ATB: A Day In The Life / 8 week old Activities / Pond / Pups Available

BEAUTIFUL LATE SPRING WEATHER
Finally we have had a couple of days of near perfect weather with yesterday and today pretty much being a "10" in my book.  John has been happy to get down to the field several days in a row without having to battle the rain showers. The dogs have been doing so well!  There never were happier dogs when John pulls the horse trailer around and it faces the road. The crew explodes in joyful adoration as the door opens and they all head for their own reserved spot to be transported together! There are those who make the trip every time the trailer leaves the yard and that means a serious day of training for our own dogs.  And when John loads up Molly, Wish, or Rose it means those girls are going to simply go have fun. They will find and point their birds - especially Miss Rose.  Treasure will rejoin them all in a week or so.  It's really been hard to catch a break for several weeks now regarding developing a consistent schedule due to the weather.  But every day when John returns I always ask who 'star of the day' was.  I enjoy hearing how each individual dog has done and love it as John describes them.  I hear the pride and encouragement in his voice when a particular Brittany has done very well.  I also sense his disappointment when things didn't go as well as they should.  As Treasure and Bullets pups are older now, and with very few remaining I look forward to joining him down in the field a few times a week.  I'm looking forward to bringing Ruger, Patience, Hope, Browning, Marlin, and Colt with us at least once just for the experience. 

ARE THERE ANY PUPS STILL AVAILABLE?
Either Patience or Hope will be leaving on Tuesday. At this point although a lot of interest has been expressed regarding the two remaining pups (an orange and white female and a liver/white male) 4 of the remaining 6 pups are spoken for and will be going to hunting families.  5 are already enjoying their happily ever after new life with their new families.   Updates have been so enjoyable to receive and very positive.  If you are still waiting to decide please know that Marlin is no longer available and will leave on Friday. He'll be going to a home who had a really nice Brittany from Birch Springs that lived well into his early senior years so Marlin will be a relative of that same dog.   He'll certainly have plenty of opportunity to be hunted as he grows and matures. I'm so happy with this situation!  Browning will be heading to Canada next Saturday and Colt heads to northern Maine that weekend as well.  Ruger, Patience OR Hope both remain available today, this may change at any given moment though!

3 DAILY ACTIVITIES FOR 6 EIGHT WEEK OLD PUPPIES
House training, Crate training, Leash training
Each of the pups is doing very well understanding that there are certain places to go to the bathroom. I've heard that this has carried over into the lives of the pups in their new homes.  I am also working on the intentional separation of each pup from each other and from Treasure.  I'm using several crates in various locations within our home and in the puppy play area to have each pup spend a brief, supervised time.  It's paying off because when they are all reunited they all go into one crate and lay down together with the door left open.  House-training and crate-training are ongoing regardless of the age or the number of the pups.  I'm aware that heading into 9 week so of age there is the potential for the beginning of a developmental period of 'fear'.  There seem to be several growth stages when this is noticeable.  One day the dog or pup is happy about everything and then there is a change where they become apprehensive about things that were comfortable.  I have observed also that this is the time frame when biting and mouthing seems to intensify due to teething.  We are providing many chew substitutes  including hard rubber chew toys such as Nylabones and Kongs.  All the pups have collars to wear however I don't like to leave anything on around their neck when they are altogether in the litter playing.  (In the past I would use a colored rick rack collar or a paper tape like colored ID band. We identify the puppies early on by taking photos with time/date imprinted and then naming each pup.)  At 8 weeks of age we are using a 15' flat nylon training lead with very lightweight hardware.  (Our friend Bruce Burnell owns Bruce Enterprises in Standish Maine and makes customized puppy collars and leads as well as all of John's training leads, check cords and collars.  We are of course happy to recommend him to anyone who is interested, just let us know.  His prices are really reasonable and these are Maine made products.)  Due to our very real and present danger of eagles and hawks our pups must either be in an x-pen with a cover while outdoors or have a long lead attached. Consequently we are having some very positive leash training at this point in time.  Whenever a puppy is introduced to a collar they show their obvious dislike by walking on 3 legs while trying to scratch the collar off.  The reaction of some pups who are then introduced to a lead attached to the collar can be similar to that of a bucking bronco! Some pups get it right off and will follow without hesitation.  Others will lock up on all fours and refuse to budge. Still another might jump and flail and have a true fit!  Either way, patience is a virtue and each pup simply is introduced to this in a way that suits them. Never dragging but always gently encouraging and providing a few encouraging tugs telling pup to come.   After a few times around the yard one by one these pups are doing very well in their leash training.  All is not work and not play though!  The greatest reward comes when sitting down on either the floor or on the grass and pup comes up to cuddle, snuggle, play and simply share the joys of puppy hood.  It's therapy anyway you look at it. 


THE POND AT ATB
When I look out and see the pond looking like this at 6 AM I could easily become a morning person.  Here there is a light fog over the water which was just lifting as I took the picture.  The picnic table adds to the tranquility of the scene an with an inviting welcome to come sit for a cup of coffee. We have what is considered the 'eu Du a la naturele' atmosphere when it comes to landscaping. Or, lack of.  Sitting pond side yesterday with Rosie and Molly together, just the three of us was one of the most relaxing times I personally have enjoyed in recent months.  How simple is that?  Dragonflies insisted on landing on me for some strange reason.  And there was that mystical ever present yellow butterfly which fluttered about all afternoon.  The butterfly which Scooby had happily chased about the yard as this particular insect seemed to make a game out of taunting Scoob. Seeing Scooby and that yellow Monarch butterfly together playing like that very quickly quieted my soul.  There's some hormonal things going on with the 'girls' lately so instead of running them all at the same time I have been enjoying the ease of a few together with me.  Such was the case Saturday afternoon.  With all the rain recently the water level of the pond is higher than it's ever been, reaching above the culverts.  That will change within a day or so with the warmer weather. I just hope it doesn't go down as low as it did last year.  Spring fed, this year the Pond at ATB is stocked with both Brown and Brook trout.  We had hoped the Browns would cause our frog population to diminish somewhat however that has not been the case.  Next will be Bass although that's just not a fish I am particularly fond of and I guess maybe they'll eat the Brookies?  I don't know.  I do enjoy taking a refreshing dip in the clear, clean, cool deeper waters of the pond.  Sometimes a dog or two will join me. Especially Scooby, he is especially attentive to me.  John added a float a year or two ago which I enjoy sharing with the crew.  We once had an above ground pool at our prior home.  And I grew up on the ocean with the beach within walking distance.  The ponds a little different but I still appreciate it on a very hot day. And I don't have to worry about what I look like in front of the dogs, the frogs, or the fish at our glorified farm pond..  Anyway, I always say we are certainly not fancy by a long shot, we are extremely low maintenance, and pour all of our time either into the dogs in one way or another. I'm grateful for the perennial and biennial flowers that we have here. If not for them we would have no semblance of a flower garden at all.  When Molly was a pup, I did not have the foresight to see how she may decide to do her own gardening.  We also had some very nice vegetable gardens the first few years here.  We've all but abandoned any hope of gardening and actually mow enough to keep the ticks down.  Barely. 

Lots to do today but I wanted to catch upon the blog just a little bit to say life is good here at All Things Brittany for John and I and our Brittany canine crew (and family!)  Take care and God bless!