At this age, 0-12 days old, the eyes and ears are closed but the pup is still able to interact with it's environment via the olfactory, vestibular and proprioceptive senses. While the puppies seem to be sleeping most of the time, they are easily aroused by mere proximity to the dam as she returns to the box, showing us that the myriad of olfactory and tactile sensations they register.
Puppies should be weighed daily to assess physical development and they should be introduced to mild stresses to enhance neural development. Daily neural enhancement exercises include holding the puppy gently for a few seconds in the various planes in relation to gravity: upright, head down and tummy up. These vestibular and proprioceptive stimulations are generally not what the puppy usually encounters in his whelping box. Such early stimulation has been well documented to increase brain size and improve body functions such as heart rate, blood pressure etc in the adult dog.
On the other hand, the world within the whelping box provides far more stresses to the developing pup than my morning weighing and toe tickling, especially when the litter is large, like this one. There is the competition to make it to a teat first, then there’s the competition to elbow the other littermate out of the way if you are the odd pup.
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