Bille's pups 8 weeks old
My, how the puppies are growing! They are running around, playing, and barking, wrestling and chasing each other. They are such joyful little beings! They are continuing their potty training outside, and they're getting very good about going potty only on the potty pads in their puppy pen inside. I’ve been conditioning them to the call, “puppy, puppy, puppy!” in a high-pitched voice since they were about 3 weeks old when I first started feeding them solid food. I have started training sessions with them, giving them tiny bits of treats while I say “puppy, puppy, puppy!”. Now when I call “puppy, puppy, puppy!”, they are starting to come when called!
They are learning that when I open the gate to their puppy pen in the living room, they should run through the kitchen, laundry room, down the back steps, and into their big enclosure in the backyard. Meg figured this out at least a week before anybody else! Now they are pretty consistently going out and then coming back into their puppy pen.
They are having a big time playing with the big dogs. I let them wander around the backyard following the big dogs for a bit of the day, playing and exploring. They still sleep a lot! They are usually playing or sleeping these days.
For Puppy Culture, I have been introducing them to more novel items, things that could be potentially scary to a little puppy, but I introduce the items slowly and use Puppy Culture protocols. In Puppy Culture, we use a Positive Conditioned Emotional Response to help puppies be okay with things that could otherwise be scary to them. The "scary" or neutral item is shown first, then an amazing reward follows immediately. The basic formula is: Trigger ➡️ High-Value Reward ➡️ Positive Emotion.
This week, I showed them a rattle that sounds like water falling, and they were at first all startled, then slightly scared. I immediately gave them all treats and reassured them that they would be okay. I placed the rattle on the ground in front of them, and one by one they all came up and sniffed it, pawed at it, and checked it out. Then I picked it up and rattled it very softly, then gave them all treats again. I introduced it very slowly over several days and let them do the investigating, while giving them treats for checking out the rattle. Now when I bring out the rattle, they all run over to it and start playing with it. They were introduced to the nail grinder/ dremel this way this week also. So now they are fine having their nails trimmed with clippers or the dremel!
They had their puppy wellness vet visit this week, and they are all perfect! They were tested for all parasites and were all negative. That is an example of my proactive, preventative approach to raising puppies. Many breeders would have their puppies dewormed at the vet visit, but I don’t want to introduce toxins to the puppies' tiny systems if unnecessary. I have them tested for parasites and would only give medication if needed.
They are starting up their season of Puppy Parties! I have families and friends who love to host the puppies and invite their friends to come meet them. This way, the puppies have experiences in other environments and get to meet lots of new people. I try to have at least 3 Puppy Parties for each litter.
They are also going to start going to stores, parks, and walks in their puppy stroller this week so they can get used to the sounds of cars and commotion, and get used to riding in the car. It’s going to be a big week. They have their first Puppy Party tomorrow, so they will get a bath, go in the car and meet new people in a new environment. Then we have Meg’s new family coming to visit her on Sunday.
Lots going on around here!!
I have added pictures to their individual photo albums and the litter album.
Check them out below! Also, my camera did some weird editing of the photos as I was taking them. Apparently, my phone will fill in the gaps automatically on the setting I have it on, so since the puppies move so quickly, my phone camera edits the pictures automatically. It makes some of the pictures look like they’ve been through a filter, like a painting filter, but they haven’t. You will see what I mean.
Also in the pictures of Kate and Jodi turning their heads from side to side I was making high pitch funny noises to make them do that!
Photo albums
Videos:
Jodi and Kate
Alex
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