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.
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.
So we set up the big house (6 x 8 pen in the living room) last week, and the puppies have been spending more and more time in it. We continue to give them something new every day. And today they got to LEAVE THE PEN and play with the other dogs. Grandma Zhora was just perfect with them, just like her mother Nina.
Grandma Zhora:
Purple Girl showing the blue fuzzy bone who’s boss:
Breakfast! This is the first time I’ve fed them before Alice does in the morning (she has free access to them but she was outside). Royal Canin Puppy Mousse mixed with Primal goat’s milk. Breakfast of champions!
They’re starting to eat really well just the last day, it’s both a survival skill (you’ve gotta eat a breakfast Margie!) and a mechanical skill (lapping from a plate is different from nursing, plus you have to figure out how to stand still and hold your big giant head in one place when you’re still very new to this whole walking thing). And it’s also a mental skill (food doesn’t only come from mum, and I can get it myself).
While I do not ever force weaning, they are BIG and this takes some of the pressure off Alice. If she wants to nurse them until they leave, that’s her business. But they have teeth now!
If you’ve been trying to contact me, first, let me apologize for being so slow about getting back to you, between puppies and work and personal stuff it’s been crazy!
If you have sent me an application, I will be going through them in the next few days and contacting you to set up a Zoom meeting to get to know each other a bit better.
If you have sent me an application or email or otherwise reached out and you now don’t wish to be on the list for this litter after all, please drop me an email and let me know!
Finally, please keep in mind that I don’t yet know what these puppies are like, but if they take after their parents (as I hope they will), they will be working dogs. That doesn’t mean they won’t be great pets, but it DOES mean they will need a job to keep their brains exercised. Put it this way: I’ve had Vallhunds since 2003, I do a lot of stuff with my dogs, and there were times when Alice was a puppy where I had to grit my teeth and remind myself that I WANTED a working dog. Not everyone wants that, and there’s no shame in admitting it!
Tonight the puppies listened to: agility, fireworks, NWA, Public Enemy and The Beastie Boys. Because we don’t want to influence how they feel about the whole East Coast/West Coast thing yet, they need to make up their own minds (also because loud male voices and sirens, but mostly because they need a solid introduction to hip hop).
