I'm often asked a lot of questions about new-born puppies. What do they look like? Do they have personalities? Can they walk? Are poodles born with curly hair? Are poodles born with long tails?

No, they don't really have personalities. They're just little things that want to eat, sleep, and stay warm. No, they can't walk upright; they drag themselves around. Poodles are usually born with either straight or slightly wavy hair. They have long tails which are docked when they're three days old. They also have "dewclaws" (little claw on the side of the foot) which are removed when the tail is docked. If done properly, neither of these procedures will cause bleeding, leave a scar, or require stitches.

Young puppies spend their time sleeping and nursing. Their eyes open at 12-15 days, but their vision is limited for several weeks. At three weeks, they respond to sounds. At four weeks, they can walk around easily and might be showing some interest in mushy food. They play in a clumsy manner, and suprise themselves by barking. By five weeks, they want human attention, and can wag their tails. At six weeks, they act more like "regular puppies". They bark when they want something, and cry when they're unhappy. They eat softenend food from a bowl, drink water, and play with eachother. If given a large area which is part blanket and part newspaper, my six week old puppies are pretty good at going to the bathroom on the newspaper. It doesn't take long to figure out it's not fun sleeping on a blanket that's been peed on.

< - Chocolate sable poodle puppy at 10 days.

< - Parti puppy at 15 days.

Puppies grow rapidly between six and eight weeks. They become more vocal, and more demanding of human attention. They play with eachother, and they play with toys. This is the weaning period, so it's also a stressful time, especially for small breed puppies. It is during this time that mommy will stop cleaning up after her babies. Sometimes it seems like every time I turn around, there's something new on the newspapers. A big part of raising puppies is rolling up dirty newspapers and putting them in the trash!

A properly raised eight week old puppy is outgoing, confident, and curious. It should adjust to new situations fairly rapidly, and with little fear. This is still a learning time, so the puppy is certainly affected by what happens to it as the weeks go by. It can become fearful or aggressive for two reasons: it leads an isolated life and learns to trust members of it's household only, or it's being treated harshly and has learned it must hide or defend itself.