At the end of the gestation that lasts between 57 and 72 days, the female gives birth. During this first phase of his life the puppy's main activity will be sleeping. When they do not sleep, the puppies suck, with a regularity of about 3-4 hours.
The puppy in the first weeks does not walk, so to suck or to approach heat sources it has to crawl. During this period the puppy is in a vegetative phase because the puppy's life is dominated by sleep and reflex activities. The permanence of the mother together with the puppies is essential for the well-being of the little one.
Around 10 to 15 days the puppies begin to open the eyelids and it is from the fourth week when they begin to see more clearly. Although the vision is not yet perfect, from 3 weeks of age they usually start to move with some ease walking instead of crawling and in this state the cubs normally risk an exploration principle, they begin to play, to stick to their mother and to recognize the identity of their peers. They alternate brief periods of prolonged activity with others of deep sleep. At 5 weeks, puppies can already see, hear, and smell like adult dogs, although they can only focus their attention for short, very short periods of time. It is the best time to be with them, and start getting used to both human presence and smell, to play with them and handle them gently.
Weaning starts from the 3rd week, at which time the milk production of the mothers begins to decrease as they begin to show more elusive behavior towards the puppies when they try to suckle. Weaning lasts until the 5th week. During this period it is normal for the mother to regurgitate food from her stomach to encourage her puppies to eat more solid food than milk.
