Day 54

girl left, boy right

Once again I have been a bit negligent with my blog posts. It's been busy around here with moving, moving the business, puppy raising, etc.  So now I am catching up on my puppy updates.

Last weekend Paul and I where in Canmore for my Dad's 60th birthday. It was a great time away visiting with family and catching up on what's new in everyone's lives. While we were gone the puppies and the adult dogs stayed with Leanne (Spryte and Strider's breeder).  The puppies got to run around the house, play with many new sheltie friends and cuddle with a few new people too.  Leanne said the puppies are very confident and outgoing.   Great temperaments all round!

Since they have been back the puppies have had a few more visitors and lots more trips outside to play. Yesterday the boy found a full size tennis ball and was having a blast chasing it, pouncing on it and carrying it around.  I even managed to get a video of it!  

Unfortunately some bad luck hit our little family yesterday when the puppies were outside playing.  During their play session the girl started crying and limping.  Fearing the worst we rushed her to the emergency clinic for an xray.  The xray confirmed our suspicions of a few broken toes. Likely caused by a fall in a gopher hole in the yard. Paul and the staff bandaged her up and she is now in a splint for the next 3 to 4 weeks.  I was so very sad to see my little puppy injured and all bandaged up.  But like a good little trooper she has been getting around and still trying to play.  She is in good spirits and isn't letting a little foot injury slow her down.  And I was reassured that of all the breaks and injuries that could have happened, this is the best of a bad situation. It will heal quickly and without any complications. It won't affect her movement or structure as an adult.  She will be back to a crazy, bouncy puppy in no time.

Pictures and videos from yesterday:

boy left, girl right

 

boy

 

girl left, boy right

girl

 

boy with his ball

 

boy left, girl right

 

girl with her splint, cuddling with her daddy

 

Day 46

boy

The last few nights I have started to lock the puppies in the kennel when we go to sleep.  For now they are both in the same kennel.  They go in around 11:30pm and are sleeping until around 5:30am.  Next week I will bring out another kennel and they will begin sleeping by themselves.

Tonight I also introduced the puppies to a clicker.  One at a time I took the puppies to a quiet spot with a bowl of plain yogurt.  I put some yogurt on my finger, clicked the clicker and then gave the puppy the yogurt to lick. I have the more traditional box clickers, so they are a bit louder than the newer style clickers.  Both puppies definitely noticed the sharp noise and startled a bit when it went off. But they happily ate the yogurt being offered and didn't seem too bothered by the new noise.  It has only been one session so far, so they don't yet associate the "click" with a reward. But a little more classical conditioning and they will be getting pretty excited when the "click" goes off.

Here are some pics and videos from today:

puppies ready to pounce on each other (boy left, girl right)

 

more playing (girl sitting, boy on back)

 

girl

 

the boy biting the girl's tail

 

 

Day 43

Ok first thing before puppy stuff... I have to brag and congratulate Susan and "Cricket" on earning their Canine Good Neighbour (CGN) and CKC Rally Novice (RN) titles this weekend at the Lethbridge Dog show.  Cricket was High in Class with a score of 99 and her other legs were earned with wonderful scores of 97 and 92.  What a great team!  (Cricket is out of Ace and Spryte from last year's litter)

The puppies had another field trip yesterday.  We took them to two different houses back to back.  The first house had 6 adults and 3 dogs. It was loud and busy with lots of laughing, talking, the tv blaring etc.  In fact it was so loud I was having trouble focusing on the conversations around me.  The puppies didn't mind the noise or all the extra attention. It was also the first time the puppies met another dog.  The family has 2 dachshunds and 1 malamute X.  The malamute and one of the Dachshunds wanted nothing to do with the puppies. But one of the Dachshunds thought they were very interesting and kept running around the pen trying to play with them.  The girl wanted nothing to do with this and mostly sat in the middle and watched.  The boy thought it was great fun and would play bow, madly wagging his tail and then run around the pen chasing the Dachshund.  It was funny to watch.  The boy so badly wanted to play with this new friend.

boy and Dachshund

 

After about an hour at the first house we packed  up the puppies and headed down the street to another friend's house. Here there were two adults and one Puli.  We once again set up our xpen with blankets and toys and let the puppies loose.  This time the Puli was the one circling the pen.  However, she was more interested in stealing the puppies toys than actually playing with them.  The puppies watched her with great curiosity.  She sure didn't look like a dog to them and they really didn't know what to make of her.  After several minutes of observing and the Puli trying to steal toys, the boy finally decided she was a playmate too and started the same play bow/wagging ritual.  The girl once again wanted nothing to do with the non-sheltie.  After about a half hour more of running and playing both puppies passed out with exhaustion.  They slept in their pen for the next few hours while we visited and watched the hockey game (or rather while everyone else watched while I slept :).  At the end of the night we packed them back into their kennel, got into a cold car and drove home.  Another successful night of socializing under our belts.

 

the Puli coveting the puppy toys

 

Here are some pics from today.  Mostly blurry. I really need to learn how to use my camera better. With all the puppy action it's now difficult to get clear pictures!  And a video from today.  I found an animated ball that I have and put it in the puppy room for the first time today.  It wiggles and twitches and the puppies had no idea what to do with it.  It was priceless to watch!

 





Spryte trying to get a game going with the boy

 

Spryte ready to pounce on the puppies

 

the girl pulling the boy's tail

girl

Spryte and the boy playing

 

 

Day 41

It was absolutely beautiful out yesterday.  So the puppies came outside with us and ran around while we put up Christmas lights. The puppies were outside for a good hour, running around, chasing Spryte, playing with their toys and pouncing on lights.  They were absolutely exhausted after and came inside and crashed for several hours. 

Today the puppies had their first field trip.  We visited my sister's house and the puppies played with my two young nieces aged 15 months and 6 years old.  My older niece had a blast with the puppies.  She played tug with them, picked them up and cuddled them, played more and cuddled even more.  The puppies and Ashley were all in heaven.  My younger niece is currently teething and was a little grumpy.  She laughed and giggled at the puppies and then had more fun playing with the puppy paraphernalia ( x pen, puppy toys, kennel, actually she climbed right inside the kennel twice!).  There were also a few bouts of screaming due to sore gums.  The puppies handled the screeching surprising well.  They didn't startle at all, never stopped playing and really didn't even seem to notice the noise at all. I guess those sounds CD's are paying off!  All in all it was a great trip out for the puppies, great exposure to new sights, sounds and people and tons of fun for the kids.

Here is a video from yesterday and a couple pics from today with my nieces (pics taken with Iphone, so not great quality):

 

 

 

 

Day 39

girl left, boy right

Puppies had their first trip outside yesterday. It was a fairly warm day for November so we decided a short outing would be good for the puppies.   They were a little overwhelmed at first, and a little shocked by the temperature change.  But within a few minutes they started to explore the driveway, and wander around a bit.  We kept the trip short, probably no more than 10 minutes.  I managed to get a few pictures of the puppies outside too!

We are starting to kennel train as well.  The puppies have now been left in their kennel a few times for an hour or so.  They are usually pretty sleepy when we put them in there and close the door, so they don't seem to mind the kennel so far.

I have also been petting and handling the puppies when they eat. I stick my hand in their dish, pet them, move them around a bit. The puppies are used to sharing with each other, so learning from an early age that a human may also be in the way is no big deal for them.

Here are some pics from today and yesterday.

boy left, girl right

 

boy

 

girl

 

girl pouncing on boy

 

girl relaxing on her balance disc

 

the boy coming over to say hi

 

girl

Day 36

Wow the puppies are 5 weeks old already. I am really feeling the time crunch now. The puppies will be with me for one more month and we have so much to do in that time!  On the agenda are lots more people visits, short car trips, trips to a few people's homes, exposure to different surfaces and objects, grooming and kennel training. Wow do we have our work cut out for us now!

Today the puppies had a chance to play in a new room of the house.  We blanketed a bedroom, added some toys and a few novel objects (a chair on it's side and "Joe Bo", a 2' creepy looking wooden statue).  The puppies loved the large room and spent a good 20 minutes running around, exploring, and playing.  Spryte loved the large space too and really started playing with the puppies. She dragged the toy around with the puppies following and tugging.  Spryte batted them around with her paws, nudged them, play bowed and generally had some wonderful mother/child moments.

The puppies got a fun new toy today too. A sheepskin tug toy with lots of coloured leather strips
hanging underneath.  They both loved it and instantly started to chase and tug on it. I have a short video of them playing with their new toy and some other toys.

Here are pics and videos from today and yesterday. (first picture above is the boy, second picture girl)

boy

girl

 

 

 

Day 32

girl in tunnel, boy on right

It feels like forever since I posted last!  I would have been better with my puppy posts but we moved all weekend and didn't get our internet hooked up until today.  Boy it's great to be connected to the world again.  Checking email on a small phone is not a lot of fun!

Lots of new things for the puppies in the last week.  First of course is a new home for the puppies. Complete with new sites, smells and sounds.  The puppies have also had their first solid meals.  Canned puppy food that they lap right up.

The puppies personalities are really starting to blossom too.  Both puppies are becoming very affectionate.  When we sit in their pen they come running up to us and climb into our lap.  They want to be with us, on us and cuddled by us.  If you put your face down to their level they will give copious amounts of kisses.  They love people and really want to be with them.

The puppies are loving toys more and more now too.  They will pounce on and shake whatever toy is nearest them.  They will carry their toys into the tunnel or kennel or just around the pen.  And they like to curl up next to them and fall asleep.

The puppies are also sleeping in their kennel more and more. I have not closed them in yet, that will probably start next week. But for now when the puppies are tired they will often make their way over to the kennel and curl up inside.  It is their quiet place and they seem to love it.

Here are some pics and videos from this week.

girl left, boy right

 

boy giving his sister a kiss

 

 

tired puppies! boy on left, girl on right

 

puppies first meal

 

girl puppy howls for mom