Winchester, Marlin, Bolt, Henry, Colt, Rugar, Browning, Grace, Patience, Hope, and Heart have a very special visitor coming tomorrow to see them and we just can't wait. She will be arriving 'dogless' in consideration of our nursing mother's level of stress when other dogs are around. A little too early for much interaction among other dogs besides a few here. I wonder if Treasure will offer the kind of greeting she gives me when I approach her and the pups - lately it's kind of funny as she does here little 'woo woo woo' and dances around - it is just too cute! I tend to think she is saying I love you. We're working more every day on the tactile stimulation for neo natal pups (Carmen Batagglia's S.M.A.R.T. puppy program). Today I added something new as I cleaned out the whelping box. I placed the pups inside of a fleece crate pad with bumpers which was located on the floor about 3 feet away from the box. It was an intentional move to have them in a cooler place and on a completely different surface. It really was pretty interesting what they did. Of course they rooted around and around in little circles bumping into and crawling over each other. Eventually they settled (they don't have a lot of energy to keep going and going at this early age and simply crash suddenly, sleeping most of their life away right now.) Treasure was not sure she liked having them there and after circling the pad holding her puppies hostage she gently lay down alongside of it, backed up to the edges. Her closeness was enough to elicit responses from some of her puppies. One of the pups manipulated them self up and over the top of the crate pad, onto Treasure. Yes we are talking total cuteness again as pup crawled over to her face. Treasure was wide awake with open eyes but she didn't move, she simply lay there and let her pup explore. A couple of other pups also ventured up and over onto her back, but they decided to turn around and plop back down onto the pad with the others. I imagine for heat. At first they were content to remain in a single layer laying together. Then they began to crawl over each other and made a puppy pile. At this age it's an indication they are chilly. Overall, this was an intentional attempt to introduce low level stress into their environment which is actually beneficial towards the intelligence of these neo natal puppies. Another thing which we (I) do daily with every pup is to stimulate their senses further is by laying them down on my lap, between my knees belly side up. Then using a soft Q-tip, gently touch the bottom of each foot, their ears, and their belly. As they mature additional little exercises will be introduced. None of this is intended to take the place of handling the pups several times a day. A little goes a long way in regards to intentionally stimulating the pups. We have been using this technique for a long time with new Brittany puppies and I like to think that the things we do like this go a long way towards laying a very positive foundation for the first 8 weeks of their life as we prepare them for the first day of the rest of their lives. For anyone reading this who is a breeder or may one day be one - the program I refer to here can be researched simply by googling Carmen Batagglia. Years ago I came across an article he wrote for a magazine detailing a program used by the military called the S.M.A.R.T. Puppy program. I tend to gobble up everything I can about early puppy development. There's a lot of things I just can't do (physically) but there are many other things which I can do and making sure that the pups we are responsible to bring into the world have the best start possible is one of them. As in anything, all of this must be done in moderation - you never want to push a puppy too far in ANY situation.
There are other early puppy development exercises and evaluation techniques which we employ here which are all loosely based upon a combination of Pat Hastings "The Puppy Puzzle" as well as her "The Other Piece of the Puzzle" (EXCELLENT), Jack and Wendy Volhardt "Puppy Aptitude Tests" or P.A.T., and of course use a lot of what is in The Monks of New Skete. We also refer to some of the techniques in the book by Bill Tarrant "Tarrant Trains Gun Dogs"for early targeted gun dog training. Last but not least I have found for those who are interested in showing dogs that the two books "Raising of A Champion" and "Show Me"are totally geared to the novice beginning exhibitor.
We do several structured evaluations at various points of the pups development as well as run an ongoing log of daily activity. I think one of my favorite parts of it all is when our friends Pam and Julie come spend the weekend and we evaluate a 7 week old litter - too much fun! And of course we are all always eager for that first introduction to birds - but in Treasures case, she has been known to that herself as the video above testifies! Should you be one of our new WONDERFUL soon to be puppy owners, there's a whole channel of very amateur videos featuring our Brittany dogs which may help hold you over until the day you bring your pup home. Speaking of which, most of the entire litter is all spoken for and most of 'you' have prior Brittany experience and are a bird hunting family (or couple as the case may be.) Barely awake enough to end with a proper signature. I may take a day off from blogging - famous last words?! Take care and God bless you all - John, Ann and ATB
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