If you are reading this, you are most likely waiting to take your adopted Pomsky puppy home and can’t wait to do it. Congratulations on a new addition to your family! Unfortunately before you get to cuddle with the little fur ball, he needs to grow up to a point where he can thrive without his mother.
Let’s talk about the general timeline of when you can expect to pick up your puppy, what things can affect the timeline and what you can do to prepare for him to come home with you.
Puppies need to be at least 8 weeks old to be able to move to their new home. This gives us enough time to wean the puppies off of their mothers milk, and start eating hard food and drinking water.
The Nursing Period For Pomsky Puppies
The puppies are first introduced to water at 4 weeks of age, in a wide and shallow dish. Here they can stand in the water, and try to lap it up for the first time. In the same way, at 5 weeks old, we begin to sprinkle puppy kibble to see how interested the puppies are in it, and if they try chewing it or give up.
Some litters that start chewing the kibble straight away, we take as a good sign! From this point, we start to separate the mother for about an hour to two hours, a day, and gradually lengthen the time. By 6 weeks, we will begin separating the mother overnight, so the puppies start learning to sleep without their mother. This also helps the puppies be hungry by early morning, so we can again encourage puppy kibble for breakfast.
After the puppies munch on their kibble, as best they can, we bring back the mother just in case the pups have not had their fill. This way, they are getting all the calories and nutrients they need even as they are transitioning. The momma dog is brought in after, breakfast, lunch and dinner during the 6th week, and by the 7th week the puppies should have no need of their mother for food, as by this time the pups are becoming more and more accustomed to the kibble, and eating plenty.
Some litters however at the 5th week find no interest in hard food. For these litters, we apply all the same steps except for one: that is the food is made wet with warm water to soften it, and help them transition better. We add less and less water, until by the 7th week the puppies are able to finally crunch on the kibble on their own, with no problem!
Pomsky Puppies Learning To Play Gently
After the puppies have no need for their mothers milk, we still encourage playing and visiting, as the mommy has lots to teach the little rascals! We do this with supervision, as the pups will want to feed off of the mommy, even though they don’t need to. So, we just make sure that the puppies learn personal boundaries with other dogs, by not attacking the mother dog in search of food, but learning to play gently.
During playtimes, the momma dog teaches the pups many valuable lessons about rough play, doggy body language, boundaries, and more. This is such an important time in a dogs life, the very beginning. We do our very best to not rush the process, as these are the times that shape a puppies habits, and subconscious needs.
As one example out of many, there are fully grown… adult dogs, who have “weird” habits. An unknown need, showing itself years later. I’ve seem plenty of dogs who needed to suck on special toys, blankets, or a specific thing. I’ve learned this is a sign that back when this dog was a young puppy, he/she was taken from the mother much too young. So, subconsciously, that dog just wasn’t able to mature or develop the way he/she should have.
In the same way, the way dogs play is something very important too. Yes, socializing your puppy after bringing him/her home is important, but before that… the mother offers fundamental steps and learning curves for the young ones that stay with them forever, and helps them get on the path of fully developing mentally, guiding the rest of their puppyhood silently, in the background. Think of it as a foundation.
Love & Affection For Pomsky Puppies
During this time, the puppies are nurtured and loved on by our staff, and playing with children too. As a standard practice, we normalize the feeling of being pet, and held. We also take this time help in desensitizing the puppies to potentially uncomfortable situations such as: the touching of the ears, looking at teeth, gently pulling on their tails and massaging their feet to help prevent any harmful situations in the future.
For example: if an unknowing child would do something like this, it could be potentially dangerous for the child and dog. So, we do our best to use these precious 8 weeks making these feelings “normal” and “okay” for the pup to feel, without being surprised and/or reacting.
In the same way, when puppies are transitioning to hard food, we make sure to put our hands in their bowl and around their mouth, and occasionally pet the pup while he/she is eating to help prevent with any and all potential food aggression in the future. All these practices we encourage new puppy parents to continue from time to time at home, but again, we help ensure that at least the “foundation” is provided by us too, not just the mother dog alone.
Preparing Pomsky Puppies For The World
During this 8 week period, our staff brushes and grooms the pups, helping them get used to water and the tickling feeling of a brush from an early age. This helps tremendously with a smooth and pleasant grooming experience for the dogs and their humans in the future.
Lastly, as soon as the puppies are born they are put on a schedule to have all their deworming done (bi-weekly) and lastly, their very first Vaccine which is administered at 8 weeks old. Deworming is an important step in which helps the health of all of our dogs, the puppies themselves, and humans. All animals have parasites, even people! With animals, even healthy ones, during their life they sniff and breathe in particles, they eat things, and tiny unseen organisms and parasites will come into their bodies. So, we make it a very important step to deworm all our dogs regularly to make sure any new or unseen parasite or worm doesn’t get out of hand.
When our mothers are pregnant, it’s unsafe to deworm them during that time. So, after the birth of the puppies, it is completely normal for the mother to pass on these parasites to the pups. In the same way, during the time the mother is nursing the puppies, it is expected she gives them parasites as well. Starting at 2 weeks of age, we administer Pyrantel Pamoate Suspension and continue to do so every two weeks until the puppies are 6 weeks old.
At 8 weeks old, the puppies are given a small tablet that is a canine all wormer, which would prevent a total of 11 intestinal worms from surviving if by chance, they had any. Some of these include: Hookworm, Roundworm, Tapeworm, Whipworm and Hydatid Tapeworm. Finally at the 8th week, they are administered DHPP 5, a 5 in 1 vaccine which is given to puppies in a single shot, and used as a booster for adult dogs. This first vaccine protects against Canine Distemper Virus, Canine Adenovirus (CAV-1 and CAV-2,) Canine Parainfluenza, and Canine Parvo Virus.
All of the deworming and first vaccine proof will be found in a health record in which we give to new puppy parents. In this health record you’ll find what was administered, with dates of each dose. We ask that when you go to your first puppy vet visit, you bring this record with you and show it to your vet!
As our puppies live all over the United States and Canada, each place has its own risks. Here in Washington, we have very low risk Heartworm, but in Florida there is a high risk for that. So, each puppy parent is to bring the health record with them, and have their own vet in whichever State they live in, put the puppy on a schedule for the rest of their needed vaccines and/or deworming.
Prepare Your Home For Your New Puppy
While you are waiting for the puppy to be ready to come home with you, there are a few things you should do to prepare, so that you home is ready for a little bundle of joy and trouble maker to be safe and happy.
First, figure out where the puppy will live, designate a corner where her bed is going to be so she learns that this is where she rests and sleeps. There should be a cozy bed there and maybe a couple of chew toys.
Second, the home should be puppy-proofed by removing potentially harmful items out of the way, like wires, plants and small objects that the puppy can chew on and swallow.
Third, have some chew toys ready to go for when the puppy arrives. Stock up on puppy food, water and food bowl, dog leash and collar. Don’t forget to get a dog tag with her name on it so just in case she runs off, it’ll be easy for someone to return her back to you.