Archive for July, 2009
A milky puppy mess
Well, it seems Willow (formerly Daisy, formerly Angel too!) is not at all happy about the puppies teeth coming through their gums. She yelped when they latched on last night. So, since they are very mobile for 3 week olds and since she seems to want to end her mama duties sooner rather than later, I introduced them to some formula and BOY did they ever get into it! They, more than any other litter seem very ready to eat from a bowl. They finished each of the meals I’ve given them, although clean up takes as long as their eating does. They trash the room with milky puppy foot prints. And each of them are literally covered in milk. I am hoping they get better at it soon.
The classic milk mustache!
A training tip that bears repeating
Here is something I said recently to my class at my local dog training club and I think bears repeating here:
When you are training your dog, work with your dog where she or he IS not where you think she or he should be. This is the number one rule in dog training: train the dog you have, not the one you wish you had. Also, if your dog shows any behavior that is particularly difficult for you (jumping, aggression, not listening, barking) realize that for the dog it is simply a behavior – for you it is a whole story about how the dog is “bad” or “mean” or “doesn’t like me” or “doesn’t listen”. Treat the behavior as a behavior and it will be easier to manage. Every behavior works under the same set or principles: Behaviors that are rewarded continue, behaviors that are ignored or “corrected’ go away. But sometimes we are rewarding behaviors when we think we are not, and some behaviors (like barking) are self rewarding, so be careful to really look at what is going on…and this is where the help of a trainer comes in handy as they can see things we can’t when we are right up in something. Never hesitate to ask a question or to seek advice. We’ve all been there!
Puppies learn to walk and play
Today the pups had a busy day…they met a number of new people as we had a minor family party over here. They are alert for longer periods of time (5-10 minutes now instead of 1 or 2) and are actually beginning to play with each other! The “play” consists of licking, biting and climbing on each other but you can see the beginnings of real puppy tussling happening. I was pleased to see that they are comfortable being held by other people and are not alarmed by their different scents. This is the beginning of their socialization, the lessons they need to learn to go out into the world as good dogs.
You can watch this and other CanineFostering.com videos on YouTube.
As I was sitting in the puppy pen a few of the pups nuzzled into my leg and tried to nurse! I can’t describe the emotions that came up for me easily…it was heartwarming is the easiest way to sum it up. It told me that they trust me, they KNOW me, and they think that their mama and I are the same being; the same source of food and comfort. I felt honored to be trusted like that, to be sought after for comfort and nourishment. It is the same feeling I have when, as older pups, they come running to me as a mass sum, tails wagging at the sound of my voice. All of their bodies communicating the same thing: It is YOU! I LIKE YOU! It always makes me feel special to them. I like that feeling.
Saturday and Sunday dog park
A friend has been trying to get a core group of dogs together on the weekends for play time. These times are not supervised by anyone other than the dogs’ owners. I like helping anyone interested in getting dogs together to play nicely so I agreed to post this on my website. Anyone in the Fox Valley IL area who is looking for a dog park can attend at these times and hopefully find other well mannered dogs there. I, however, have never been to this dog park and cannot speak to it’s facilities, but my friend said they are good and apparently there is a lake for them to swim in!
Update on puppy Poppy
Here is an update on Poppy, a pup from Chloe’s litter. We love getting these updates to pass along!
Poppy also just had her exam and vaccinations last week and she did well. She has grown a bit but is still seems to be the smallest one at 8.2 lbs although I think she has grown since. Like Jackson (formerly Jacob) — Poppy is getting a little more golden in her face and ears — at this point we have not noticed her stripe getting smaller and hope she keeps this as well.
Our biggest challenge has been the biting — but have since yesterday taken a different approach and it seems to be making all the difference. I watched a dog training video that talked about how this biting is the normal way puppies play with each other so we just need to redirect them. I kind of knew this but hearing this again helped me take a different approach. We were almost in a power struggle and I was getting her more riled up than redirecting her, but now instead of continually saying no and clapping my hands — If she bites my hand I say one ‘no bite’ and gently redirect her to her toy and continue to do this in a gentle manner. When she is biting on her toy I continually praise her and if she comes up and licks me instead of bites. I continually say good ‘kisses’ and she still gets a bit riled up at times or starts biting too hard but then I step out of her area for a bit or take her for a walk — and these times that she gets kind of crazy riled up seems to happen less and don’t last as long.
She seems to be fine with her crate and finally slept for 7 hours for the first time last night (11 – 6). She was getting up at 5. She has been to quite a few of my kids softball baseball games and is soooo good at these games (as long as we find her shade) — all the kids love having her there and she really seems to enjoy the kids as well — she is also making a lot of friends in our neighborhood!
Amber the escape artist
I have just learned that Amber (formerly Chloe), our foster mama prior to Daisy, has an interesting story to tell…I heard from her new owner, R-, that she is a bit of an escape artist. 5 days after her spay surgery, she was left alone as usual during the day but decided that she wanted to get out. She jumped the gate keeping her in her room in the house, OPENED a door to a bedroom, torn through a screen and JUMPED out a two story window!!! The story has a happy ending, though.
Amber chose her escape route well and landed on some bushes and was found running around the neighborhood by a neighbor. R- was understandable shaken but a vet check put her mind at ease, no harm was done. SO R- and I had a discussion about separation anxiety and I reiterated my belief that crating a dog, especially an adult dog, for under 5 hours at a time (Amber is alone for three hours, has an afternoon walk with a dog walker and is alone again for another three) IF she is given adequate exercise (a LONG walk) before and after is not cruel but in fact helpful for anxious dogs. Whew. I hope this helps and I’m sure R- would appreciate our support!! I feel certain that she will tackle this problem but it sure puts puppy mouthing into perspective doesn’t it??!! Yikes. Hang in there R-.
