Up until now, the puppies have lived in a world of silence and darkness, being unable to hear or see.  At 12 days old, those tell-tale, glistening slits appeared on their faces and the following day their eyes were fully open.  If you look back at the photographs, aged one week, you will notice that their ears stand erect and are still tightly shut, but now they are gradually beginning to open.  This can be seen from the change in position of their ears in the photos below and very soon they will react to sounds.   They are also beginning to lift themselves up onto their feet and becoming noticeably stronger and more mobile, particularly when mum appears in the whelping box.  Apart from feeding they still spend most of their day asleep,  but during the next few days, they will become increasingly more wakeful and alert.