Inside the Puppy Pen - Day 3

By day three, the puppies are settling into a steady rhythm of nursing, sleeping, and growing. While much of their time is still spent resting, there is already a lot happening beneath the surface.

You may notice tiny muscle twitches during sleep—little paws moving, whiskers fluttering, or even brief tail flicks. This is called active sleep (sometimes referred to as REM sleep), and it is a critical part of early neurological development. During active sleep, the brain is busy forming and strengthening connections that will later support coordination, movement, and learning.

Another sweet thing we’re seeing today is tail wagging during nursing. Even this early, those small movements are reflexive and tied to the nervous system as it begins to organize itself. The puppies aren’t expressing emotion yet, but these early signals show that the pathways between the brain and muscles are already firing and practicing.

Day three is still very much about survival and growth—warmth, milk, and rest—but each twitch, stretch, and wag is part of the foundation being built. These quiet moments matter just as much as the big milestones we’ll see later.

There is more growing, more resting, and lots of tiny developments happening every minute here in the puppy pen.

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