fright

Sometimes your Lappy gives you a big fright.

When Neka was about 8 months old, I was walking alone with her on a rather lonely and unfamiliar heath.  We happened upon a lady with a pack of greyhounds that we knew from ringcraft training and so while the humans chatted, Neka played with the greyhounds.  Then, suddenly, I heard Neka yelp, and when I turned around to see what the problem was, she was nowhere to be seen.  The 4 greyhounds were milling around, and I waited a minute thinking she was in the midst of them and would pop out any second.  But she didn't.  She had apparently just disappeared into thin air.

I spent a frantic 45 minutes searching the heath for her, calling her name, calling for help, and I even checked under the bushes all around the area for holes that she might have fallen down.  All to no avail.  She was nowhere and I didn't know what to do. 

The greyhound lady helped look for a while, but then she had to leave.  10 minutes later she returned with Neka on a lead.  She had found her in the car park, circling my car and barking.  That was the first, heart-stopping, time that Neka returned to the car during a walk for some reason, but unfortunately it wasn't the last.

As Neka got older and I got more experienced, I stopped panicking quite so much on the handful occasions that she disappeared.  As long as I knew we were a long way from a road, I didn't worry too much because Neka would invariably make her way back to me after she had finished chasing the deer, following an irresistible scent, or just noseying about in the woods.  On a couple of occasions she did return to the car - and what's fascinating about those times is that she would get to the car approximately the time we should be getting to the car if we hadn't stayed in the woods waiting for her.  You see?  Lappies are just too clever.

And, thankfully, they are so clever.

A few weeks ago I had a call saying that Sybil, one of Maija's sisters, had gone missing from a walk.  The animal protection people of the area contacted the Lapphund club to get some information about the breed and the club contacted me.  It's good to have a strong network.

Anyway, I got straight on the phone and got the details.  Sybil's owner had gone away on holiday, leaving the two Lappies in his brother, Nick's care.  On a walk one day, Sybil took fright and ran away and by the time I got in contact, she had been gone for more than 24 hours.  Of course, Nick was beside himself.  He was worried about Sybil and what could happen to her, and he was worried about what his brother would do when he found out that one of his precious dogs was lost.

Everyday I was on the phone with Nick, checking for updates, and I bombarded him with text messages everytime I thought of another avenue he could pursue in trying to find her.  One thing that occurred to me was that if she was afraid, then she might only be moving around in the night time so I suggested that Nick leave the garden gate open at night and when he went out.  That way if Sybil came home in the middle of the night, she would have a safe place to go.

The next morning - 5 days after going missing - when Nick got up, there was Sybil in the back garden.  The clever little thing had found her way back home. 

There are several morals to this tale, apart from illustrating how clever Lappies can be.  Not least of all is the whole kennel issue.  You may think that it is cruel to leave your dog in a kennel when you go away.  For Sybil's older brother, whose health isn't great, a kennel wasn't an option.  But for most Lappies, a kennel is a perfectly acceptable - and very safe - holiday home.

Furthermore, this story gives me a great excuse to bang on about my pet subject: puppy socialisation.  The very best insurance you can give to ensure that your adult dog is confident, independent and fearless in the face of new challenges is to give him adequate socialisation as a young puppy.  Everyone who has an Infindigo Lappy has had it drilled into them until they are quite sick of me:  these lessons that puppies learn during their first crucial weeks will set them up for the rest of their lives.  It's that important.  And you never get that time back. 

It was a bit of an extreme way to get them, but I took full advantage of the situation and used Sybil's crisis to get a few up-to-date photos of her.  No, I didn't have her kidnapped.  Honest.

With her brother Basil

 In other news...

With a mere week-and-a-bit to go, here is how the belly is looking today.

For the purposes of comparison, this is what Keksi looked like carrying 7 with one week to go.  Tuuli is still a half-week or so away from this stage, but you get an idea.

And this is Neka carrying 9 with one week to go.

I dare say Tuuli is rather pleased she's not carrying 9.  I'm certainly pleased that she's not.

pups at home I

So you might think that once the puppies are off into the world I forget all about them.  No, I don't think you would really think that, would you.  I spend the first week (ish) worrying about them and how they are getting on in their new homes.  Are they sleeping?  Are they eating? Are they destroying all the soft furnishings?

These questions are not from concern for the puppies' welfare so much as their new owners.  I know I've picked the puppies' homes well, so I have no doubt they'll be loved & cared for.  I just worry that they are behaving themselves.  As much as an 8-week-old puppy can behave himself, that is. 

The only concern I have for the welfare of the puppies is whether everything I've tried to drum into the new owners has sunk in past the excitement of having the adorable puppy finally home.  Will they be strict with the routine?  Will they teach him to be quiet?  Will they get the housetraining cracked?  Will they continue with the full-on socialisation?

So when I get regular updates and photos, I'm happy.

Mikko at his new home looking like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.



















And crashed out on the sofa having a snooze after wearing himself out.  Is there anything cuter than puppy toes?

Miia has decided to be helpful in the garden.  Just wait til she discovers her own paws are more efficient than a trowel...

Checking the pots to see if there's anything tasty about.

Kiittaa getting to know her new big sister, Dotsie.

Looks like they're going to be getting on brilliantly.

hand-shyness easy cure

At this age the puppies tend to run towards you with tails wagging when you stick your hands into the pen to say hi or pick someone up.  However, they also learn pretty quickly that it makes a good game to scamper away from the hand reaching for them.  There can also be a bit of shyness around this time as the puppies adapt to so many changes & new experiences in their young lives. 

Tuuli, too, is shy of most strangers and the cure is the same for 4.5-week-old puppies as for 4.5-month-old puppies - yummy stuff!

Everyday when Tuuli has her regular socialisation jaunt to some noisy place or other, there is always a nice stranger or two who want to say hello.  I always have a pocketful of tasty treats and I always get the strangers to give Tuuli one or two treats.  This way she will learn that hands = good stuff, even strangers' hands.  It's not an instant fix in a shy puppy, but it does the trick eventually.  I'll keep doing this for a long time to come just to reinforce the message. 

With the 4.5-week-old gang, the magic potion came yesterday in the form of a little bit of minced raw chicken.  Om nom nom!

Never one to shy away from a hand, Hopea is, predictably, the first to tuck into the chicken mince.

It attracts the attention of Brown Wolf, who puts up a "Keksi paw" to get my attention.  Daniel will be pleased to see evidence of Keksi's signature move in all these puppies.

Pretty soon everyone wants in on the chicken action.

On the menu today is scrambled egg.  That's always a good puppy day.

worms & snails & puppy dog tales

Yes, I know it's supposed to be snakes.  And it's supposed to be about boys.  However, it's appropriate in this instance.

When Tuuli arrived she was enamoured of the grass - I guess it was novel after the frozen winter ground of Sweden.

Just look how small she was only 3 weeks ago!
















She still loves nothing more than a tuft of grass to carry, chew, toss into the air and play with.  Oh, and eat of course.  And if it has a great clot of mud on the end, then so much the better.  But now that the weather has warmed up and everyone has been mowing their lawns, I spend rather a lot of time extracting from her mouth wads of fresh cut grass the size of tennis balls.  How does she fit it all in there?

In addition to grass, she has added worms to her list of desirable prizes.  I suppose there is the element of the first hunt and kill about it, but it's quite disgusting.  I've taken several live worms out of her mouth.  And she swallowed far more than I managed to get from her.

Soon it will be snail season and I've never yet met a Lappy puppy who didn't like crunching up snails.  Eeuw is what I have to say to that.  But they really love them - it must be something about the texture.  That combination of crunchy with a slimy centre is apparently irresistible.  Like Ferrero Rocher for puppies, perhaps.

Don't let your puppy eat snails.

Apart from the ick-factor, snails carry a lungworm parasite that can be life-threatenting to dogs.  And dogs can pick up lungworm even just from snail slime.  So, keep your puppy away from snails.  But I'm warning you now, it can be tough.

Like all worrying things puppy-related, though, it is something they eventually grow out of.

There has been plenty of socialising still going on, of course.  We graduated from town centres to city centre and had a lovely sunny afternoon in Exeter window shopping and getting treats from strangers.

Sitting in Cathedral Green people watching and listening to some excellent close harmony being performed by a bunch of students.

A bit overwhelmed by all the feet going by.

Not too sure about the stairs.  This is the same staircase that flummoxed Neka as a puppy.  But where I eventually had to carry Neka to the top, Tuuli was a bit more brave.  But then again, Tuuli has already negotiated the stairs at home...

It was pretty slow going at times.

Made it!

















At home, she enjoys playing with her new bear, a gift from the Collies down the road.

Tuuli's second week

Tuuli spent a lot of her time socialising last week.  We had several trips to various busy and noisy town centres where she could see and hear lots of traffic noise, lots of people, thundering lorries, screaming sirens, the works.  There was also plenty of opportunity for cuddles from all sorts of strangers.

Right here on our own doorstep she gets daily exposure to children as they play in the park or walk past on their way to and from school everyday.  She is getting accustomed to bicycles, scooters and various other wheeled kids' stuff.  But it's pretty slow-going on those things because they are extra-scary.

Mostly we walk Tuuli separately from the rest of the dogs.  She needs one-on-one training and attention at this age and we certainly don't want her picking up any bad habits from the others.  However, she had a few trips to the fields where she had the opportunity to run and play with the big dogs.

Mmmm - mud!  Or other even less palatable things found in Devon fields. 















She also had her first trip to the beach where we found out that she actually has plenty of confidence.  Plenty.  No problem for her chasing off after every other dog on the beach only to come back when she was good and ready.  Just like every other Lappy, it seems.  Cue the serious recall training next week...

Trying to keep up with Maija.

No fear of the water.


















There was also her first ringcraft class.  We don't have an available puppy class in this area, so I am making up for that with our own daily training at home and in the park as well as the socialisation and training opportunity of ringcraft.  She did brilliantly well there in the strange surroundings of a noisy village hall with so many other dogs. 

She took a bit of a fancy to a little Affenpinscher but really fell for the Afghan. He wasn't quite so keen, though, and kept his distance.

Learning her show stand.

Excellent trot already!

pup tip - start as you mean to go on

Right from the first day in his new home, a puppy should be exposed to the normal daily routine he will be expected to abide by for the future.  I always recommend that people take some time off work when they bring their new puppy home.  You need time to sort out the house training, do some bonding, spend a few hours puppy-worshipping, get him sleeping all night, do lots of short and fun training sessions, and prepare your puppy to spend time alone.

First Night

A puppy's first night or two away from his mum & littermates will probably be absolutely awful for him - and for his new owners.  He will cry and howl and be quite pitiful.  There are other methods, but I recommend the tough love approach - keep him awake in the evening so that he's really tired, put him to bed with a few bits of food and some safe toys, and then turn out the lights and go to bed.  And put in your earplugs.  And don't return to him no matter how heartbreaking his cries.

Ukko at home in his crate during his first week home.











 
Because you know what happens if you return to him and give in, right?  Yes.  He will throw a tantrum everytime he wants something, secure in the knowledge that if he barks and howls for long enough, he will eventually get his own way.  And he will do the same thing every single night when he goes to bed...

It usually only takes a couple of nights for him to give up and go to sleep.  Then once he is happy sleeping at night, if he then wakes up and calls, he almost certainly needs to wee and/or poo.  In the interest of his house training, it's then a good idea to drag yourself out of bed and take him out to do his business so he's not forced to do it in his sleeping area.  He would rather not soil his bed, but if he has no choice, then he will do so and will thereby learn that it is acceptable to do so in the future.

Alone Time

The other routine your new puppy must learn is to spend time alone.  Again, being alone will be all new to him.  Each of my puppies gets to spend a few minutes alone as part of my socialisation programme, but that's very different from learning to stay at home while you go to work for a couple of hours.

So, whatever you do, don't wait until the day before you go back to work to start worrying about leaving him.  Start the alone routine straightaway on his first morning with you.  You take him out for his morning ablutions, give him his breakfast, take him out for more wees & poos, do some playing, more house training, and then when he's tired, put him in his crate with some toys and leave him alone.  Get him started on what is going to be his normal morning routine.

Even if you don't work and you plan to spend most of your time with the puppy, he will still need to learn to be left alone, so it's a worthwhile exercise regardless.

Furniture, Chewing, Upstairs

Finally, you need to decide what your adult dog is going to be allowed to do and what he is not going to be allowed to do and then apply those rules to the tiny, adorable puppy.  If you don't want your big galoot of a wet dog to lie on the sofa, then don't let the irresistible 8-week-old ball of fluff on the sofa either.

Neka wasn't allowed on the furniture, so she would sleep with her head on our feet.  So cute!

And then we decided that having the animals on the furniture was actually ok with us.  Just as well.










If you don't want your dog jumping on people, then don't let the tiny puppy jump up either.  The same goes for letting the tiny puppy chew your fingers.  At first it's quite cute.  Then it really isn't.   In fact, the same goes for chewing anything.  Decide what your puppy is allowed to chew, which rooms he is allowed to use, whether or not he is permitted upstairs, and then enforce the rules rigidly.  Rigidly.  Don't make exceptions - ever.

Why not?  Because the important thing with all matters of successful dog training and raising a well-mannered, well-behaved adult dog is consistency.  Do the same thing everytime and demand the same behaviour of your dog all the time and at all occasions.  The bottom line is this: your dog will do whatever you teach him to do, and whatever you allow him to do.  If you allow him to do something once, he will think he can do it forever.  So be careful to only ever let your puppy learn what you want your adult dog to be.  

Sounds, easy, doesn't it.  Uh huh.

big bad world

Yesterday I made a flippant remark about taking a puppy to the pet shop when I went to pick up some food. However, in a few days I'll be doing exactly that.

Everyone who has had an Infindigo puppy (or attended my puppy class) will recognise the socialisation refrain. As far as I'm concerned it is the single most important thing you can do for your dog. (I used to say that it is the 2nd most important thing they need after food - but let's face it, as long as there are cats, sheep and horses in the world to leave poo lying around, dogs will never starve to death. Yuck.)

Everything your puppy experiences as a youngster will have an impact on the rest of his life, and so it is our responsibility to make sure they are exposed to as many safe and safely scary things as possible before they are 12 weeks old and beyond. The point is to teach them that although the world may well be a big scary place, it's not a big bad place. Socialisation teaches puppies to be confident, happy and brave, at ease in new situations and adaptable in the future.

The puppy pack that goes home with each of my puppies includes a sheet on socialisation - there's plenty of work to be done by the new owners. But the socialisation started right here when the puppies were born, and since they have moved downstairs the experiences have ramped up.

It started with daily handling by myself and Jay, being put in a cardboard box each day, when they were old enough, standing on the carpet, on a towel, on newspaper, on cardboard. They moved downstairs and suddenly there were lots of people to meet and be handled by, many new noises and many new experiences. For one thing, they get a daily visit into the garden pen, weather permitting. They get to play with - and on or in - wide range of things like cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, noisy things, slippery things, movable things.

They also get an increasingly thunderous daily dose of both the Crash Bang Wallop CD and its cousin, Clix. These desensitisation CDs have similar but different sounds for a broad range of experience for the puppies. The former has a particularly amusing (and irritating) section on laughing, crying and screaming - babies and adults. Clix seems to have a lot more banging & gunfire, but dogs in Devon get to hear plenty of that anyway since it seems people around here never get tired of killing things.

In addition to all the people and sounds, by the time these puppies are 7 weeks old they will have had 2 trips down the High Street being carried by me & Jay. This exposes them to a wide range of traffic in the form of cars, lorries, buses and motorbikes. On the way they get to visit the friendly folks in the post office, bakery and pet shop. It's a walk that takes 25-30 minutes, round-trip, without a puppy. With a puppy it takes an hour or more.

Also by that time, each puppy will have had a few minutes alone in the indoor pen and the outdoor pen, starting at one minute and building up to 5 minutes. Each one will have had a walk (being carried) down the park just as the primary school lets out for the day, getting to sniff and touch things along the way - branches & leaves, tree bark, hanging ivy, etc. And each one will have spent some time in the car both just sitting quietly and with the engine running but not moving.

When they are 7 weeks old they will travel in a group to the vet to have their eye test. Some puppies suffer with travel sickness, some don't. With this bunch, I'm guessing only one or two will be sick. We'll see.

For today, a selection of puppies acquainting themselves with the toys.




Kicker pauses from the job of killing the tug rope to pose for the camera














Budgie getting to grips with the bone. It's fascinating the way these tiny new puppies hold & chew bones exactly like their adult counterparts.









Kicker again - this time with the pheasant - while his littermates have a snooze. I particularly like the bottom with feet in the air behind him.











It's a mystery why Vee thinks the hard rubber hoop makes a good pillow.

Maija & friends

It's been a busy few weeks since all Maija's siblings left home. With the puppies in residence, we tended to put off all the other urgent business of life. And now it's flooding back demanding to be taken care of with no further delay. Most days I don't know if I'm coming or going. Not much change there, then, you might say. There's the garden re-design which has been zooming ahead (on which, more later). On top of all that, there's the business waiting for me to catch up (2 hours a day isn't getting me very far) and, of course, we too have a new puppy needing to be trained and generally fussed 23.9 hours a day.

Maija has started to attend puppy socialisation where she is the smallest and most clever (obviously). Mind you, the tiny Jack Russell probably won't grow very much more and Maija is likely to be bigger than he is by the next class. She's had her injections but has been out and about on her lead since 8 weeks. In my book, I'd rather take the chance on nasty rare diseases than miss out on valuable socialisation weeks. As a result, she's quite brave and not much bothers her. At the moment we're working on after-dark walks as I suddenly discovered that she's a bit nervous of meeting other dogs when she can't see clearly. So each night & morning before daylight we're out going up and down the park with my pocketful of liver sizzlers.

Great treats, these. The dogs love them, they make a nice attention-getting snap as you break them & they're very clean in your pocket. They're also very useful when I'm out in the park with Maija off her lead as even her most nosey of noseying is interrupted when I call an enthusiastic "Come!" to the tune of the sizzler snap.

We did have a weekend away last week to visit Jay's parents, and here is Keskiyo lounging resplendently in his favorite fragrant evergreen.















While in the neighbourhood, we invited ourselves around to visit Liz and her pack while Paula & Adam were also there with Inko. The weather was truly unbelievably good for mid-October and we sat out on the terrace in the late afternoon sun which left Jay & I both glowing the next day. Maija and Inko had a fantastic time playing in Liz's spacious garden and by the time we finally left, the formerly bright white paws were all the sludgy shade of Surrey mud.

Here is one photo I tried to take of them playing followed by a short video. Check out the artistic, slanting sun rays. Ok, ok, I know that it's just poor photography really. For the best photo of the day, go see Adam's result on Inko's blog.

















Pups gone bonkers:



In addition to travelling the length and breadth of the south of England, Maija has also been quite busy at home and work with me. She's a little sweetie, happy just to amuse herself so long as she gets plenty of attention from Jay & me, but particularly her canine family. Here she is playing with Keskiyo. At last I managed to capture them in action to get a picture that is more than simply a blur of fur and teeth.

















And, finally, a couple of shots of Maija indulging in her new favorite pastime - chewing.

Under the stairs in Annie's den, hiding her bone from Keskiyo:














Finding all the sticks in Surrey:













Over the next few days I'll try to post an update on some of the other puppies with new photos. Also, for those of you who are partial to building sites, there'll be some news on the state of my garden.

do as I say...

... not as I do.

I preach the cold turkey method of first-night puppy training - i.e. put 'em to bed and let 'em howl. Very quickly they learn to sleep through the night, safely in their crate. Well, sleep through until nature calls them out to water the grass, at any rate. And, more importantly, they don't learn to kick up a big enough racket to get you to come running.

With Tarmo, Kaija (Sulo) and Viivi off into the big world, I can report that they've all settled right in and are doing wonderfully. Best news of all, lo and behold, they have been sleeping extremely well at night - or at least those all-important first couple of nights. That leaves me hopeful for the rest of the pups as they go too.

In fact, I was so reassured by this news that Maija's crate went up on Monday night and in she went with her stuffed Kong to keep her occupied. Brilliant idea, I thought, to get her accustomed to sleeping in her crate before her brothers and sisters leave her all alone. Well, who knows, she might have been ok in there set up right next to the puppy pen but it didn't take long for the others to start howling and yapping. I gave it 20 minutes and went back down. Cleaned up the mess Maija had made in her new crate, shushed everyone, and went back to bed. I don't think I lasted 20 minutes the next time before sticking Maija back into the pen with the rest. Instant peace.

I guess Maija (and we) will just have to go cold turkey on Saturday night after the last of her siblings leave. I dread to think what cacophony she will come up with that night after getting me to run to her rescue TWICE on Monday night. **sigh** My only defense is that we have already had more than our fare share of puppy noise in this household. Not to mention our neighbours. Saturday night will be interesting, I'm sure.

Back to the 3 adventurers who have already left. I've had great reports about them all. They're very popular in their new homes and towns, needless to say. I hear they're getting plenty visitors to keep them occupied and on the road towards Ian Dunbar's recommended 100 strangers by 12 weeks old - or was that 200 strangers? Either way, it's not a difficult target to reach when you have a Lappy puppy.

For that matter, each of the pups must have met at least their first 10 on their trip up the high street with me before ever leaving home. There are not many people you pass who don't want to have a quick stroke. And if the high street is unusually quiet, there's always the pet shop and the post office. All great places for cuddles with complete strangers.

The last puppy to have his walk up the high street was Jaska today. I had to wait for a moment when Jay could come with me because the puppies are getting so big and heavy now. And Jaska, adorable little chunk that he is, is just too heavy for me to carry for very long. None of the puppies were overly worried by the noise and commotion of the high street. Maija fell asleep on the post office counter and Inko and Rauhan both had to withstand an enormous noisy lorry and roadworks. Of all the puppies, though, Jaska and Jaana were the least concerned. Jaska took it completely in his stride, not even wriggling when lorries drove past. Jaana didn't bat an eye when she was cuddled by Debbie, the owner of the pet shop, and she was most intrigued by Debbie's 2 parrots who kept calling out "bye bye!"

Until I have some more photos of puppies leaving home - or photos of puppies in their new homes - here are a couple of videos. The first was taken a couple of weeks ago when their ears were all still folded down and when we still had 9. The second was taken this morning.

Puppies, come!




Puppies, do shush, please!

road trip

The pups went for their eye tests yesterday and they are all fine. The test involves the nurse coming to the car to put drops in everyone's eyes to dilate the pupils then a few minutes later as many puppies as can be carried at once go into the vet's office and he looks in each eye using several different contraptions and lights. Then the big bill, of course. The puppies were all extremely well behaved and the surgery staff did much ooh-ing and aah-ing over them. Thanks again to Jo for her company on the drive and assistance in fetching and carrying puppies.

This was also the puppies' first car journey. They have all had a few minutes sitting in the parked car and a few minutes sitting in the parked car with the engine running, but this was the first time the car moved. Ideally the first journey should be short, ease them into it. But no, this is a 45-mile drive across Dartmoor to Tavistock taking about an hour, each way. There are only certain vets who are qualified to test under the BVA eye scheme, and the only other one in this part of the country is about 30 miles away in the other direction. However, I know and like the one in Tavistock, and it's a much nicer drive. For our trouble, we were rewarded with seeing a pony rolling around on her back in a field while 2 foals grazed nearby. Awwww...

The road is quite twisty in places, with too many roundabouts, which doesn't help. However, only 3 of the puppies were sick, and only 1 of them was sick going in both directions, so that's a good result. I think in the last litter, every single one of them vomited on this trip. So, I'm pleased with these guys. Once they were back in their garden pen, it was as if nothing had ever happened, so they clearly weren't too traumatised.

I didn't get a photo of them all tucked up in the car crate, but here are some of the attempts we have been making to get some pictures to submit for the 2009 SFLS calendar. You can see how difficult it is. Just to get something in focus is quite a feat! We persevere.


L-R: Sulo, Tarkka, Maija, Rauhan













Maija practicing flirting with Keskiyö
















Tarmo & Sulo:
















L-R: Rauhan, Sulo, Tarkka, Inko

character building

Late post today as I've been preoccupied with puppies-in-puppies-out all day long. Amazingly, at just short of 6 weeks old, these little 'uns are asking to go out for wees and poos. If I had a few extra arms & a few hours more energy, they'd be housetrained in days! As it is, I only get half of them out about half of the time. And, yes, it's still raining. Or should I say raining again. Much muddying of puppies. Much towelling dry of puppies. Much laundering of muddy towels. All good fun.

Their characters are developing nicely and their temperments are much more even than they were, say, 2 weeks ago. There is no clear dominant pup anymore (I can hear Jo breathing a sigh of relief from here). They are learning not to play so roughly with each other. Rather, they save their most ferocious biting for when I dare stick my fingers in the pen. Their favorite game is to see how many can hang off my sleeve by the teeth at once. There are still skirmishes that need to be broken up from time to time, but in the main everyone plays nicely.

The label of "noisy pup" of the litter has been passed from puppy to puppy over time. It seems to be a phase that each one goes through and then reverts back to a little whining for attention and only a little barking and growling in play.

The socialisation progresses. Each puppy is getting a trip down the park to the main road to get their first taste of traffic and the ooh-ing and aah-ing of strangers. They also get to sit in the car for a few minutes (no engine) and stay alone 5 mins inside and 5 mins outside. I try to make sure that each one gets one new experience everyday. Yes, I have a chart on which I keep track of who has done what so far!

Too bad I didn't take a film today when the puppies had their first taste of chicken. The reaction was "Man! You mean there is food like this!?" The crunchy puppy meal will never be the same. I missed that event, but here is a little video of how cute they are when you approach the pen. See how big they're getting?

puppy torture

I was chatting to Adam the other day & he asked me how things were going. "Fine," I said. "I'm busy torturing puppies." Being familiar with my somewhat twisted sense of humour, he laughed, knowing full well I would never dream of torturing any animal - especially puppies... would I?

As a matter of fact, I carry out a little gentle torture every day. It's important.

On that particular occasion I was engaged in the laborious process of worming and cutting nails. Ask any puppy and I'm pretty sure they'll tell you that both these chores fall firmly within the classification of torture. The good news is they get used to it. The bad news is it does take a while for this miracle to take place and in the meantime you must be FIRM FIRM FIRM and get your own way at any cost. Eventually the little darling realises the stiller he remains the quicker it will all be over.

At this age, worming consists of squirting through a syringe a thick white liquid into the pup's mouth. Once a day for 3 consecutive days every 3 weeks. I'm pretty sure it tastes disgusting. And if I wasn't already quite sure, then the puppies' reactions convince me once and for all. The trick is to get them to swallow it without spitting it out or, what's worse, shaking their heads frantically from side to side sending the sticky stuff flying all over me & the room. A hand gently placed over the face at this point is usually quite helpful. The puppy's face, not mine.

I also quickly follow the disgusting syringe with one full of lovely sweet Lactol. That appeases them nicely and they don't start screaming the next time they see a syringe. Hopefully.

By the time a puppy goes to its new home, he will be taking worming tablets. And that's a whole other ball game.

So far, these puppies are pretty good at having their claws trimmed each week. As I recall, their behaviour will get worse in this respect before it will get better. But, again, patience and perseverence is the key.

Then there's noise torture. Everyday I make sure the puppies are subjected to lots of different noise stimulation. First of all, there is the Crash Bang Wallop cd. Apparently it's been discontinued, which is a shame. I'm really glad I got mine before it was. It's 40 mins or so of everyday noises that can traditionally frighten animals who are not accustomed to them. Included in the repertoire are fireworks, thunder, people screaming, children playing, doorbells, doors slamming, etc. The idea is that you play this cd for the puppies starting with the volume very low then gradually building up the volume. I started using the cd when the pups moved downstairs and at the moment the volume has reached the level where Jay has yelled downstairs "Who's outside leaning on the car horn!?"

In addition to the cd, the puppies' pen is vacuumed around each day. They are still not too keen on this experience, but not overly traumatised either. Perhaps it helps that over the weekend the grass mower - a much scarier type of hoover-monster - was pushed around their outdoor pen. In comparison, the Dyson is a pussycat.

Then there are various things I think up to inflict upon them. Rattling a black bin bag over their heads, crashing things onto the floor, and into the sides of the pen. The point is not to terrify them, but to gently & gradually make them accustomed to lots of different experiences within a safe environment - i.e. in their pen with each other and Neka who, through her own calm, relaxed attitude, illustrates to them that it's ok.

It's all great stuff. If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times, all together now: along with feeding, the single most important thing you will do for your puppy is socialising him. There is no such thing as too much or too early. The work you put in those first few weeks will pay dividends for the rest of your dog's life. Fail to do the socialising at the best time and your dog will suffer as a result of it for the rest of his life. Yep, it's that important.

This week the pups have begun to go out and about meeting people. One at a time and safely tucked under my arm, of course. They're also getting acquainted with Lenny, the cat. He's a sweet boy who wants to be friends with everyone, so I know the pups are safe with him. The puppies, on the other hand, are not too sure about him yet. Especially when Lenny starts to purr.

Here is Jaska having a cuddle on my lap with Lenny. We tried to get a similar one of Jaana, but she wasn't in a cuddling mood so we'll have another go with her later.