8 September: Busy, busy, busy

We have been very busy in the past few days trying to do as much as possible with the puppies we have left.

Doughnut left on Sunday morning. It took him 8 hours to get to his new home up in Scotland. The journey was especially long as his owners saw the motorway being closed pretty much in front of them. Apparently though, Doughnut was a big hit with all the stuck motorists. I have to stop calling him Doughnut as he now goes by the name of Jago (pronounce Yago), just like his blonde brother.

After his departure, we went to a local heavy horse show, taking Ranger (red collar) with us. He got to meet horses and chickens, and was obviously made a fuss by so many people and their children. We did not stay very long, but he was tired when we got back home. Later in the afternoon, as the horses are finally back in the field across the road, I took Jago (the blonde one this time), to see them. He also had his first experience of the lead at the same time and he was very good. He saw the horses up close and seemed to wonder what they were, but was his usual happy self.

Next day, at lunchtime, it was Ruben (blue collar) and Pink turns to have their first lead experience and to go and meet the horses. Unfortunately, the horses did not come to the gate, but the puppies were at least able to get used to their smell.

Pink was picked up by her new owner in the afternoon. So I took the last 3 puppies with me in the car when going to agility with Scamp. They were made a fuss by everybody. That was not the end of their day though as I was then attending an admin night with a search & rescue unit at the TA Center in Maidstone. Again, they got a fuss by everybody. Their sister Sky was there too and had a nap with them in my car while we had our meeting. Then they had another experience on the lead in the car park, one by one, and as Jago is my star pupil on the lead, we walked up to the center where he then was let loose inside amongst everybody. He had a great time. As you can imagine, that was 3 tired pups I drove back home.

I am now about to take one to Sevenoaks town center, I just need to decide which one...

I hope you are all having fun with yours, being busy, busy, busy introducing them to many different people, animals and situations.

Are you planning to join us on Sunday at Paws in the Park for an informal Spicemill meeting? We will bring Ranger, blonde Jago and Ruben if he has not gone yet. There will also be Sky and Pink. A few people with dogs from the previous litter will try to come too. It's a great show with a lot going on and Venka will be involved in the search & rescue demos, one around lunchtime and one in the afternoon.

11 August: Big pups news

The puppies are now over 5 weeks and still doing well. We got a bit worried because they had diarrhea last week. Luckily, it lasted only a day, any longer and we would have called the vet. You can't take any chances with young puppies

They have had countless visitors, both adults and children. They have also met a number of dogs. Scamp of course, but also Shelly, our neighbour rough collie, and Bryn, a border collie from our search unit. As expected, they take it all in their stride.

They now spend a lot of time in the garden, where they can run around and play. They have been introduced to various equipment. Most of them have now conquered the ramp leading to the kennel, a few are still at a learning stage. I will also be putting a small ball pool for them this week.

As I am writing this, half of them are in the indoor pen and I am playing them from the computer a CD of recorded sounds. There are fireworks, gunshots, engines, etc. Mum Venka, who is not noise sensitive, is also in the room. The puppies have not reacted at all, actually, I think they've all fallen asleep! And Venka too! I'll be slowly increasing the volume in the next few days.

Next week, I am planning to start carrying them in the street so they see cars passing by and discover new smell and noises. If they are not phased by it and I find the time, I'll probably push to Westerham village center and to the nearby field where horses graze, at least with the pups leaving us at 7 weeks. I cannot say enough how important it is that owners carry on this socialisation work with your pup once you have it. Discovering its new place will obviously already be quite an experience for your pup, but we feel that it is essential that pups under 12 weeks get exposed in a positive manner to a wide range of sights, sounds, smells and stimuli. It will help them grow into happy and confident adults.