them. We also begin introducing new surfaces and textures to the whelping box, hills and valleys under the bedding for them to climb over to improve muscle coordination and strength, and a musical mat that makes noises when the pups walk over it. Our goal is to introduce at least one novel experience to the puppies every day.

We continue regular grooming sessions, using different types of brushes, clipping the puppies’ nails often, and have a close friend over to handle the puppies and start introducing novel human scents. Around the end of this week, the puppies’ eyes will open and the real fun begins.

Check out our YouTube videos on Environmental Enrichment and Grooming and Handling!

week three

Around this time we start to wean the puppies. They will be gradually weaned off the dam’s milk for a period of 3-4 weeks, starting now. They are developing sharp little teeth at this point too, so we begin introducing the pups not only to a slurry mixture but also to meat and marrow bones to chew on. We vary the different types of meat our pups are offered so they begin to build an early tolerance for many sources of protein—not just the standard chicken, beef, pork, and turkey, but also fish, rabbit, bison, lamb, goat, anything we can get our hands on. We also begin training a puppy call, or a recall command, that we use every time we put food down for the pups.

The pups are starting to gain some bowel control and become more active. The puppies also have increased mobility, so around this time we expand and enrich the puppies’ environment. As soon as the puppies have a desire to escape their current environment, we move them out of the whelping box into a larger enclosure more suited for their activity, add more toys, different walking surfaces, obstacles, and other humans for the pups to investigate. We also begin potty training! The pups are only able to walk a few steps before they have to go, but their instincts tell them to keep their sleeping and living area clean. We use these instincts to our advantage and provide multiple trays of grass turf all around their sleeping and playing areas so they can learn to eliminate in the appropriate areas.

We spend lots of time petting and holding the puppies at this stage so they begin to seek human touch instead of their mother. We also talk to them constantly so they become familiarized with human voices. The dam is starting to spend more and more time away from the pups as they become more self-sufficient.

We continue providing new and novel experiences as well as appropriate startle response training to our puppies every day, and provide them new things to look at and moving objects to watch as their eyes develop.

Check out our YouTube videos on Sights & Sounds and Weaning & Potty Training!

Week Four

The pups are beginning to find their voices and loudly vocalize so you can expect some cute barking and howling videos around this stage! The pups will begin to run and play with each other far more vigorously and wag their tails.

This week is all about building confidence! We continue to expose them to many different toys, surfaces both indoor and outdoor, and more obstacles to climb on and over. We also introduce the puppies to our cat, small animals, trusted adult dogs, and well-behaved children. In the middle of the week we also have a few friends and puppy buyers come visit the puppies to handle them and play with them. We also have several exercises and training situations planned for the puppies, such as a barrier challenges, intro to prey drive with moving objects, beginning stacking, beginning scentwork games and confidence on uneven footing via a bottle pool, and weather permitting into to walking in water. At this age all their learning is self-directed, we never ask the puppies to do anything or force them into situations they don’t choose. This is crucial for the dog’s ability to handle new situations with the fearlessness that is characteristic of the German Shepherd Dog.

We also add small crates to the puppies’ pen, to slowly introduce them to crate training. We keep the crates dark and well padded so they are comfortable and safe places for the puppies to go when they want to sleep. Dogs are naturally denning animals and it takes very little time for the pups to start heading to their crates when they are tired and need a break.

Check out our YouTube videos on Socialization I and Desensitization!

Week five

Week 5 is a big week! We begin a lot of foundational training with our puppies this week. The pups are beginning to spend more and more time awake and playing, and are requiring more and more of our attention and focus. A mentally and physically tired set of puppies is far easier to corral than a group of bright-eyed posse of landsharks! Each puppy gets at least one, if not two, individual training sessions every day this week. Many of our puppies go to working and sport homes, so we start by teaching our puppies the foundations to heeling, tracking, scentwork, obedience, conformation show stacking, and gripwork. These training sessions engage the puppies’ quickly developing minds and bodies and give them new challenges to conquer and figure out each day.

We also start our first adventure walks! The puppies never leave our property for their own protection, but we are blessed to have several acres to explore. The pups follow momma dog & human through a romp in the woods or field for about 15-20 minutes at a time. Puppies come across lots of new sounds, sights, and experiences on these walks and also learn important problem-solving skills as they figure out how to climb over obstacles and keep up with the pack.

We continue their socialization with our stable adult dogs so they can learn important socialization skills and doggy body language cues as well as bite inhibition training. GSDs are called “land sharks” for a reason—they naturally try to explore the world teeth-first. By watching the reaction of other dogs and their litter mates during play, the pups will begin to understand that their teeth can hurt, and how to be gentle.

Check out our YouTube videos on Training and Adventure Walks!

Week six

We start week six by kicking it off with our first Puppy Party! This is a wonderful experience where dog-savvy friends as well as local puppy buyers travel to meet the puppies, socialize, train, and reinforce correct behaviors with our baby puppies. We train on puppy agility equipment to build the puppies’ confidence on new terrain and when working with strange people. We host two parties this week, sometimes three to give everyone a chance to come meet the puppies.

We continue our training regimen this week and even kick it up a notch by building upon the skills puppies learned last week. We continue heeling, obedience, tracking, scent work, conformation show stacking, and gripwork as well as begin an intro to leash training with pull tabs (so far all heeling and training has been done completely off-lead.) We also start training sessions with our adult dogs and puppies together to model appropriate training behaviors and teach patience.

We continue our adventure walks, getting longer and longer as the puppies’ stamina grows. We also continue introducing new and novel experiences and objects to the puppies each day.

Check out our YouTube videos on out Puppy Parties and Training II!

Week seven

Socialization, exploration, training and testing are what week 7 is all about! Weather permitting, we introduce the puppies to water. Pups learn to ride in cars, and leash training begins in earnest. At this stage the puppies are placed in harnesses, not collars, to prevent any injuries to their necks. More basic obedience commands are shaped, and potty training is getting a lot better (if not fully complete) at this stage. We continue training, and continue our adventure walks, as well as start to introduce some individual exploration time for each puppy to develop confidence on its own without mom or littermate close by.

Week 7 also marks temperament testing, working ability evaluations, conformation evaluations, and the final placement of puppies in their prospective homes. Magnum Opus does not leave choosing the puppies up to the prospective owner, nor do we have first pick/second pick or anything of the sort; we feel that placing pups according to temperament and drive, not color or size or other secondary traits, is the best way to set up our puppies and puppy buyers up for long-term success. We do our best to select optimal temperament, sex, and coloration in order of deposit placed. Pups are placed at the beginning of week 7, and we can work with special requests for reserved puppies throughout the duration of this week until your pup goes home.

Check out our YouTube video on Puppy Placement!

Week 8

We start taking the pups into new environments outside the property. The mother and other adult dogs are there to model proper behavior, which is rewarded with praise, petting, and food. Some outings are pack-oriented, and some are focused on individual puppies. We begin swimming if weather permits, longer car rides, and longer and more challenging adventure walks.

We also have the puppies’ first visit to the veterinarian this week! Pups will be fully vaccinated, microchipped, dewormed, and given a clean bill of health about three days before they turn 8 weeks old.

Our puppies are allowed to go home as soon as they turn 8 weeks old. Magnum Opus can hold reserved puppies for up to an additional week, until they are 9 weeks old, at no extra charge (other than at-cost veterinary fees for their second round of shots). We love our pups and enjoy the extra time with them! For as long as we have the pups, we continue to socialize, train, and expose them to new environments to build their confidence.

All our puppies are sent home with a puppy go-bag, puppy food, and a training packet detailing everything we’ve worked on and recommended steps for continuing that training and socialization after you bring your new puppy home!

Check out our Youtube Videos on Socialization II and Vet Visit and Travel!

beyond 8 weeks

We provide lifetime breeder support as well as a comprehensive health guarantee for 26 months, and are always happy to take our dogs and puppies back at any time. Happy to offer training tips, advice, mentorship, or reduced-rate in-home boarding for any of our dogs and puppies. We are just an email, text, or phone call away!

Puppy Raising & Care