Laci Litters
I only breed, whelp, and raise a litter when there is a position open in the pack in my house. Therefore, litters are usually planned for every 2 years or so. I only keep one puppy at a time so that means there are usually puppies available from those planned breedings. Although I prefer a home that has a desire to *do things* with their dog in AKC events, it isn’t mandatory. Any owner of a puppy with the background of my dogs *wanting to do lots of things*, however, does need to be fully aware that these dachshunds will need daily jobs/activities to not only build their brain power but to also burn their excess energy. Otherwise, you will end up with a pet that gets in to trouble frequently.
Litters are eagerly anticipated here. I take off work for the week they are due and have the ability to have Larry plan his work schedule so that he is here for the 2nd week of their life so that the puppies and Momma are never left totally alone. After that, I schedule my work so that I’m only gone 5 hours if Larry is away and this goes until they are 4 weeks of age.
Once their eyes open, they move from the Master Bedroom to the eating area in the kitchen in their nursery set-up. This way the other adults can smell them, get accustomed to them and the puppies can do the same through the wire although the puppies are kept raised up off the floor so they assume they are as big as the big dogs.
Once the puppies move downstairs they are, of course, inundated with sound - the den TV is on nearly non-stop in this house and that is openly connected to the kitchen; the cooks in this house are extremely clumsy and there are all types of noises that occur; the dogs passage to the outdoors is through the kitchen and for some reason my dogs insist on announcing to the world they are going outside AS they are going outside.
Starting at 3 weeks each puppy gets individual time on the floor with the big dogs. Some of the adults, usually the neutered male, can’t wait for this time as he adores babies. Once I know that the adults are accustomed to the antics of the babies, then the whole crew can come down and explore the *large play pen* ie the eating area of the kitchen that is littered with dog toys and dog beds.
It is amazing that when the puppies start their exploration of the floor, Momma dog hovers for the first day or two and then it is as if she sighs in relief that the 24 hour care is off her back and she can sit outside in the sun without worry…if she so desires.
Puppies don’t leave this house until a minimum of 10 weeks and they will have at least 1 vaccination round, preferably 2 rounds (depends on when they stop nursing as to when I start vaccinations), before they leave. Puppies do not leave until they are choosing to sleep by themselves, away from the pack and the *puppy pile*. Normally, they are already taking naps in individual crates. They may or may not be leash trained but they WILL be trained on recall with a double click on a clicker (not the proper use of a clicker but it works and it doesn’t confuse them for later work with it).
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