Today the puppies went on a road trip to Sue’s agility building. I was thrilled with how they did. Longest car ride yet, new surface, new smells. It was REALLY windy and noisy and they all dealt with it perfectly. They had a GREAT time! So thankful to Sue for allowing this!
Carpet cleaner = loud. Puppies who’ve had sound desensitization at the right age/stage (thank you Puppy Culture!) = no problem.
The puppies eat almost all their meals in crates now, they climb over each other to get in! Food is a very strong motivator, and the best way to show a dog that something is positive is to make it true. They take turns in different crates with different bedding.
The puppies had their first official trip to the vet (where I work) yesterday (they’d been for happy visits a couple of times first). They had their checkups, first distemper-parvo shots (once again, I had a nomograph run on Alice, so we knew that the ideal vaccine times for this litter were 7 and 11 weeks for DHPP), and microchips. They did GREAT!
They’ve also been eating at least one meal a day alone or in pairs in crates, to help them start learning that crates are ok, and I will also start feeding the ones who may be flying on a plane to go home in a Sherpa bag so they are used to that too. You can’t guarantee that they’ll be perfect, but at least they’re getting some experience with it!
I made a couple of mistakes here. They could see the older dogs through a baby gate and that was so much distraction for several of them. Ideally I should have done this sooner than a week after the last time. So I did help a couple of them out.
As usual, video is unforgiving and my timing isn’t as good as it should be, but they all got the idea! You can see that a couple are in mild fear periods, but they played anyway! This is really just to get them to understand the idea, I start with a few click then treats (baby food), then start right into clicking and treating for looking at/touching/approaching the box. I have never really felt that charging the clicker more than these few times is necessary, and I think it can even muddy the waters.
Loving these puppies so far! (also, this is the room they were born in, but they haven’t been back in here since they moved to the big house, and they haven’t been here since the whelping box was taken down, so it’s a pretty new environment for them too).
Red Girl:
Orange Girl:
Yellow Girl:
Green Boy:
Blue Girl:
Purple Girl:
Pink Boy:
The puppies are 40 days old today, and we did the first barrier challenge today. This is relatively easy, with the bowl of food (canned tripe) and the puppy both near the edge of the barrier (a piece of ex pen). It’s interesting seeing how differently some approach it. They were hungry (it was time for a meal), so this was a really good exercise in both problem solving AND learning to deal with frustration. Each puppy had two chances at the challenge, and I did make it slightly easier for a couple of them the first time if they were getting TOO frustrated.
Red Girl:
Orange Girl:
Yellow Girl:
Green Boy:
Blue Girl:
Purple Girl:
Pink Boy:
I am very fortunate to work where I do for many reasons, not least the fact that I can take puppies in for a happy visit at the end of the work day so they can have a happy experience there before they get vaccinated and microchipped and examined in a couple of weeks (the nomograph this time indicated the optimal first vaccination for this litter is 7 weeks). Plus I think the folks I work with appreciated a bit of puppy therapy after a long week.
I was enormously impressed with how the puppies did! A couple are in fear periods and they got over their initial worry very quickly and were out marching around like everyone else in no time! They also got a car ride and tried a strawberry!
Alice came with us for moral support and to provide refreshments.
They’ve been on the grooming table to eat baby food, experiencing new things every day (sometimes toys, sometimes experiences like going upstairs one at a time, or climbing on a tarpaulin). Videos and pictures to follow.
Pam, her daughter in law Shannon, and Shannon’s children came to visit! The puppies met two adults, a baby, and a three year old.
The big dogs were thrilled too!
