Training Camp Begins!

Five Weeks old tomorrow and all our new families are coming to visit this week. Little rascals best be on their best behavior! If next week we suddenly have someone available you will know they were naughty! Kidding, not even possible.....yet!

We redid the whelping pen, AGAIN! This time we expanded the overall space to accommodate crates. We have the doors wired open so the pups can go in and out on their own. Training is always the best when they figure out what we want on their own and we can reward their good choices. One of my favorite quotes from Kerry Nichols who wrote Puppy Brain is: "Never give them the opportunity to make a bad choice". Then you never have to fix or correct which is a million times easier!! Crate training at this point is that easy. Just give them the opportunity and they will chose to enter the crate and nap. Eventually we will feed them individually in the crate and close the doors.

Meal time is a two part process these days. Mom will continue to wind down the nursing over the next week. We follow her lead about how often and for how long she wants to nurse. She knows her body and knows when she needs relief but doesn't let it go too long so her milk production will start to slow down. We have increased feeding kibble to 3 times a day and making it more kibbly and less gruelly. When Cypress nurses now she stands and not for very long! By the end of next week she will be finished nursing and they will be eating only kibble.

PUPPY, PUPPY, PUPPY Recall! So much fun to watch them react to the puppy, puppy call. This process is twofold for the babies. They are responding to me and the call of my voice to come to me. Great basis for the future recall. Even as they become stubborn teenagers, know their names and the command come......sometimes their listening ears fall off. When that happens, go back to puppy, puppy, puppy and they will come. The other skill we are building here is them following me, the basis for loose leash walking. We will continue this part in the next few weeks in the house, around the table, the kitchen island, etc. Doing turns and having them follow me. This video was a first attempt so just watch how much they progress!!

Noise desensitization is huge! From the beginning I have slowly been making noises around them. Music is always playing, I bang a spoon a metal dish, run the vacuum, they have met the washing machine, etc, etc. Now I can bang multiple times on the metal can with a stick and it doesn't scare them one bit. Curious, yes; aware, totally; scared, not at all! The goal of all this startle is so that when 4th of July rolls around those fireworks will be a wonder and not something to be feared.

The Wonder in every day with these little sponges is amazing. Everything is new, everything is absorbed in a natural and safe, empowered process. I am so honored to be their ticket on the knowledge train right now. They are so calm, sitting at the gate, waiting for positive reinforcement that they are doing the right thing. I haven't even started giving them a sit command or a treat but here they are!

This is just all of us being cute!!!! Mom and Aunt Magnolia wanted in on the photo shoot to and well, they are also pretty cute so we let them!