This is Cai, Ring, Mama's Boy and TJ, our four remaining puppies outside playing. They were a little distracted by each other and the chickens for their photo shoots below so we decided to try to get some video of all that energy.
Mama's Boy is the brown one. Cai is the first to leave his brothers to romp with The Science Mouse and TJ is the second to join in. Ring is the third black pup.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
TJ at Seven Weeks
TJ found a wonderful home with a family in town. They have been talking about a dog for some time and we are looking forward to hearing occasional updates when we go into town for errands!
Ring, Kai and Mama's Boy are still available.
This is TJ, the last puppy born. He is a little more reserved, and watches what is going on a little before joining in the fun, but is alert and curious. He loves the rope bone, too, especially if Ring already has it. In fact, his favorite toys in general are whichever ones someone else is playing with.
The puppies will be ready to go on December 21, 2011 and will have had two rounds of dewormer and be current on vaccinations. For more about how we are raising our puppies, see our post on Training Our Puppies.
Ring, Kai and Mama's Boy are still available.
This is TJ, the last puppy born. He is a little more reserved, and watches what is going on a little before joining in the fun, but is alert and curious. He loves the rope bone, too, especially if Ring already has it. In fact, his favorite toys in general are whichever ones someone else is playing with.
The puppies will be ready to go on December 21, 2011 and will have had two rounds of dewormer and be current on vaccinations. For more about how we are raising our puppies, see our post on Training Our Puppies.
Ring at Seven Weeks
This is Ring, a very loving and curious puppy. He is a little more laid back than Kai and Mama's Boy, and is more likely to crawl to you on his tummy or roll over at your feet than jump all over you. He does, however, love pouncing on feet and tugging on shoelaces. He loves his rope bone and this can be a good distraction to work with him on leaving shoes alone.
The puppies will be ready to go on December 21, 2011 and will have had two rounds of dewormer and be current on vaccinations. For more about how we are raising our puppies, see our post on Training Our Puppies.
The puppies will be ready to go on December 21, 2011 and will have had two rounds of dewormer and be current on vaccinations. For more about how we are raising our puppies, see our post on Training Our Puppies.
Mama's Boy at Seven Weeks
This is Mama's Boy, the most confident of our remaining puppies. He is the first to lose his shyness in a new situation and begin exploring. He is also very confident around the chickens when He decides to try to herd them. He loves children and loves tagging along with anyone who is doing something interesting.
The puppies will be ready to go on December 21, 2011 and will have had two rounds of dewormer and be current on vaccinations. For more about how we are raising our puppies, see our post on Training Our Puppies.
The puppies will be ready to go on December 21, 2011 and will have had two rounds of dewormer and be current on vaccinations. For more about how we are raising our puppies, see our post on Training Our Puppies.
Kai at seven weeks
This is Kai. He is one of the most people-oriented of the litter and is generally the first of those remaining to respond when called. He was my son's favorite and has therefore had a lot of interaction with children. He was the largest at birth, and though the others are beginning to gain on him, he may be a larger dog when grown.
The puppies will be ready to go on December 21, 2011 and will have had two rounds of dewormer and be current on vaccinations. For more about how we are raising our puppies, see our post on Training Our Puppies.
The puppies will be ready to go on December 21, 2011 and will have had two rounds of dewormer and be current on vaccinations. For more about how we are raising our puppies, see our post on Training Our Puppies.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Training our English Shepherd cross puppies
According to the Rule of Sevens, by the time a puppy is seven weeks old, it should have:
- Been on 7 different types of surfaces
- Played with 7 different types of objects
- Been in 7 different locations
- Met and played with 7 new people
- Been exposed to 7 challenges
- Eaten from 7 different containers
- Eaten in 7 different locations
Surfaces: Concrete, grass, pine bedding, blanket, hardwood, laminiate, plastic, blanket, leather, carpeted mat
Toys: Rope tug toys, herding ball, tennis ball, sticks, fabric toys
Different locations: Whelping area, fenced area, front yard, backyard, barn, poultry yard, front room, kitchen, laundry room, porch, garage (Next week, they will be making their first field trip off our property to the park)
New people: Neighbor boy, friends of our family with four young children, my parents.
Challenges: Stairs, slide, wooden platform, uneven/wobbly surfaces, getting around a fence, going down a ramp, hide and seek, herding chickens
Eaten from: metal dog dish, porcelain, plastic, frying pan, concrete
Fed: In their whelping area, in their play yard, in the kitchen, in the garage, on the patio
Additionally: They have been introduced to 6 dogs other than their mother, our cat, a calf, our rabbit, chickens and ducks.
Our puppies are confident, curious and beginning to express their herding instincts when they are out with the poultry. They have a potty area they use most of the time. They prefer going outside and have a large wading pool with dirt and pine bedding to use at night. They generally go in it or right next to the door overnight. They are still young and not capable of holding it very long, but this should provide a good basis for continued housebreaking.
They also enjoy accompanying us for chores. They generally follow us wherever we go in a tumbling, wrestling little puppy pack. They enjoy practicing herding the poultry, but are quick to come when called.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Pippi Longstocking and Daddy's Girl
Pippi and Daddy's Girl are the two girls from the litter. This is Daddy's Girl who looks just like her father, Luke.
Her tail is normal length.
These are English Shepherd/Australian Shepherd crosses. They were born in our house and have had daily interaction with us. They were whelped in a small room in our basement with access to the outside. They have a blanket under a heat lamp to sleep on and a wading pool with dirt in their room and during the day we leave the back door open where they have access to a small fenced in area. They prefer doing their "business" either in the dirt in their wading pool or in the grass outside which should give them a good headstart on housebreaking when they move to their new home.
They are used to children, our dogs, our cats and are being introduced to our poultry so they learn from early on that chickens are part of the family and to be protected rather than chased. They've also been taken down to the barn to play near the calf's stall so they are accustomed to the scent and the sounds of him.
Both parents are good farm dogs, alerting us to anything that comes on the property but they are otherwise quiet dogs, not prone to excessive barking. If they bark, we know that something is wrong. Generally, either the coyotes are active close to our property or the calf has escaped. Being herding dogs, they have been easy to train and actually work to try to understand what you want from them. My daughter has worked a lot with Faithfull for 4-H. We have not had Luke for very long, but he went to the State Fair in Faithfull's place when she went into heat and earned a purple ribbon.
Both parents have natural herding instincts. Faithfull (the English Shepherd mom) is a little more intense, keeping the stock and the other dogs in line. She recently earned her AKC Canine Good Citizenship certificate, and has earned champion ribbons in 4H for Showmanship, Tricks and Agility as well as a blue ribbon for Obedience.
Luke was dumped not far from where we live and we ended up taking him after neighbors couldn't locate an owner. He has been a wonderful companion to the children. In fact, we initially decided to keep him because he adopted my son and didn't bother the chickens. He tends to ignore the poultry and calf unless they leave the property. When the calf has escaped, he has alerted us and kept him from leaving the property. As soon as the calf is back where he belongs, Luke goes back to napping on the porch.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask here in the comments or email me at thesciencemouse AT gmail DOT com.
She is a tricolor, with white and fawn markings. She also has a naturally docked tail that is quite short.
This is Pippi Longstocking, so named for the long, white "stockings" on her legs.
Her tail is normal length.
These are English Shepherd/Australian Shepherd crosses. They were born in our house and have had daily interaction with us. They were whelped in a small room in our basement with access to the outside. They have a blanket under a heat lamp to sleep on and a wading pool with dirt in their room and during the day we leave the back door open where they have access to a small fenced in area. They prefer doing their "business" either in the dirt in their wading pool or in the grass outside which should give them a good headstart on housebreaking when they move to their new home.
They are used to children, our dogs, our cats and are being introduced to our poultry so they learn from early on that chickens are part of the family and to be protected rather than chased. They've also been taken down to the barn to play near the calf's stall so they are accustomed to the scent and the sounds of him.
Both parents are good farm dogs, alerting us to anything that comes on the property but they are otherwise quiet dogs, not prone to excessive barking. If they bark, we know that something is wrong. Generally, either the coyotes are active close to our property or the calf has escaped. Being herding dogs, they have been easy to train and actually work to try to understand what you want from them. My daughter has worked a lot with Faithfull for 4-H. We have not had Luke for very long, but he went to the State Fair in Faithfull's place when she went into heat and earned a purple ribbon.
Both parents have natural herding instincts. Faithfull (the English Shepherd mom) is a little more intense, keeping the stock and the other dogs in line. She recently earned her AKC Canine Good Citizenship certificate, and has earned champion ribbons in 4H for Showmanship, Tricks and Agility as well as a blue ribbon for Obedience.
Luke was dumped not far from where we live and we ended up taking him after neighbors couldn't locate an owner. He has been a wonderful companion to the children. In fact, we initially decided to keep him because he adopted my son and didn't bother the chickens. He tends to ignore the poultry and calf unless they leave the property. When the calf has escaped, he has alerted us and kept him from leaving the property. As soon as the calf is back where he belongs, Luke goes back to napping on the porch.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask here in the comments or email me at thesciencemouse AT gmail DOT com.
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