We welcomed Luna to our home today. What a sweet girl she is and eager to learn!
When puppies are getting use to a new environment, it's important to let them explore on their own time. Some puppies take a little bit longer to get use to things or maybe the puppy is in a fear period (a normal developmental period where things can be a little scary to them) and pushing them or forcing them to investigate or meet someone or something can backfire. It's normal for some puppies to be a little timid at first. Luna was slightly timid but quickly warmed up and explored the area around her and all her new friends.
Before meeting the other dogs, I gave her a chance to play a little bit with Billings and get use to everything. They played well together. I always supervise puppies when they are playing so I can interrupt play when it gets too rough and no one gets hurt. It's also a great time to practice recalls (coming when called) and getting your puppy's attention during distracting situations. I don't let a puppy pin another puppy down or hover over the top of them for longer than a few seconds. When I pull the top puppy off, I pull her off to the side. You can tell if the other puppy was ok with it, they will usually move towards the puppy you have just pulled off. If they didn't like it, they will usually move away from that puppy. Regardless, you don't want the top puppy getting all full of herself so it's just good to interrupt even in the bottom puppy is having a good time.
Periodically throughout play I'm going to ask for my puppy's attention by saying her name. I'll say it only once. If she doesn't look at me, I'll use a smelly treat under her nose, clapping or other noises, movement, or tapping on her hip to get her attention. Lots and lots of praise when she does give me attention. If it's a really hard situation (lot of fun dogs to play with), I might even give her a treat or play with her. Not only does this help her focus on me throughout the play, but it also helps break up the play a bit so it doesn't get too intense.
We started practicing our recalls when there were few distractions in the area. The idea is to get her really excited about coming to me and it needs to really payoff for her. Coming when called can sometimes get you out of a really bad situation so it's one of the most important things you can teach your puppy (imagine if someone accidentally left the front door open and your puppy was heading for the road -- you REALLY want them to be able to turn on a dime and come to you full speed ahead). As she is coming towards me, I'm going to praise her the whole way and, once she gets to me, I'm going to give her one right after the other of tiny pieces of a really tasty treat.
Now time to meet the other dogs. First up is Thistle. Luna was a little timid at first but it didn't take long for her to warm up. I let her do this on her own time.
Thistle is usually the first dog I bring out to meet new dogs. She is a retired breeder for the service dog program and she LOVES puppies. She is also really good at reading other dogs and diffusing tense situations. The puppies tend to warm up to her pretty quickly...she's such a mom.
Next up was Healey. She's my older girl who is sweet but sets firm boundaries with the puppies. It's always nice to have an adult who will do that without over correcting the puppy. Sometimes puppies will listen so much better to an adult dog than a human when trying to teach the puppy proper manners.
Sinbad was the next dog to meet. By then, she was very relaxed and had no problem meeting a new dog. Sinbad tends to be a little more boisterous and vocal (but very sweet) so he's usually my last one to meet a new dog. She was fine with his playful nature and not at all overwhelmed.
After a long time of trying to get her to do her business, I finally took her over to the grass (well, weeds...it's been a busy summer, what can I say?). She immediately went to the bathroom when cued. This is very normal for puppies if they get use to one particular surface. Dogs don't generalize well meaning that if they learn something in one place, it doesn't necessarily mean they know it in another place. They also get use to certain surfaces and need to be introduced to other surfaces. Some people think it's ok if their dog will only go to the bathroom on grass. But what would you do if you were traveling and there was no grass available? Now is the perfect time to introduce her to other surfaces to do her business on like gravel, concrete, wood chips, dirt, etc. We'll start out tomorrow morning to try to get her to go to the bathroom on the wood chips. It's sometimes much easier to "wait them out" in the morning on a new surface because they are not as able to hold it.
Oh, and we did nails today. She was excellent at having her nails done and with me handling her feet. This is normally not a natural thing for a dog as they do not like to have their feet handled. So, either she is a natural at it or her family has done an awesome job of handling her from the get go. It's helpful to trim the nails once a week or once every other week (if their nails grow slowly).
All in all it was an exhausting day! She had a good time and she worked hard. I think she's going to enjoy her little summer camp.
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