How I Raise My Puppies
First Time Alone, with Stranger, With Toys
To help you compare this first testing of drives with how the pups developed, I include the summary of who went where for what after the notes on each litter.
I illustrated four other litters, including the latest (NN).
This is one of the litters from which I kept a pup so you can, if you desire, follow how they grew up and, eventually, produce and compete.
Also see the temperament test results. My SAR friends were unable to come test this litter so Suzan incorporated the SAR tests into her police/narcotics test.
GG Litter (Lively bred to Chaos, session done at 36 days)
My friend, Sydni, came from Billings to help me with photos. It was so funny to see them know what we’re going to do and race up to the puppy yard fence to volunteer to come in the house, although as the day heated up they began to sprawl on the cool ground and just wake up when I picked them up for their turn.
All of the pups were ready to play as soon as we put them down in the photograph area. Very few did much visiting with the stranger, although several played a bit and then decided to visit some with Sydni before resuming play. That included Miss Yellow, Mr. Red, Miss Pink, Mr. Green and Miss Purple. Miss Gold was really funny. I bring each pup in, weigh it and then have Sydni hold it while I cut toenails. I just can’t do that by myself easily with bifocals any more. The pups have never met her before but Miss Gold was thrilled to be held by her and nearly beat her to death with her tail. When she stopped playing to visit with her it was the same thing, tail wagging like she’d known her all her life, giving lots of kisses. She had nice deep bites on all the toys and retrieved several to Sydni.
I’d say she was the star of today’s photography session. I have new toys for them each week and today I had one very fragile ball that squeaks and evidently puffs out air when puffed. The pups’ reactions to it were hilarious. Some were very put off by the toy; we think because of the air puffs. Most treated it like something that might bite, leaping back if it rolled towards them or if they touched it with nose or paw. Eventually they would roll it around, but Miss Gold’s was much more dominant: she pounced on it; squished it, grabbed it and retrieved it proudly several times to Sydni.
Miss Gold
Miss Pink also “killed” it after a protracted battle. She & Mr. Green vocalized a lot while attacking that same toy, growling and barking at it. We laughed and laughed.
Miss Pink
Mr. Green
Another thing that brought a lot of laughter was their attempts to pick up the tennis ball. Only a couple managed to pick it up–mostly when it lodged against another toy, and the others doggedly followed it around, getting frustrated that it rolled away when they tried to put their mouths on it. Miss Gold was one of the few successful ones.
Miss Purple was another exception; she seemed to have no trouble picking it up and repeatedly retrieved it to Sydni. That’s a pretty big bite for these little guys. She also retrieved other toys and gave them to Sydni. Like last week, when she tired out she crawled in Sydni’s lap and prepared to snooze.
Miss Purple
Miss Yellow was particularly irritated at the silly ball. Miss Yellow played and then kept trying to leave. I finally let her go and she headed for a cool place under my deacon’s bench and spread out for a nap.
Miss Yellow
We didn’t get a lot of Mr. Blue, Mr. Red and Mr. Multi because they kept coming bounding to me if I shifted my feet or said anything. They were very determined about it, bouncing happily towards me, so when they kept doing it we gave up. I was just more interesting than the toys.
Mr. Blue showed a little interest in the toys but not a lot – still a big improvement over last week.
Mr. Blue
Mr. Red hit the ground playing and energetically shook and “killed” several of the toys, but then he saw me and kept trying to bring me the toys.
Mr. Red
Mr. Multi immediately “killed” the squeaky ball and looked at others. He was the only one to notice, and then pick up and carry, a hard plastic ball. However, he was extremely conscious of me and kept trying to bring me the toys, and then just kept trying to leave Sydni, no matter how enticing she tried to be, and come to me.
Mr. Multi
Speaking of dominating toys, we saw a lot of that today. Most of the pups had nice deep bites and also put a lot of their body on the toys to “subdue” them, plus shaking them to “kill” them. They do that too fast for the flash to catch them so we’ll have to wait for a playtime outside when they’re doing it before I can get some photos.
We tried taking photos afterwards of them playing in the yard after the individual sessions but it was 2:30 and quite hot; the pups just crashed after some mild play. Miss Yellow played quite a bit. Miss Gold visited again with Sydni, eventually finding a place to cuddle and rest her head on Sydni’s foot.
Miss Pink (Soleil) went to Nebraska with an experienced handler for serious obedience, agility and tracking competition. She ended up doing Search & Rescue plus breeding. I kept Miss Gold (GloryToo) for nosework and tracking competition and breeding. Mr. Blue went to Montana as a pet and ended up being a service dog for his injured owner. Mr. Green stayed in Sheridan for agility, obedience and tracking training/competition and to be a therapy dog, then moved to PA with his family when they retired. Miss Purple went to South Dakota and has done a lot of training, but her owner’s health problems prevented competition. Mr. Red went to South Dakota as a pet and for fun training. Miss Yellow went to Iowa as a pet.
to First Time Alone, ii litter (I kept Spirit from this litter)
to First Time Alone, JJ litter (Soleil, from the GG litter, is the mother of the JJ litter.
to First Time Alone, LL litter (GloryToo, from the GG litter, is the mother of the LL litter)
to First Time Alone, NN litter (GloryToo, from the GG litter, is the mother of the NN litter)
back to How I Raise My Puppies 4: Fifth & Sixth Weeks