We’re Back!
I Know it’s been a couple of weeks since my last blog. It has been busy here, I was also not well for part of the time, and my hands were too stiff for much typing. But Nutmeg still got what she needed! The weather got MUCH colder and it snowed so most of our play time has been in the kitchen. We got three of these octopuses in a package from Amazon… which was a good thing, because they have been a big hit with the entire family!!! Ducky, in particular, absolutely loves them, and wants to carry them up to bed with him!
There has still been some outdoor play in the snow, when the weather was not TOO cold. So it’s a good thing that Nutmeg got her nice warm coats!
We also had a fun play date with a friend and her new Brussels Griffon puppy. Queenie is a few weeks older than Nutmeg, but they were very well matched in play style and they had a wonderful time together! <video here>
We have to catch you up a lot on our training…
We have continued working on loose leash walking, first without the leash, and for more on that, please feel free to visit my YouTube channel for video, both of Nutmeg and my litters. you want your puppy to follow along with you without the leash, using lots of cookies, before you ever attach the leash. the leash is not for pulling the puppy in the direction in which you want her to go. work first in a small distraction-free environment, and for only a very short distance. Your kitchen can work fine. Then expand your horizons to the back yard or the porch, and then the driveway. When the puppy is staying with you happily in these places, it is time to think about adding the leash!
Then two weeks ago, Nutmeg had her first experience with the leash at school. Of course, the goal is that the puppy really should not really have any different experience with or without the leash. The leash should only be there as a “safety tool”. My goal in this video was to keep Nutmeg from going to visit Esther! <Video here>. She had not even had a collar on until this day, and everything was “itchy” and new. But she did a good job! You can see that she had enough experience staying with me that this was what she wanted to do.
In the two weeks in between, we noodled around in the kitchen a bit a couple of times on a show lead, still making sure that the lead stayed loose at all times. But she did not go to class last week because I wasn’t feeling well. Here she was yesterday, doing her loose leash walking and also hopping up on the Cato Boards. (something else she had never seen) <video here>
I think it is important to point out that not every puppy will be as fearless and forward as Nutmeg is. In the case of a puppy who worries about things more, it is important to take things at their pace. Don’t rush them or push them into situations that they aren’t comfortable with. Every puppy develops at their own pace. There is no rush, and it is not a competition!
Now that the Little Miss has acquired all her baby teeth, she has turned into a land shark. Or a beaver. I’m not sure. She is either attached to a piece of flesh, a pant leg or a piece of furniture. we are doing our best to discourage the eating of humans. For the furniture and woodwork, clear hot sauce from Amazon, “Frostbite”, is our “go-to”. I know some people say Bitter Apple sprays works for them. It has never worked for my puppies! My puppies laugh in the face of Bitter Apple!!!
We have continued to get her out on road trips as often as possible, and she charms people everywhere we go. It is really important with young puppies that you expose them to men, particularly men in hats, since that tends to be something many dogs find scary later in life. At least that has not been hard to accomplish in the current weather!
We had to replace our range hood microwave last week, and took Nutmeg with us to Best Buy. (Did you know that Best Buy is pet friendly? They are!) She tried to get us a discount, but the salesman wasn’t falling for it!
One tip for taking little puppies out in this very cold weather. Get yourself a Snuggle Safe microwaveable heating disk. These are meant for litters, but work just as well under the crate pad for an older puppy in a cold car. They stay warm for a REALLY long time (up to 10 hours). I like soft sided carriers for young Havanese puppies. You can put the puppy in the carrier in the house and carry them out to the car and buckle it into the back seat. There are lots of brands available, but I bought my Sherpa to bring Kodi home over 15 years ago, and it is still in great condition. So I can vouch for the quality of that brand! When they get older, Ruffland Kennels are a great option.
“C’mon, Dad! Let’s go buy somethin’!”
We have been continuing our stacking practice, both on the table and JUST starting on the floor, though I don’t have either photos or video of that yet. I included video of her table work in the last blog. She is STARTING to let me open her mouth to “show the bite”. Briefly. VERY briefly! That still needs LOTS of work! At this point it is just a matter of gently messing with her mouth, popping a treat in and telling her she is wonderful. I can tell it is working because she is becoming less resistant.
Many show people and breeders like to start their puppies in “Beginner Puppy” or “B-Pup” classes. These are classes for puppies between 4-6 months of age and meant to introduce them to the show ring. There are no points toward their championship, so it is just for fun and exposure, though some people take it pretty seriously. For me, it totally depends on the puppy. If the puppy is very out-going, confident about strangers handling them on the table, and happy about having their “bite” shown, I think it’s fine. But we’ll see if Nutmeg is ready for that or not. It’s fine with me if she starts at 6 months!
After a rocky start we have been making good progress on potty training. Over the past few days, she has pretty reliably been finding the potty tray when she is loose in the kitchen and she needs to pee. I need to keep my eye on her when she is making noises (and she makes a LOT of noises) when she needs to poop. She does need to be escorted to a tray to poop. But I almost feel like whatever her internal “turmoil” is that makes her vocalize so much may also make it hard for her to think of anything else at that moment. So I will continue to help her as she matures some more. At least her signs make it easy to tell what’s going on!
She is doing a great job learning to settle in her pens at home in her pen in the kitchen, she will fuss a bit when I put her in there, but as long as I am either working in the kitchen or in the family room, where she can see me, she settles and either plays by herself or goes to sleep. If I need to work in my office, she is really very good about knowing that when I turn my back to that pen to work on my computer, I am “out of service” and she is on her own. I can get a good two hours of work done if she has had a good play/work session before I put her in that pen.
<sigh> “I’m on ignore. I guess I’ll take a nap!”
And she continues to do great in her crate at night. She now remains quiet even while I get up and take a shower in the morning, knowing that this is part of the morning routine before we all go downstairs together!
I am going to pop in a question now and then that I have received that I think may be helpful to you too. Sandi Kubler, Nutmeg’s breeder, asked me what I use for training treats for puppies.
For really tiny puppies that don’t have many teeth yet, I’m a fan of rolled Fresh Pet. It’s messy, but soft and fragrant. You can cut it into small cubes and little puppies love it! Once they get enough teeth that they can chew, I use the same foods I use for my adult dogs. I just cut them smaller. I use mostly roasted real meats. Pork loin is a favorite because it is so easy to cut into small cubes with no crumbling, but steak or roast beef works too. Chicken, while the dogs love it, can get really messy. There are a couple of commercial rolled foods available now that work well. My favorite is Happy Howie’s . It comes in beef, turkey and lamb. I stick to the beef and turkey, because the lamb tends to crumble when you cube it. Lucy Meat Rolls is another brand, and that brand comes in beef and chicken. It doesn’t cube quite as nicely as Happy Howie’s, but it’s not bad, and is a nice change for the dogs. The pelleted Fresh Pet small dog foods are a great option. Just make sure you pick one of the ones that doesn’t have tons of little shredded pieces that you need to pick out. Finally, a really nice option is to go to the deli counter and ask for a really thick slice (like 1/2”) of London Broil or no salt turkey. At home, cut the meat into small cubes, then cook them in the microwave, between paper towels, for a minute or so, to dry them out somewhat. This makes a ton of economical and VERY high value training treats! Last are Finley’s Training Bites. They come in several flavors. They are already quite small, but each piece can easily be broken into three TINY pieces perfect for the tiniest pieces. I linked them on Amazon, but you can also often find them in Home Goods. And when they have them, they are cheaper there.
A lot of people with larger dogs use a lot of cheese. With our little ones, puppies or adults, I avoid using this too often, because of the fat in cheese and the frequency of small dogs getting pancreatitis. My dogs have never had this, but it’s not something I want to experience!
