Here's Ms Tangerine showing off her new ears.....
The puppies are now using rapid orienting movements to orient to sounds. The ear flaps have developed into ears and the external canals appear to be open.
During the first few days the puppies used tactile cues to find Mom. A brush of her hair aside their muzzle was enough to turn them around to find her. Soon we began to hear definite scenting sounds to identify "who" is the source of the proximal movement, "Was it Mom or us?" As their eyes opened we noted that they would orient to lights and shadows. As the ears began to develop rapidly about 3 days ago we noted some sluggish reactions to sounds. Now they are much more aware of their environment even those at a distance.
In addition to being outside for a good part of the day, which by itself, is rich with new sounds (e.g. airplanes overhead; we are on a flyway, sirens close by;we are on a hospital route), we have added periods of exposure to "problem" sounds. This will begin to habituate these sounds early and to form an emotional foundation based on association with "safety".
When the pups are resting and well fed, and Mom is elsewhere, the pups listen to high fidelity recordings of rain and thunderstorms, fireworks and gunshots. The volume is kept low at this point: just high enough to get an orienting response from one or two of the pups during the loudest portions of the recording and yet have the pups quickly settle down to rest, play or sleep.
Luckily Mother Nature has been helping with this part of the puppy enrichment program. We have had many days with thunderstorms and rain this spring. The pups even got a dose of Town fireworks on Memorial Day.
