English Cream Golden Retriever Puppies From Newborn To 8 Weeks Old
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It happens way too fast! Puppies are born then puppies are off to their new homes.
It’s now been a couple of weeks since we said goodbye to the last pup from our litter of English Cream Golden Retriever Puppies.
Our little golden puppy, Charlie moved to Seattle and started working with Cascade Service Dogs to continue his journey to become a service dog…
Let’s turn back the clock to the end of 2017.
It was early Friday morning…
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: If you’re thinking about getting a puppy we recommend first reading Puppies for Dummies. It’s a great book that will help you on every step of your journey raising and training a puppy.
English Cream Golden Retriever Puppies
Raven’s first litter of puppies was a light golden color. If you want to take a peek at some of her first litter of Golden pups click here.
Her second litter of puppies was pretty much all white Golden Retriever pups A.K.A. English Cream Golden Retrievers.
Here are our week-by-week pics and short descriptions of Raven’s second Golden litter:
Week 1 – Puppies Arrive Early
We woke up to the cries of puppies!
Yep, Raven went into labor while we were sleeping.
We rushed Raven and her newborn pups over to the whelping box. Luckily we had got the last few whelping supplies a few days earlier.
She wasn’t done as one puppy after another popped out until we reached the magic number: 8 beautiful English Cream Golden Retriever puppies!
All the puppies were pretty much white in color except for one who was a shade darker.
Week 2 – Eat, Sleep, Pee, Poop
The first 10 or so days aren’t too eventful…usually. Puppies army crawl looking for food, pee, and poop (with mom’s help), and sleep.
Around day 12 puppies’ eyes start to open and around the same time, they start walking around like drunken old men.
As I said the early days are usually uneventful. Unfortunately, we had one sick puppy and had to make a trip to the vet. The scary part is the vet told us that besides giving fluids and antibiotics there wasn’t a whole lot she could do for our little sick pup.
Fortunately for us, our little guy pulled through although a little smaller than the others.
Week 3 – Eyes Wide Open
By the time the third week begins all of our puppies are no longer squinting…eyes are wide open!
A little more activity, but still acting pretty much like drunken old men.
Some of my favorite times are weeks 3 – 5 because the puppies are still very docile and easy to manage.
Week 4 – Eat, Sleep, Poop, & PLAY
We start to see some real interaction in week 4 as puppies start to show some spunk and play with each other.
This is around the time we start noticing the poop piling up.
For the first 4 weeks, Raven cleans up most of the poopie messes. This is around the time we cut her off from her poop supply.
Week 4 is also around the time we start working on crate training our puppies. This gives them a head start before they go to their forever homes.
Week 5 – Poop Wars Begin
Without Raven cleaning up the mess it’s much more difficult to keep the whelping box clean.
Enter the Poop Wars Phase!
If you’ve never had a litter of puppies before then you probably don’t know about the Poop Wars.
Basically, after a good night’s sleep, you will walk out to the whelping box, but notice a particularly poopie smell.
When you arrive at the whelping box you do not just find poop on the ground…no…you find it smeared all over the walls, on fur, on heads, stuck in paws, and sometimes while bathing you’ll dig some poop out of ears.
Yeah, not the most exciting part of raising a litter of pups.
Week 6 – Puppy Temperament Test
Puppies are starting to show more personality during week 6.
I was only planning on keeping one puppy from this litter to raise as a service dog and during week 6 I temperament tested the litter.
Puppy temperament testing is usually recommended at 49 days (7 weeks) we did ours a little early on day 43 and day 45.
When we picked Archer from his litter we mainly used the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test.
Since then I’ve refined my method for choosing a puppy based on a combination of things I’ve learned over the past 3 years.
I’ll share how I choose a puppy from a litter in a future episode.
Until then I can tell you I narrowed my list from 8 puppies to 4 puppies to 2 to finally THE ONE…and we named him Neo…just kidding…harmless Matrix reference.
There were 4 puppies we thought would make good service dog candidates:
- Beige/Draven
- Black/Goose
- Orange/Sparrow
- Red/Crane
There was not much difference separating these four. We ended up going with Beige/Draven because he had a very easy-going temperament.
Following our rules for naming puppies we re-named our little guy, Charlie.
Week 7 – End Poop Wars
Six puppies from the litter went home with the breeder when they were 6 1/2 weeks old.
The final two we kept at the house were Purple/Pippin who was re-named Riley and of course Charlie.
END POOP WARS!
Can I tell you that caring for a litter of 8 puppies is about 100x more difficult than taking care of two pups?
Riley and Charlie were best of friends and with only two pups I was able to give them more play time in the backyard and work on their training.
By week 7 these guys act like normal rambunctious puppies.
They play all the normal puppy games including chase, tug-of-war, and bitey face…not to forget some of the inappropriate games like biting Dad’s hands and feet, jumping up on guests, and barking for attention.
Yep, the life of a puppy…the good, the bad, and the cute! 🙂
Week 8 – Saying Bye To Riley
We kept Riley and Charlie together so both would have the advantage of socializing with each other for a full 8 weeks.
Riley’s journey continued with her new family on week 8. We said our goodbyes and we were down to one puppy. 🙁
And that’s the story of our litter of English Cream Golden Retriever puppies.
Of course, if you read this blog then you know Charlie’s journey to becoming a service dog continues with the wonderful organization Cascade Service Dogs.
If you missed that then check out our recent article: Will my dog remember me?
So what about you guys? Tell us about your experiences with puppies and litters.
Are you on the waitlist to bring home a new puppy? If so, you might want to check out our article about a puppy’s first night home.
Did you choose your last puppy from a litter? Have you raised a litter? Have you experienced the POOP WARS?
If you’re prepping for a litter then you might want to check out our whelping supplies checklist blog post to make sure you have everything you need before your puppies arrive.
Leave us a comment below.
I know…English Cream Golden Retrievers are the cutest. I wanted to mention two final thoughts. If you’re planning on raising a litter check out Puppy Culture DVD and Workbook. The DVD and Workbook have information on how to raise a litter of puppies.
If you’re about to bring home your very own English Cream Golden puppy then take a look at Puppies for Dummies. This book sets a great foundation for raising and training a puppy.
Top Picks For Our Puppies
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We Like: Beef Collagen Sticks - All of our pups love to bite, nip, and chew. We love using Collagen Sticks to help divert these unwanted behaviors. - BEST PUPPY TOY
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We Like: The Farmer's Dog - A couple months ago we started feeding Raven fresh dog food and she loves it! Get 50% off your first order of The Farmer's Dog.
Check out more of our favorites on our New Puppy Checklist.
Very adorable! How I wish i have one of them.
Oh my gosh, so cuuute! I would love to have one ony my own one day! Golden Retrievers are the best!
Mama Raven took care of the puppies and when they got older she really enjoyed playing with Charlie. When she had her first litter she didn’t seem to have as much fun playing with Bear. Stetson has avoided all puppies since Derby (circa 2009) and jumps up on the couch or bed to avoid them. Linus likes to play/sometimes bully the puppies. He’s the boss around the house and usually likes to tell them what they can and can’t dog. Seriously, he will get mad and give a growl and nose poke if they try to jump on the couch or bed. Raven still acts like a puppy, they bring out Linus’ youthfulness, and they bother Stetson.
Puppies!! They’re so cute! How did your older dogs do with the puppies around? Did the puppies bother the older dogs or bring out their youthfulness? We also have a (almost) 14 year old and a 12 year old.
Our last two litters we worked on rolling them onto their backs to get them used to being handled in different ways so if you met our litter they’d probably all pass the “flip test” with flying colors. One of the most important things I noticed is observing the litter to see what puppies meet your temperament requirements. Spend as much time as possible with the puppies you are considering adopting. Visit multiple times at various times in the day. Talk to the foster or breeder and ask them what they think about the temperament of each puppy.
As far as working on focus and high energy puppies…I like to get my high energy puppies extra exercise physically and especially mental stimulation.
Puppies are rambunctious and definitely not for everyone. We have two seniors at home, Linus (14) and Stetson (12) and we love them and don’t know what we’d do without them.
How cute! I love reading about your puppy stories, Colby.
When choosing a puppy and looking for a more calm personality, do you recommend the flip challenge? When we picked my first puppy, my mom flipped our Shadow on his back and he relaxed. My mom heard that a puppy that will stay on his back will be calmer.
However, with my new puppy (well now he’s a big boy), I let cuteness and impulse overrule my mother’s advice. We did not do that with Arlo and he turned out to be more of a handful. We are still working on his focus and high energy. Any tips?
A great overview on your puppies. It makes me want to adopt one from the shelter. We are getting old so will probably need to adopt a Senior dog.
Raven doesn’t seem to mind when the puppies leave. I think by the time they are 8 weeks old she’s over them. When Raven was about 1 1/2 years old we got an 8 week old Lab puppy, Archer. We had Archer until he was 18 months and then sent him to Service Dog College. I do think Raven misses her buddy Archer.
Your puppies are adorable! I don’t know how you can raise them and then part with them. I would feel heartbroken! How does Raven do when the puppies are gone? Is she relieved or does she seem sad? Anyways, I love the week by week post. My brother rescued a litter of Lab mixed puppies without their Mom. I don’t remember how old they were, but it was quite an adventure and there was A LOT of POO and flies too! We had to put out fly traps and pick up poo constantly. What was interesting was that when one dog would pee or poo, all of the other 6 dogs would follow suit and immediately squat and pee/poo! It was pretty funny to see. Puppies are the cutest!
That’s great you rescued George. I’m sure someday we’ll go back to working with rescues and shelters. It’s been over 10 years now since we volunteered with Cuddly Canines.
I think it would depend on your older dog. We have 3 older dogs in our house and they all react differently to puppies. Stetson ignores the puppy and just tries to get away from him. Linus likes to play with the puppy, but also likes to show him he’s the boss. Raven still acts like a puppy and will play with new puppies endlessly. If you got a new puppy one thing I would recommend is making sure your current dog has a place to get away from the puppy. Puppies can sometimes be a little much for older dogs.
I wonder how my older dog would do with a new puppy in the house. Would you recommend adding a puppy to our family if we already have an established mature dog? I think it would be beneficial if I had someone who was experienced with temperament testing go with us to pick the pup out.
I remember when we got our german shepherd puppy which was raised by my brother who rescued 7 puppies. We took the last one and named him George, such an awesome experience!
Cute! I want one!
Hopefully we hear back about the puppies, but besides Charlie and maybe Riley I don’t think we’ll hear too much. Raven’s first litter we are lucky that we get to follow Bear on social media. We hear once in a while about Buster. And we see Berlin a few times a year. Besides that we don’t hear much about the other pups.
When we went down to 2 puppies it was great. They entertained each other and the poop messes were much easier to manage. So far we’ve heard good reports back from Charlie’s puppy raisers. 🙂
They’re tiny when they’re born. Most of them weighed around 1 pound as newborns. When they were 8 weeks old the largest one was over 13 pounds!
The puppies are adorable! I love the light coloring of the English Cream Golden Retrievers. Raven is a beautiful dog and a great momma. Colby you and Raven did a good job raising and caring for the puppies and getting them ready for their next phase of their lives. I hope you are able to stay in touch with some of the puppy raisers and follow their progress as service dogs or pets.
We’ve never had a little a puppies, but have fostered two young puppies at the same time. Just having those two were a huge undertaking. Kudos to you for taking care of 8! Good luck with Charlie’s service training.
Wow, so cute! They are so small when they arrive and now they are ready for life. :-))
Raven and Charlie were best pals! I think she misses him. One thing that I do notice is that puppies sap energy out of Raven which helps with here behavior. When we don’t have puppies she does experience a little boredom and sometimes gets in a little bit of trouble (she chewed one of Emma’s rattles recently).
If you have a chance to temperament test a litter I’d definitely do it. It will help give you a better idea of the personalities of each puppy.
So cute!!! I’ve never had a liter of puppies, but I can’t even imagine all the work it takes to raise them. How does Raven do when her puppies leave? Is she sad? Do you think temperament testing would be beneficial when picking a pet (instead of a service dog)? Are you even allowed to do that? I’m excited to read that article. Thanks for sharing the puppy pictures!! They’re so cute!!