Indeed - it's a Dog's Life!

(For the 3rd time in as many weeks our camera has disappeared and reappeared quite mysteriously! Actually, not so mysteriously... but saying that beats placing the blame on me, right?! I'd find the camera, take a few pictures, put it down 'somewhere' and discover it had walked away. We have found it in the most unusual places. For instance, when I walked through to the kitchen the other morning, the camera was looped to a dog leash, which was draped around the ceiling fan. Really quite odd, don't you think? Or could be someone in this house has a very good sense of humor ;o)

J & A's High Flyin' Girl of Acton (Piper)   I've been wanting to post a few pictures of Piper and especially for her wonderful breeders.  Miss Piper has been welcomed with lots of love by all of us here at ATB.  Usually we are the ones giving advice to new owners about what to expect the first several weeks with a new puppy but we're the ones with "Day in the Life of an 8 week Brittany" posted on our refridgerator.  Pippin is especially enjoying Piper and interacts with her much the same way Treasure interacts with True.  Perhaps she's been observing the two.  True and Piper have a great time being puppies together.  Jack amazes me again with his interactions with Piper.  Can dogs possibly know when they are related to each other?  Can a sire sense when they are with their progeny?  Sometimes during visits with Brittanys born here in the past there is an unmistakable kindred spirit between those directly related. We're not the only one who has noticed this, others have commented on this as well.  It's especially noticable to us on  Summer Field and Fun Day when there are informal reunions of siblings.  I am not inclined to attribute too many human emotions, characteristics to dogs as they do have their own unique way of interacting, reacting, and communicating to and with each other.  We humans just have to see things their way and learn their body language and calming signals.  Having said this, the photo you see is Jack and Piper walking along side by side.  I have a similar photo of a very young Barley walking forward with Jack a couple of years ago.  But Barley was born here and Piper was not. This is something that intrigues me!

Piper is exceptionally inquisitive and right from the day when she arrived she's shown us she has that "right out of the box" hunting ability.   Today she stood in front of the johnny house and showed me a real nice puppy point, complete with a raised front paw off the ground.  She was very interested in the sound of the birds flapping their wings and went around and around a couple of times. John has his own plans for Miss Piper but I am helping him with the basic early puppy training.  The first few days she was here she was not quite sure who we are or where she was but that quickly changed.  She has bonded with both of us now, and will run ninety miles an hour across the floor to jump into our lap and lavish us with kisses!  Crate trained, doing well on the lead, learning 'whoa' and embedding herself into our hearts, she's a delight.  Of course I'd love to take her into the ring but that will be up to John, she's his girl. (I did overhear him tell our neighbor this afternoon that both pups will probably be shown... and tucked the thrill of that revelation away!)  Point of interest:  John came close to keeping a pup from Jack in the past and was actually going to show pup himself. All things are possible and wouldn't that be cool!  He has become quite adept at grooming this winter, something which I so appreciate plus the dogs just respect John and he has a nice way with them.

I am especially mindful to work with Piper and True separate from each other. When you are a multi dog family it is so important to give each animal indivual, undivided attention.  Quite honestly, this can be a challenge to any responsible dog owner in that it is a lot easier to slip into the routine of letting the dogs 'train/teach' each other.  While tempted to save time and energy to let two pups out to eliminate together, it distracts them from the 'job' at hand and the same goes for exercising.  While our crew certainly enjoys playing and romping together, they so need one on one.  Besides they are ever learning either positive or negative behavior each day of their life.  Basically we shouldn't let a puppy do anything we wouldn't want an adult dog to do.  Easier said than done but it's true. We have such a huge responsibility when we bring any dog into our home.  I try very hard not to get into the habit of comparing one puppy to another, or any of them for that matter.  Right now I can see so many distinctive and interesting differences between Piper and True... enough so that one teaching method will not work for both puppies.  I can teach Piper the basics of 'whoa' with a flexilead... she totally understands.  However, True is learning 'whoa' in an entirely different manner, by trying to read my mind.  Piper is more ACTIVE and True is more REACTIVE.  Both (ALL) Brittanys are highly intelligent.

I've been making good use of our new pond and Johns creative plowing throughout the front yard down to the woods. We have about 5 acres here with 2/3 of it being woodland that backs up to hundreds of acres of woods, lakes, acres.  I have been faithful to walk the 'route' a few times a day with whatever dogs are our exercising and believe me, I'm feeling it but believe me... I NEED this.  I go slow... actually no choice but to go slow. I'm curious to know how much distance I'm covering throughout the day.  Anyway it's so much fun. The woods are so quiet this time of year except for the sound of a few birds here or there. This afternoon there was a lone woodpecker drilling away.  All I could think of as the soft snow fell was the poem by Robert Frost "Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening."  

Speaking of snowy evening... it is one here, and all our crew has settled down for the day.  Pups have one more trip outside later on and they will sleep through to the morning. And so will we!

Take care and God Bless you always,

Ann and John, and All Things Brittany