01/30/13

Puppies 2012 – The Ninth Week and Beyond

Just because the puppies have left our homes doesn’t mean that we’re no longer involved in their new lives! We are always available to our puppy buyers to help them with any problems they may have, or just offer advice. We have had puppy buyers contact us with vaccination queries, toilet training advice, feeding advice, and just to share lovely stories about their puppies. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

“Douglas” (was “Jakkalberry”) the sleepy cowboy puppy.

“Boomer” kept his name in his new home.

Continue reading →

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!

01/14/13

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 →

01/7/13

Puppies – The Sixth Week

This would normally be the week where the puppies socialise heaps, but unfortunately it was very hot, and we didn’t get the puppies out anywhere near as much as we’d like to.

While up until now the puppies had been confined to a pen outside, they started to have greater access to the backyard during the last week.

On the 13th of December I took both Kelinni and Boomer out, and they each met about 20 people each.

On the 16th of December, we had a somewhat different socialisation experience. My partner volunteers for the State Emergency Service and they were having a Christmas lunch in a park. In lieu of carrying puppies in the park for several hours, we brought a puppy pen and had the puppies on the ground – something that we never do! However, I think the risks of parvo were minimal: We placed the puppies on a tarp, so they didn’t have direct contact with the soil, the park is in a medium-high socio economic area where most people would vaccinate their dogs, the Christmas lunch was deep in the park, and because you have pay to drive to get your car in, there’s probably less people that attend this part of the park with their dogs.

The puppy pen set up. We chose to sit back from the rest of the group in respect for non-puppy-lovers.

The socialisation opportunities were huge – and actually bigger than I expected. I actually just thought there would be a bunch of men at the Christmas function, and I really wanted more socialisation with my puppies to men. But it turns out there where heaps of kids there, too! So it was very much worth attending. Continue reading →

01/1/13

Puppies – The Fifth Week

In the fifth week, the puppies started to consistently be social and approach people. They started interacting with Benjiman the cat (much to Benjiman’s disgust). They had their nails trimmed again. Most days, they spend the morning and the evening outside for a couple of hours. It has been very hot, so they haven’t been able to spend a lot of time outside.

The puppies have this small outside area with a sheet over the top of their pen, to prevent predation by birds of prey. (Chip visiting puppies on the outside.)