Watch Now: All You Need to Know about Puppies
At one week old, puppies eyes are still closed. Their eyes will begin to open in the second week of life, usually between 10 and 16 days of age. However, they wont be able to see clearly at first. The eyes will gradually open wider, revealing grayish-blue eyes with a hazy appearance. Puppies eyes will continue to develop over the next several weeks, reaching full vision around eight weeks of age.
Puppies ears begin to open around the time that the eyes do, generally around 12 to 14 days old. Their hearing will continue to develop until the puppies are around five weeks old.
Newborn puppies cannot fully support their weight for the first two weeks of life, so they crawl around on their bellies, paddling and pushing with their legs and building strength. Most puppies will be able to rise up on their forelimbs around 5 to 6 days of age and will begin to use their hind legs around two weeks old. They usually begin to walk with a wobbly gait around 18 to 21 days of age.
Puppies need to be stimulated to urinate and defecate for the first several weeks of life. Mom does this by licking the anal and genital areas. If you are raising an orphaned pup, you can use a warm, damp cloth or cotton ball to stimulate the area. Puppies gradually develop the ability to urinate and defecate on their own around three to four weeks of age.
Puppies are born without teeth. Their baby teeth, or “milk teeth” will begin to come in between three and four weeks of age and continue to develop until about eight weeks of age.
For newborn puppies, the first two weeks of life are all about sleeping and eating. After 14 days of age, physical changes open up a whole new world. They begin to see, hear and walk. By the age of 21 days, they begin to explore the world and learn about being dogs. This is also when the socialization process begins. Puppies learn how to interact with other dogs by interacting with their mother and littermates. Human socialization with gentle handling is important at this time as well.
Around seven to eight weeks old, the first “fear period” will begin. This is a time when most puppies seem to be afraid of new things. Anything you can introduce them to before this time may help make the fear period go more smoothly.
Do puppies get lighter or darker?
The secondary hairs then start emerging around the age of 12 weeks. The skin and coat of a dog may sometimes change color, becoming lighter or darker.
Do puppies change Colour after birth?
When puppies shed their first coat, they can appear scruffy and may even change color.
Congenital hypotrichosis is a condition where dogs experience the loss of their hair either at birth or just a few months old. This is due to a problem in the development of their hair follicles or their not having some or all of the follicles where hair will typically grow from.