A mother dog may want to be alone when she is ready to have puppies. But you can still help. Give her a box to lie in. Put some papers in the box. Then she can tear them up for her puppies. It will make a good bed for them.
The mother dog might have only one puppy. But she could have as many as 12. The babies drink milk from the mother. They will do this until they are about 6 weeks old.
New puppies are very small. These little babies need their mother for everything. When they are first born, their ears and eyes are closed. They can’t even walk. Their mother cleans and feeds them. She makes sure they are not cold.
In about 13 to 15 days their eyes open. Then they can see. Their ears open, too. So they can hear. But they still can’t walk. They just eat and sleep. They don’t begin to walk until they are about 3 weeks old.
The puppies get bigger and bigger. At about 6 weeks they can run and play. Their teeth have come in. So they can eat food. Now they don’t need their mother all the time. This is the time when the puppies get close to people. It is a good time to get a puppy for a pet.