Puppy Live: what Finland's newborn puppy livestream teaches us about a dog's first weeks
There is no plot, no presenter and very little action. Six puppies sleep, feed, wriggle and sleep again. And Finland, along with a good part of the rest of the world, is glued to it.
Pentulive, or Puppy Live, is a round-the-clock stream from the Finnish public broadcaster Yle. This year's star is Hilkka, a five-year-old Lagotto Romagnolo, who gave birth to four boys and two girls in the early hours of 10 October. The cameras will stay on until the puppies leave for their new homes in mid-December. The Guardian has the full story here.
Made to teach, watched for comfort
The stream began in 2021 as part of a series on canine science. Its creator, Yle science journalist Pirjo Koskinen, wanted to show what happens in a dog's first few weeks, because those early days at the breeder's shape the rest of a dog's life.
It has become something else too: a gentle escape. With the news so relentlessly grim, there is real relief in watching a mother dog care for her litter in real time.
Viewers agree. This is the show's sixth season, and within two weeks of the birth Yle counted more than a million hours of viewing and 1.85 million unique viewers. The format has even been sold to the Netherlands.
Closer to home
If you're thinking of bringing a puppy home in Copenhagen, Pentulive is a useful reminder that a good start begins long before you meet them. Warmth, feeding, gentle handling and a calm mother all help shape the dog a puppy becomes.
Choose a breeder who welcomes your questions, lets you meet the mother and is in no hurry to let the puppies go. Our guide to your first weeks with a puppy covers what to look for and what to set up before they arrive.
A few Danish basics: puppies must be microchipped and registered with Dansk Hunderegister before they are eight weeks old. Dogs under eight weeks cannot be brought into Denmark unless they travel with their mother. And every dog owner needs liability insurance. Our guide to Danish dog rules has the rest.
Then comes city life. Hilkka's puppies have never known a moment without company, so one of the first things a new owner teaches is how to be calmly alone, especially in a flat. Here's how to start.
Slow evenings, Nordic style
Copenhagen's evenings are drawing in too, and there are worse ways to spend one than watching six small Lagottos do absolutely nothing at all.
Watch Pentulive on Yle Areena.
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