01/20/13

Puppies 2012 – The Eighth Week

Jakkalberry, one day shy of 8 weeks old.

This was another stinking hot week and we, again, didn’t get out as much as we wanted to. We did, however, manage to take all six puppies to a shopping centre for the Boxing Day Sales which was excellent. We saw so many different nationalities at these sales that it was well worth the excursion. It was a big day, and it was reassuring that some of the puppies were relaxed enough to sleep in this busy environment.

We also took the puppies out to another shopping strip during the week where we had to fight out way through crowds, which was also a good experience for them.

We managed to get everyone happy and relaxed in their crate to sleep through the night this week. The only puppy that was a bit exceptional was Kelinni, who objected to being crated in the puppy area but was quiet next to our bed. Not only did this upset the other puppies, to hear Kelinni crying, but it also made me worry that Kelinni would get into the habit of making noise in her crate. Because of this, we compromised and had Kelinni next to our bed (in a crate) at night. Her new home was happy to continue to have her sleep like this, and I suggested they move her crate out of the bedroom over time if they want her to sleep somewhere else.

Apart from Kelinni, all puppies were sleeping through the nights in their crate quietly, and by themselves. Success!

And then, just as I had got them to be pretty good little dogs, it was time for them to go!

Daisy, dreaming of her new home.

Our puppies come with quite a puppy pack, and I had these all ready for them to go when their puppies were collected. They also go with a crate to sleep in in their new home, and lots of other bits and pieces, of course.

Puppy packs, ready to go!

Alfalfa went to a home to be ‘co-parented’ by a mum and adult son team. Man and Jakkalberry went to homes with young children, with the whole family much anticipating their arrival. Kelinni went to a young child-less couple and will get the opportunity to dabble in showing and sports. Daisy went to a home with young kids to join another border terrier and be involved in working on the farm, dog sports, and maybe showing as well. Finally, Boomer went to a family of triathletes! So he gets to lead a busy life running, swimming and everything else.

At home, we’re just happy to take a breath and be puppyless for a few months before we get around to doing it all again!

01/18/13

How to Stop Puppy Biting

Puppy biting and mouthing is a natural and normal way for puppies to explore their world. However, using their mouths on people is inappropriate, and something we need to train puppies out of. This especially important for households with young children.

Puppy biting is an issue that needs to be addressed through training. It cannot be left and hope the puppy ‘grows out of it’. You need to provide training and guidance.

Here’s a few pointers to help you begin to decrease mouthing behaviour in your puppy and train appropriate interactions for adulthood.

Continue reading →

01/16/13

The Week in Tweets – 16th January

Each week, we summarise the tweets from my Twitter account, so anyone who’s not on Twitter can still have access to all these great resources. It’s a huge list, so make sure you get yourself a coffee and a seat for an hour so you can really enjoy all this content.
But before we get started, happy birthday to my Mac who turned 11 today!

Photo of Mac from a month ago.

The Tweet of the Week

When I re-home dogs, I find it really hard to not just ‘information dump’ on new owners. I have so much to tell them, it’s hard to choose the most important bits – but it’s important that I do, otherwise there is the chance of the new owner becoming ‘overwhelmed’ and just ignoring everything. Patricia McConnell (who writes the blog “The Other End of the Leash“, as well as a number of dog training books) has written a post on “The 3 Most Important Things to Say to Adopters About Their New Dog“. It really made me reconsider what I need to do when homing dogs, and also gave me some reassurance in what I’m currently doing. A good read with good advice, and I had no hesitation making it my tweet of the week.

Continue reading →

01/14/13

Puppies – The Seventh Week

I put a step stool in the pen to change a lightbulb. Daisy immediately took herself upon this step, and sat, appreciating the view.

This is the week where I went, “I have only two weeks to get them sleeping in a crate at night!” and started crate training in earnest.

It was very hard with 6 puppies to do the kind of concentrated effort I normally do. When I have 2-3 puppies, it’s easy to get them into their crates with food, lock the door, and then soon after open the door again. With six, by the time I’ve fed the last one, the first one is crying to get out. Not what I aim for.

So, instead, I decided to test all the puppies with 5 minutes in a crate (on the 19th of December) to determine who would need the ‘most work’ and who was going to be easy. This was just because I had a big litter and, unfortunately, had to prioritise to get things done! Continue reading →

01/12/13

DO SOMETHING! Make a submission!

Currently, the South Australian government is seeking submissions on companion animal welfare (specifically dogs and cats). That is, they want to know what legislation could be introduced to improve animal welfare and reduce euthanasia in shelters.

You need to act before the 16th of January 2013.

You can find more details on the submission process on the Parliament of SA website.

Below, I am providing both a summary of my submission, and the body of my submission, too. Though I welcome individuals to write a submission and use mine for inspiration, I hope that you add your own personal touches to the submission, and don’t just take mine ‘word for word’. (Though I personally don’t have a problem if you do – it’s just less powerful if you do!)

If you’d like to download the submission, you easily can: download selectcommittee.pdf

Update as of 16th January: This is the submission I actually made: In Response to the Terms of Reference

Otherwise, below is the document practically copied and pasted into this blog entry: Continue reading →