At three days old, these puppies are still in that incredible early newborn stage. Their eyes and ears are closed, so they are completely dependent on their sense of smell and their ability to detect warmth to find mama. You will see them instinctively root and crawl toward her, guided by scent and body heat alone. Right now, their entire world revolves around sleeping and eating. This is exactly what we want. During these first days, their bodies are growing rapidly, and the

These first couple of days are very much eyes on, hands off. We are with them around the clock, watching closely, making sure each puppy is nursing well and that mom is doing her job comfortably. But during this stage, we keep handling to a minimum. No holding or passing puppies around just yet, just light, intentional touch when needed. Right now, mom does the majority of the work. She is regulating their temperature, stimulating them, feeding them, and keeping them clean. O

Patsy welcomed a beautiful litter yesterday, and we’re thrilled to share that 9 healthy puppies are doing wonderful — 5 girls and 4 boys. While she had 12 in total, 3 were born sleeping, which made for a hard night. Each one matters, and we do everything we can in those moments, so those losses are always felt. We are incredibly thankful for the 9 healthy babies we have, and everyone is doing really well this morning. ❤️