J&A's Brittanys - Catching Up, Sort Of!

  

All of our scheduled puppy visits with new owners from both litters are all but completed.  We have one more to go!  The timing for these has been perfect as the pups need for interaction with people grows stronger every day.  It's really fun to see pups begin to actually focus intently on a human face and make lasting eye contact.  They are well versed in 'dog communication' thanks to the most basic litter dynamics and of course by the time spent with their dams.  Holly's 7 week old puppies are fully weaned.  Toph's 5 week old pups are almost to that point.

As of late it has been especially endearing to observe Holly and her puppies.  In the early neo-natal stages she physically loved on them through her constant nurturing, kissing, and nursing. She would not leave them unattended at all and had to be coaxed to even go outdoors to relieve herself.  At the magic turning point of 4 weeks old that all changed as weaning was in full force and she turned the 'clean up in aisle 9' to John and I.  It was not so enjoyable to her for the pups to nurse due to their size and aggressiveness. In the evening though, I would bring one pup at a time to her. Not to nurse, but for the two to simply enjoy each other. By doing this I've seen her play more with them, engage them, and show deep affection once again.  To dry her milk up she has to be away for several days in a row but once that has happened, they can enjoy being together in a new way. Momma dogs teach pups about bite inhibition. They are all going to be mouthy and teething.  While they learn bite inhibition from the reactions of their littermates, it is the dams who draw the line and help establish boundaries.  There are things a mother dog can teach puppies that humans cannot replicate.  

Toph is away from her pups the majority of the time but she is still permitted to let them have a brief 'snack'.  We have one more change to make on her behalf to the point the pups cannot climb over to her.  Although it is very cute to see a pup or two curled up next to her that have managed to scale the great divide between the puppy pen and her own space.  All that I described taking place above concerning Holly will be repeated with Toph.  

Each puppy needs, deserves, requires, and gets complete one on one attention several times a day. The older pups are much more active thus their needs demand more of our time.  It is not enough to

simply feed them and keep them clean although that in itself is a full time job.  But their minds are like little sponges ready and eager to learn. Already their desire to please humans is just so very strong.  I can't let them down! By the same token, Toph's pups who are 2 weeks behind in development are experiencing their awakening and discovering that there is so much more life beyond their puppy pen both indoors and outdoors.  All pups from both litters are happy, bold, confident, energetic and highly intelligent.

I've tried to apply some of Karen Pryor's "Clicker Training a Litter" techniques.  No parlor tricks, just laying a foundation for learning, for shaping behavior that results in a puppy responding with a desired result.  Holly's pups are really showing me the success of my attempts.  Toph's pups are just beginning to put the pieces together.  

It's pretty simple. I start by clicking when I am about ready to lay a pan of food down.  They're hungry and equate the clicker sound with something positive - eating!  Then as they grasp that, I no longer click! click! click! for the food pan.  Instead, I pay attention to the precise moment each puppy bows it's little head to take a bite of food.  Click.... click.... click... !   That goes on for a few days and then I begin to use the clicker at other times, most notably when I approach the entire litter. In their excitement they happily jump up to greet me, standing on their back legs and forward with their front ones.  Should a puppy be rewarded for that behavior though by being picked up?  It is at this point that I stand in their midst and ignore them but with a handful of treats in one hand and a clicker in the other.  The treats are soft mini-treats and as the pups begin to settle they may (or may not) sit down on the floor in front of me. The SECOND I see one pup sit I click with one hand and  put a treat in that pups mouth. Or try to.  Believe it or not it takes a few tries for them to successfully take a treat!  So a puppy that sits down in front of me hears a click and is rewarded immediately with the treat.  I think they take notice of each other.  I'll ignore the other pups that are still jumping.  This progresses. The next thing I have done (and AM doing now with the older pups) as I approach I just stand and wait for them to make eye contact WHILE sitting. But no clicker.  They hear instead the words "good puppy" and I reach to gently pet them briefly.  After a few days of this, I can expect that one of their initial responses to greeting me will be to sit down in front of me and wait to be told they are good and get rewarded with a touch.

I'm not saying this will be a permanent behavior. It could be!  But, more important it has indeed laid the foundation and set their highly intelligent wheels in motion.  Some of the pups become like butter in your hands and there are others who will be open for more challenges.

The first time I ever saw clicker training I was at a Flyball tournament with my dear friend Julie. You know, "aunt Julie" who crochets the beautiful puppy blankets!  I was sitting in a semi-circle with some of the Flyball MAINEIacs team and one of the coaches was talking clicker training. I listened and then watched, totally fascinated by what I was about to see.  There was an empty insulated cooler in front of us with a hinged cover.  I believe the woman's dog was a Lab that was sitting there.  The dog started to offer different behaviors and was clicked/treated for each one.  No words, commands, or human guidance given.  If the dog was not treated with for a previously offered behavior it would do something else to get the coveted treat.  Within 10 minutes and I kid you not, that dog was opening the lid to the cooler!  Eventually it even jumped inside. And I was totally sold on the benefit of clicker training.  You can use it in a multitude of ways once you get the basics down. Some people even incorporate it with gundog training!  I have used it successfully in helping a dog to pose/stack naturally in the dog show ring.  Hemi was trained to sneeze on cue when he was a puppy and Holly learned to roll over.

Speaking of Hemi, here's a cute video of him at 14 weeks. This was post clicker training for him when I was getting ready for his first dog show match in 2011.

I'm sorry for lack of current pictures. I do have them but I'm experiencing such a learning curve with the new laptop.  The photo editing program I relied on has been discontinued and I've just been too busy or too tired to transfer from phone or camera to laptop. I sure hope to get a nice group of 5-7 week photos of the pups this week. Videos are being shared live on Facebook, it's just easier that way.

Monday last puppy visit for Toph's pups.  Tuesday puppy evaluations for Holly's.  Wednesday - Friday puppy selections determined.  Sunday - Holly's pups can go home.   WOW

Thankful for the wonderful new owners preparing for the first day of the rest of the pup's lives.  This has been an amazing summer for sure.

Take care and God bless, John, Ann and All Things Brittany