Day 34

One of the harder things — for me — about raising puppies well is the disrupted sleep.

For the first 9 - 10 days, Dear Son (aka Galen) helped by watching puppies while I slept in the middle of the day. Eyeballs on puppies when there is a suffocation risk from mom inadvertently lying (?laying? 🤔) on a puppy is important.

Separating a new mom from her puppies so the human can sleep seems mean to me. Additionally, it has the potential to cause issues with lactation — new puppies nurse a lot and that is important for milk supply. Taking them away from their mom interrupts the critical supply-demand process.

Once the Gems seemed big enough to not be easily or quietly suffocated, I slept next to the whelping box. Capella could go in and out as she wanted, and I was there to help sort things out as needed. I slept pretty well in snatches, and that worked until I woke up to Jasper marching around the living room in the middle of the night.

The new set-up (aka Puppy Jail) contains the puppies but also means Capella needs help to go in and out. The new sleep system involves locking up the cats so they do not wake up puppies with their important nighttime cat work, and I sleep in the room closest to the puppies with the door open. I can’t sleep in the living room anymore because the puppies get very excited to see me, and none of us would sleep.

Capella is free to sleep with me or wherever she wants; she can also wake up puppies if she needs to nurse them simply by standing outside Puppy Jail and triggering an Idaho Puppy Choir practice session. Nobody can sleep through that! I wake up to open the gate and let Capella in to nurse puppies.

This is working well. Capella feeds them once during the night — at about 3 a.m. — and then we all go back to sleep for a couple of hours.

At some point, they will sleep through the night but for now, they need to eat and Capella needs to feed them. Anyone who has nursed a baby knows how uncomfortable it can get if you go too long between feedings.

I like the idea that expressed puppy needs are being met (“we are starving!”). I want the Gems to understand they have agency in the world, and are not helpless — they can make things happen. Learned Helplessness is not a good trait for a working dog (or a human).

Babies need opportunities to master developmentally appropriate challenges, and to tell us about their needs so we can meet them. Mastery is how puppies — and humans — develop grit and resilience. Living so closely with the puppies allows me to ensure these things happen.