The Great Outdoors

I've heard it said that this handsome young male Brittany above is the BEST BRITTANY in the entire world! I was also told that he has exceeded the owners greatest expectations when it came to hunting and companionship for the entire family.   He is none other than "Remi", proudly owned and greatly loved by the Poulin family, and is a Jack/Chris puppy 14 months old! 

PUPPY UPDATE:

Several of the pups had their first outdoors experience this afternoon!  No pictures yet to share that documents it as my 'focus' was on the pups reaction. It was so fun though!  I brought some of the more confident pups out two by two, sat on the ground with them with Treasure nearby and watched.  They loved it!  Each of them reacted differently.  There was one who followed me everywhere I went, another that ran down to the front of the kennel and walked back and forth in front of the outside runs, one pup followed mom everywhere, and another found it's way inside the x-pen I had set up with the indoor/outdoor carpet.  I was so pleased that not one puppy was inhibited with the new experience and of course in the days and weeks ahead we will begin to spend a lot of time outside with fun puppy games of one kind or another.  They all come running to me when I say "PUPPY PUPPY PUPPY" so I build on that basic lesson.  When I bring the puppy food into them I hold it up high and say "Cookie Cookie cookie"...this is also laying a foundation for all future training.  To get them to come to the sound of a humans voice and then to follow where that sound is coming from will cross over into recall and focus training - i.e. instead of saying puppy puppy puppy - it will eventualy be pups name, and COME... and instead of saying cookie cookie cookie - it can become 'WATCH ME"..... It is possible to train an entire litter of pups to sit before eating - but I am more interested in trying to get them to stand for me before I put the dish down... TRYING being the key word, and timing is everything.  At this age their attention span is nearly non-existent but their little brains from this point on are like sponges, and able to soak in as much as you can pour out for them, within reason and in short time spans. I'll do things like play hide and seek with the pups, continue to make loud noises, and trek a little further into the woods edge through the crispy leaves.  Weaning is going very well, and I know Treasure is ready to call that quits...but she needs to remain with them as much as possible without nursing them...so I'll now begin to focus on 'drying" her up.... Speaking of Treasure she is just so amazing!  She finds her toys and brings them to her babies when it's play time.  Today when she saw they were outside on the grass she came running towards them and laid down so they could crawl all over her and she flipped them over and played with them, it was cute.  She even went and brought them a tennis ball and nudged it in front of them.  (As I'm sitting typing I am listening to the sound effect CD playing over the intercom... distracted and laughing I am because there is the sound of hoofbeats, followed by barnyard sounds...).

I've got to thank you all for the notes and messages sent to me about my brother.  I was surprised how many others have experienced similar situations and appreciate the kind words of support and encouragement.  I do have peace about this, and I believe he is finally at peace too.

I'll have more photos of course in the days ahead, and looking forward to sharing the puppies outdoor experiences.  Cannot believe we're approaching 5 weeks of age - WOW!  Time has flown by!  In just 3 more weeks we will be saying goodbye to these little babies... well, that is to most of them..... VERY BIG GRIN!  (Grin not due to pups leaving... grin due to....well.... um....pup(s) staying?~!)

Have a wonderful weekend, take care and God Bless you and yours!  As always, John, Ann and ATB