Eyes are opening, they are begining to hear things, and they have become interested in what mom is eating. Some mom’s will not let them sample their food, so it’s up to us to get them eating well. Because there is another thing that has been happening since they were born. Something that generally leads to their eventual weaning.

Teeth! When they are three weeks old you can begin to feel their teeth just under the surface of the gum. Those very pointy, sharp things called “milk teeth” emerge quickly. Why they are called milk teeth and not weaning teeth is beyond me.

As they those sharp needles come out of the gums and the pups forget to not use them while nursing, puppies get less and less milk. Mom will just up and leave right in the middle of dinner. Often times she will sit or stand to feed them now rather than lay down. Mom will also lay outside of the whelping box to avoid ear pulling and fur bites. They have just begun to play, they mouth each other and climb around. Their mobility is still unsteady and they just topple over and do a roll or two before they get back up and go on their way. They don’t become steady for a while yet.

Earlier I mentioned that their ears have opened up. They can hear, and this is a great time to use there names or teach them other words for coming, like “puppy, puppy”. This helps in  identifing their name with themselves, or as a group with the puppy call. I do this when I bring them their food.

Eyes are open, although their vision is still very limited. They won’t get their adult eye color in until they get their adult coat. They have the dark “baby blue” eyes for quite some time. However if they are going to be permanent blue it will show sooner

Puppy coats are soft and fluffy but change both in texture and color as they age. For instance, tri colors are born black and white. By 2 weeks the tan has begun to show on their cheeks and above their eyes. They will continue to get more and more red on their faces, shoulder and hips. That is, if they are a red headed or a capped tri. Black headed tris only get a little tan on their cheeks, above eyes, and it is a solid color brake on their legs and bum. Capped tris colors blend where they meet, and generally the have more red or tan than a black headed tri. It’s difficult to say at this point if the puppies will be black headed tri. As far as genetics, have  70% chance of of black headed tris. 50%  chance of red headed tris. As they get older it will be easier to tell.