Bergamasco Sheepdog Puppies
Bergamasco Sheepdog is a medium-sized dog breed that was bred Italy, Bergamo as a herding dog. Its unique feature makes it distinct from other breeds which is its dreadlock coat that covers its body. It is of courageous, energetic, and affectionate temperament.
The Bergamasco Sheepdog can give birth to 6-8 puppies at a time. They need good care when they are still a puppy so the puppies grow up to be healthy adults.
Newborn
A newborn Bergamasco Sheepdog puppies are completely blind, deaf, and toothless. Although the adult has their dreadlocked coat, the newborn coat is silky like any other breeds. They are completely dependant on their mother for most of the activities including defecating, peeing, and warming up their body.
The newborn puppies need a good amount of sleep for their proper development of body and mind. They only wake up when they are hungry and feed on their mother’s milk. Since the puppies cannot walk, they crawl to their mother which provides exercise to their body and helps in muscle development.
Neonatal Stage (0-2 Weeks)
The stage between the birth up to two weeks of Bergamasco Sheepdog puppy is called the neonatal stage. A couple of weeks is the most vulnerable weeks for the puppies as they cannot see, hear, walk, and eat anything except the mother’s milk. However, the mother’s milk is very healthy for them as it contains colostrum that is rich in antibodies and it protects the puppies from any kind of serious health problem.
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As the puppies cannot pee or defecate on their own, the mother licks their belly which stimulates them to defecate and pee. Let them have enough sleep and you will see them becoming double the size of their birth.
Transitional Stage (2-4 Weeks)
In this stage, the puppies get the chance to witness the canine world for the first time. They get to see the world at 10 days but the vision is blurry and they can hear when they reach 16 days old. By the third week, the puppies start to walk their wobbly walk and form their own vocabulary to communicate with their littermates.
by the fourth week, the puppies sample solid food from their mother’s plate for the first time. They start making should by yelping, whining, and barking.
Socialization Stage (4-16 Weeks)
In this stage, the puppies need to be exposed to the outside world. Before taking them out, leash trains them and when they get comfortable walking on the leash, slowly take them out to get familiar with the outside world. Take them to a park where there are many people and canine and introduce the puppies carefully. In this way, they do not get shy or fearful of visitors or strangers.
Image Source: Dog Zone
Start basic obedience training from 8 weeks when they are eager to please their master. They also soak up new instruction and commands quickly as they are smart and intelligent. This is also the time for their vaccination against distemper, rabies, DDPH, adenovirus, and medication for heartworm.
Juvenile Stage (3-6 Months)
The juvenile stage is the stage where the Bergamasco Sheepdog puppies start to lose their puppy faces and look more like an adult. They are very curious and energetic at this time. They start having solid food as the teeth are growing at the same time, they start chewing and teething stuff. So, give them a dog’s toy so they do not destroy other basic home stuff.
Start giving the pre-agility training so they get ready for agility when they reach adulthood.
Image Source: The Multicolored Diary
Adolescence Stage (6-12 Months)
The stage when the Bergamasco Sheepdog puppies are fully grown and are adults now is called the adolescence stage. They are both physically and sexually matured where the female experienced her first heat at 6-8 months. Although they are not mentally mature enough to be engaged in mating and breeding. It might be a huge risk for the health of both males and females so it is important to wait for 18 months before mating them.
As the Bergamasco Sheepdog puppies reach their adulthood, switch their puppy food to adult dog food. Make sure that their diets contain all the nutrition they need.
Visit Doglime for more puppy’s information and their behavior.
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