Molly & Scooby's 4 week old Pups - Threshold of Change

Left Insert: A short clip of the pups enjoying a solid meal as early steps in clicker training begin.

I am always amazed at the enormous changes which occur in a new litter of Brittany pups precisely between 3 and 4 weeks of age and Molly and Scooby's pups are no exception.  It is when the early transitional and socialization periods blend together. At the beginning of the transitional period, eyes just begin to open, followed by hearing, discovering each other, walking and even beginning to eliminate on their own.  It's when I make note of which puppy climbs out of the whelping box unassisted, the first one to bark, how old a pup is when it comes to me for the first time when I call them to me.  I don't call them by their nickname, but only as 'puppy, puppy, puppy.'  (This reminds me of a really sweet poem written by the owner of Treasure's brother, "Rusty" which I'd love to find again.  I was touched with his words because he wrote about the way I interacted with that litter of pups 5 years ago, how, when they heard my voice while playing outside, they all turned and ran directly to me without hesitation. I think the poem was simply called "Puppy! Puppy! Puppy!"  Anyway... it's a good memory.  Rusty by the way, is the puppy pictured in our ATB Photograph Gallery with the monarch butterfly sitting on his head.  The amazing unedited photo was taken by his owner and is Treasure's full brother.)

At this point in time Molly is beginning to let go of her pups. By that I mean she looks to us more for help in feeding, cleaning, and entertaining them.  This is NOT a problem! Her puppies, now out of the whelping box entirely, are seeking out their own 'potty place' and eliminating on their own. They are old enough to play with toys and we've set a basket full of tugs and chewie things that they can learn to play. It was so cute last night, three of the pups were actually wrangling over a braided fleece tug.  This is a woofie little litter of pups, they love to hear the sound of their own voice and yes - the little a.m. howling thing is still going on.

I often refer to the ever developing love affair between the pups and me and I feel there are various stages of that relationship as well.  They are much more confident now and run gladly to me.  (Because I was out at a dog show yesterday I had to take deliberate steps to be sure there was no possibility of bringing unknown germs etc. home with me.  When going out like that I will disinfect my clogs before leaving and keep them in a bag in the car.  I also bring a change of clothes.  Before arriving home I'll change my show clothes and shoes somewhere.  The shoes will get sprayed with disinfectant and the clothes put in the wash right away.  Call me overprotective but I won't take chances. I don't make a habit of going to public places like that when we do have pups but sometimes it does happen.)  Anyway, last night I really enjoyed a special experience here at home with the pups. I scooched down, bent over, and lovingly murmured to them as they entangled themselves in my arms, lavished puppy kisses and AHHHHHHHHHHH puppy breath upon my face, and tried to push each other out of the way to get closer.  I close my eyes and take it all in because these are the moments you live for when you're a breeder. You know soon these precious ones will be bringing smiles and years of joy and happiness to new families waiting for them.  Families who often wait anywhere from a few months to over a year.

Our very informal weaning process has started and by the time pups go home they will be eating 3 meals of dry puppy food a day. Their first experience went well. As weaning begins so does clicker training.  This will be our second clicker trained litter of Brittany pups! By the time Treasure and Gibson's pups went home they were sitting politely, waiting to be pet when visitors approached. They also offered various behaviors in anticipation for a click and/or treat. The clicker training was continued for some of the pups!  I know it takes awhile to get the 'gist' of clicker training.  I first saw the effects when Tracy Shaw of  the former Diamond Dream Dog Center was teaching me how to handle a very young Treasure. I saw it applied in NAVHDA gun dog training which amazed me.  But the most memorable clicker training experience I witnessed was at a Flyball Tournament with Julie, Sassy and their Flyball MAINiacs team . A trainer was simply clicking/treating for her dogs behavior. Once a behavior was rewarded, her dog continued to offer new ones involving a cooler with a retractable handle.  Within a half hour, this dog had learned to raise the handle up and down, and also nudge the top of the cooler open, and close it again.  Think of this. A half hour. Using a clicker and food treats. I was sold on clicker training.  I used it to train True for the show ring. And even after a full years absence due to field work - True remembered it all.  (In fact True is being shown this weekend and won his first 3 show points Thursday and Friday.  He also went Best of Winners.  The highlight of this all was having his mother Treasure also take Winners Bitch. So gaiting in the ring as breeder of both the Winners Dog and Winners Bitch was QUITE an experience!! I'm sure I will find a way to elaborate further.)  In response to requests for it, I hope to document the clicker training of this litter. 

There truly are not enough hours in these days that are turning into weeks to journal as thoroughly as my heart desires.  I so enjoy writing about All Things Brittany, especially when there are puppies involved.  I love making the videos, collages, slide shows and setting them to music by some of my favorite artists such as Jim Brickman, Amy Grant, Celtic Woman, Enya, and the others. I love creating playlists here to play in the background while you read the posts. Speaking of which, I've made it easier in the sidebar here to access our complete collection of ATB videos by linking directly to our YouTube channel where there about 50 of them!

The pups will get outside this week and visits from new owners, friends, family, neighbors will begin as we enter this stage of primary social relationships with humans.  They will be showered with an abundance of social stimulation from changes in their relationship with Molly, an introduction to Daddy Scooby and other adult dogs, etc.  They have already started to establish the pack hierarchy and little Skiddle is definitely up to playing the alpha of the litter with Miss May May close behind.  Meg and Flower are joined at the hip with their antics, and Blossom and Veronica are like their mother - little prima donas with an agenda of their own.  Very vocal, responsive to sounds and now their approach to new noises is changing.  Initially they exhibited a very normal reaction  - a startle response as a pan dropped to the floor, clapping of hands, other dogs barking etc.  I like to watch quietly and not say a word to see what they do. After that first reaction I watched as one or two  pups tried to locate and approach the sound readily, another pup howled, one of them gravitated towards it's litter mates, and a couple of them simply went and lay down on their blanket. This will all change which we will see in a couple of weeks during their PAT evals. The pups will suddenly emerge as fearless little pups one moment then seek the comfort and security of a stable environment.  It's a balancing act as far as knowing when to further stimulate that environment and when to retreat back to all that is comfortable. Timing is everything and key to it all is identifying the development stage of the pups.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Take care and God Bless, John, Ann and ATB