Can my babies hear yet?

[Laylas Mom]

I was just wondering how you can tell when a puppy can hear? I know it happens at about a week but last night I was sitting next to the welping box and I called for my DH at the other side of the house and when I did a pup yelped. I did it again just to see what would happen and the pup yelped again. Does this mean they can hear and I scared them?

 

[JulieM]

It's more like two weeks when the ear canals open. Here's a puppy development timeline that gives information on what sorts of activities/experiences to introduce when:
http://home.ptd.net/~rgbcmyk/puppies/puppy_timeline.html

Also, information on the "SuperDog" program (Developing High Achievers):
http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/achiever.html

Ian Dunbar's "Before You Get Your Puppy", while written for buyers, has quite a bit of information on things that a breeder should be doing during the first eight weeks of life:
http://www.openpaw.org/index.html

Finally, some excellent ideas for a "Puppy Playland" from a Dobe breeder can be found here:
http://members.execulink.com/~korevaar/Playland1.htm

 

[Laylas Mom]

Very informative

Thank you very much that was very informative and I added it to my favs to refer to it regularly.