6 Weeks Old

How are the puppies 6 weeks old already?! Time is flying.

They are getting alone time here and there and continue to practice their retrieving.  I'm heading over again tomorrow to get some puppy snuggles in and to meet another future puppy owner who lives in town as well.

I'm making last minute purchases on Pet Edge and Amazon for things that were missed on the last order. Today I received two balance discs to help the puppy with his proprioception. And the great thing is I can use them for my balance and core strength building, too! A friend has an extra collapsible soft sided crate she can give me! She mentioned it just in time, too, since just the night before I was googling Noz2Noz crates and looking for the best prices online.

A few of these pictures were taken a day or two before they turned 6 weeks, but I missed putting them in the 5 week post, so here they are.

Mr. Yellow gets top billing again.

But one of his brothers still may beat him out. Here's Mr. Brown.

Hardly noticing the wobble board. Just as it should be.

Are they being critiqued on their form?

Indigo & Puppy Introduction Plan

I've been thinking about the best way to introduce the puppy into the family, more specifically to Indigo. Indi was an only child for 4 years and then Quinn Mei entered the family, but she was still an only dog. This is going to be a big adjustment for her. I think there will be times she's going to be royally pissed, like when her annoying younger brother is trying to jump all over her when she'd rather be getting her beauty rest. I'm hoping she grows to love him. Indi really enjoys playing with other dogs, once she's familiar and comfortable with them that is. She loves to run and chase and play tug. She can't wrestle very well with her current BFF since he's 60 pounds of per doof. She gets easily offended when he slams her into the couch. But as long as he's pulling his punches she's in heaven. If the pup can learn to back off and play gently when he outweighs Indi (like in 2 months probably!) then they will do just fine. Most likely I'll need to step in a lot in the beginning to help him give her some space.

I still need a plan for the puppy's first day home. Here's how I am envisioning it so far. I pick up the pup, with or without the family depending on the time of day. I'd prefer it to be a time Ian is home. I let the pup walk around the front yard and driveway to get his scent there and take a potty break, then I have Ian cradle him in his arms and maybe walk across the street or a few houses down.

I bring out Indi and let her sniff around where the pup has been. She'll probably spot Ian and become overly excited (not even noticing the pup in his arms). we'll slowly close the gap and as Indi begins to notice the pup I'll either counter condition her or use LAT. Most likely I'll be bouncing back and forth between the two depending on her reaction.

When Indi met my BIL's puppy last Thanksgiving she was a little reactive at first, but quickly calmed down with some CC and LAT. The pup was young and was kept on the couch next to my BIL. He (the pup...sometimes the BIL, too) mostly napped. Since that pup wasn't chasing Indi around she quickly accepted his presence and even felt comfortable enough to lie on the couch not too far away from the pup.

Using this as my example, after our outside meeting I will keep the pup in my lap, on a leash, or in his puppy play area while Indi has full run of the house. The easiest way would probably be to have Ian hold and snuggle the puppy on the couch while QM is able to give snuggles to him as well. That will free me up to give Indi a lot of attention and rewards for relaxing and being calm around the puppy.  I'll have to play it by ear after that. I can put the pup in his play area and reward Indi for calm behavior. I can have the family take the two dogs on a very short stroll, just a house or two down and back. Indi will be too focused on sniffing to care that the pup is tagging along. I'll also let him romp in the backyard without her and once he's finished, let Indi out so she can sniff everywhere he's been and probably mark over all his pee spots.

Indi has already smelled the pups on us after we have visited, so that's already a great start. Getting the scent of another dog quickens her acceptance of him.

I'm sure it'll be a rocky road at first and they will require quite a bit of supervision and even more management. I can't wait for the day they cuddle up next to each other napping. Believe me there will be loads of pictures. I laugh when I imagine them tugging because before long he'll be dragging her across the floor with hardly any effort at all. I'm hoping he brings out her inner puppy even more and becomes a great playmate.

5 Weeks Old

I had a great visit with the puppies this week. I left the family at home so I could concentrate better on the puppies. My daughter wasn't too thrilled with this, but the pup will be home soon enough and she'll get plenty of face time. My friend, Madeline Gabriel, and her family came up to visit, so the puppies still had children to interact with.

I braided a tug toy and brought it with me along with a huge bag of good stuff like last time. Last visit the puppies were too tired and only played with the toys a little bit. My homemade toy was a big hit! Several of the male puppies were grabbing and tugging with it (the girls are not allowed to tug since it could mess up their hunting work, but they were able to chew on it). And the adult dogs (mom and half sister, Christy) loved it as well.  Madeline's boys played fetch with Christy over and over again. I warmed my heart and really made me look forward to a dog who just lives and breathes to retrieve.

Another big hit was the rabbit and suede tug toy that my client Marilyn gave to Indi. Her dog, Lulu, just wasn't interested in it. Mom, Hannah, was obsessed with it and if I didn't zip by bag of tricks well enough she fished it out :)

Candy also told me that instead of her picking out the puppy she is going to let us decide (and I am first in line!).  Yikes! So much responsibility!! I have been really good not to form an opinion yet or get attached to any one puppy in case he wasn't the one chosen for my household. But now I really need to think about it and decide quickly. If I had to choose right now with no other input I'd bring home Mr. Yellow. He seems to have been the most adventurous and confident so far. The only down side is he's larger than the rest and Candy thinks it will be heavier boned. So for agility that is not ideal.

The great thing is that next week Teresa Rodney is going to evaluate the litter for agility potential. She had FCRs herself and competes nationally in agility with her dog Sprint. She also does field work as well. I'm looking forward to what she has to say and her opinion will weigh heavily on my decision. 

 

Hannah is such a great mom

Future Agility Stars!

Since this litter was made to produce a great field dog, Candy has been introducing the pups to decoys, wings, and such.

Puppies Galore

Every day the puppies seem to change. They have been practicing standing on the grooming table and being stacked. They also have access to the puppy yard outside more and more, which they love!

Puppies' First Car Ride

4 Weeks Old!

Now that the puppies are bigger and exploring more of their environment, Candy has been introducing more items for them to interact with. She has a cat tunnel for them to crawl through and built a very tiny ramp for them to climb. These dogs are well on their way to becoming agility champions!

Miss Pink thought the ramp was a great place to rest.

Yesterday we visited the puppies. Even though Candy has been sending pictures almost every day, I was still amazed at how much they have grown. Mr Yellow is around 7 pounds (at 4 weeks) and to put them into perspective Indigo was just over 3 pounds when we brought her home at 8 weeks of age. They have their baby teeth now but luckily are not chomping down too hard. Although they do love to really bite down on each other which results in much squealing. This is a really good thing though since it will help them learn bite inhibition which is critical.

The puppies were napping when we went over but woke up a little bit to try out the wobble board I brought over. They also loved chewing on the milk inflation (rubber milker) and a few were fascinated with the raccoon tail. They were pretty beat though so they mostly slept. If they are active next time I'll get some cute videos.

Here are the pictures I was able to take. Most of the ones I post are Candy's pictures.