Thanks for letting me share my babies with you.
AM, you can bet that there will be more pics next week!
Todd, I am not doing the stimulation that the Army developed (tickling toes with Q-tips, putting their feet on a cold wash cloth, holding them upside down, etc.) because we tried that with 1/2 of our last litter and there was absolutely no difference in the two groups of pups. None.
What we have found is that the more you hold them, touch them, cuddle them...the more they taste humans and smell humans and put the "human experience" together with good things (like cuddles, food, treats) then the more they enjoy being with humans. Most good breeders do this. But what we plan to do is take age appropriate stages and create learning environments for them. I can tell you more about the details...happy to share it with you.
In addition, there are things that puppies can learn to do, early on, that will help them as they become service dogs...such as learning to tuck their tails under when they sit or lie down. Small things like this will be taught to the pups. I also have a cute program of early clicker training that I will use with the pups and that they will learn, right away, that clicking means good.
So, when they get their eyes open and their ears open, we will start daily training...and lots of socialization.
There is only so much you can do when a pup is under 8 weeks of age, but by taking advantage of their quick learning curve, I can teach them HOW to learn and how to be happy with training time, how to recognize the clicker for marking good behavior and how to make training fun...while still letting them learn from each other and the older dogs, about life as a dog...which is vitally important too.