BRIARFIELD PUPPIES

Visit from Jill

2012-01-21T07:12:00.000-08:00

Recently we had the pleasure to keep Jill (formerly B&W girl) with us for 2 weeks. What a fun young girl. TONS of bird drive, and well behaved in the house too! She has been hunting wild grouse with her owner, learning the game, and doing great. So when her owner came to pick her up, SO we decided to try a pheasant track, in the NAVHDA style, to see how she would do. So much natural instinct! She was "rarin" to go at the start point and took off tracking the exact path, cutting into the cover at the exact spot, locating the "wounded" pheasant easily, chasing it down for the retrieve. While she did carry it around a bit too long being overly proud, when she did finsally come back, she delived to hand and the pheasant with still alive and well. NO hard mouth! Just a get the job done kind of dog.
Thank you to her owner for sharing her with us.

Collar Conditioning

2011-11-13T07:59:00.000-08:00

Scout is old enough to begin collar conditioning. I usually wait until I have a few defiant moments on the "here" command. Scout has been fairly good about staying with me and listening, but it's time to move forward. He is showing just enough hesitation on the voice command only that I have something to work with.

Scout has also already had a bark collar on a bit to help correct some issues with our two cats. So wearing a collar is not new to him. This takes out the step that I usually put on the collar and let young dogs wear it around for a few hours a few days in a row. Make sure you tighten it correctly so they become familiar with the feeling, but leave the collar off for these first days.

Also I accustom the dogs to pulling around a Check Cord. Scout isn't ranging enough for me to have used it much, so we spent a few days letting him pull it around anyway. Once he is not tripping over it and ignores it mostly we can begin the collar conditioning. I also review here with a CC tug a few times, reminding him of the pressure from the collar location.

Same as before, we just take a walk with the CC on and the E-collar on the dog as before but turned on. I carry treats for this and set the collar to the lowest level. On my TT sport model it's 1/2 setting. Shock yourself with that setting - and see what you are using I always test the lowest few settings on a collar on my hand.

Keep the the CC close when you are about to command "here." Make sure your controller is set correctly and that you can either step on or grab the CC with 1 hand. Command "here" and reward with a treat if they come back. If not, grab the CC with one hand, repeat the here command loudly but not angrily... and correct with the collar on the very lowest setting while you gently tug the CC. When conditioning I will repeat the command encouragingly and even go back to bending down. Normally repeating the command is not good, but right now I am trying to give them LOTS of cues for understanding and complying. I pulse the correction for about a half second each time, and call "here" with a tug on the CC each time. AS SOON as they start to return, I start praising and pull them in with the CC if needed to keep them coming, then reward. Some dogs don't respond to the lowest setting but most do feel it - but as you know from trying it on yourself, it does not really hurt. You should see a slight stiffening or they might have a confused look, BUT they SHOULD NOT yipe and jump.

ALWAYS reward for every return, and let them have several minutes of run around time in between here commands. This allows them to feel comfortable with being away from you. If you overdo it they will start to walk very close to you, afraid to walk away.

Repeat maybe 3 times in the first session. You should notice a very sharp change and your dog will return much more promptly. If they turn immediatly and do not hesitate DON'T correct them - DO reward them. Wait until you have one second (one mississippi... say in in your head) of hesitation, before giving the correction. Give their brain time to think and send the signals to the body. not too much time though. Keep using the CC to MAKE them turn and find the success, if you need to.That hesitation should get shorter and shorter. As they get faster and better and you see they are understanding what is happening, you can reduce the cues back down.

Remember 3 times or so the first day. And from now on keep this up on daily walks. 2-3 here commands with the collar, AND praise, and reward.

Conformation showing - Foundation training

2011-11-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

Scout has started a little work towards conformation showing with the clicker.
Below are his first 3 steps...

Step 1: Holding the head

I want Scout to be familiar with this, and comfortable when I hold his head and move it around. This helps be hold him still or shift his weight slightly as needed, but also preps him for examination later.

Step 2: Holding the head and touching the body and leg

I want him to be confortable with my handling and touching him, while he is still letting me hold his head. I also want him to wait nicely during this.

Step 3: Holding the head and moving the front left leg.

I keep holding the head, and start moving the leg around from the elbow. At this point I don't care where I move it, I just click for his cooperation while I move it.

Next time we will place both legs and hold a bit longer... I hope...

Keep in mind this is secondary to his whoa work. But also enhanced by it as he learns to control his own movement and be still.

Field work and directly related obedience

2011-11-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

Whoa:
Here is Scout working on whoa.

Here is a quick video taken of Sage. No glossing over this - she know SIT TOO WELL! Watch as I work through it to get the right whoa. As I said last post she need to work on whoa WITHOUT and sit, 2 x day for at least a week, before revisiting sit. (Also the video is sideways. Thought I could fix that but it's giving me issues.... hopefully soon to be correct!)

All the puppies have had exposure to birds months ago, but when I see enough size and run for them to get out in the field getting through the cover with confidence, I start putting good flying birds out for them. Good flyers help them to learn to hold more naturally.

Once I have a confident pup starting to catch on, I add in a blank gun. This is NOT an introduction. They have had introductions to the cap gun and I have peridically continued that while taking happy timing walks. It is just the first time around birds. Given that, they should pay almost no attention to it at first.

More training basics

2011-10-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

Sage (green girl) is soon to go to her new home, and we have been compiling videos of her training progress to send along.
Sage has learned that sit can have different positions. It has grown into a "Front" Command and a "Heel" command witch at this point is mostly a return to heel.

Maybe you noticed her eagerness to sit in the video. She is bordering on TOO MUCH sit training. Until her whoa is settled. I would touch on this 1-2 times a week, but work whoa 2 times a day for several weeks, before spending much time cleaning up the position or extending the walk portion of heel.

Sage has learned to target ("touch") my hand, which is a building block of training for several other commands.

Sage extends the target, with some positional work into learning "Down." She does not like this very much and was slow to get it but she is catching on. Still, being a GSP it's hard to figure out a way to be hyper and wiggle while lying down. :)

She also extends touch by learning to ring a bell to ask to go out. This is late to teach this, but she has developed a habit of sitting quietly to ask and that is not working when we are busy. It would seem that you would notice her sitting quietly, as it is UNUSUAL, but I think it becomes the first time you can actively NOT notice her. After some serious regression while the rest of the family was watching her and I was out working other dogs, we had to re-institute the full time crate when mom-Laurie is not inside, and start training a better way to ask. SO here is the beginning of that. (I am ashamed but mistakes provide learning opportunities for us both!)

to continue this she needs to learn to ring it harder. Once she actively knows that touching the bell gets her out, we will do some targeting practice and only click for the harder touches. Then when she touches it hard all the time, we will start to only click for bells ringing loudly. There is some potential confusion for her, as she is very likely to hear the bell make noise at a much softer touch than I do.

Sage still uses her spin trick. It's easy and always gives us something to lighten the mood, and end well on. Overdoing this is WAY BETTER than over doing the sit command. If she has to do a trick for treats with the kids or grandkids... THIS is the trick for her to do for the next few weeks.

This is a good trick to try. After you have been play retrieving and your puppy is excited, offer you puppy something easy to hold, but not a toy. Here she uses a rolled piece of newspaper. If she takes it say "hold" (or fetch or take) and reward her with praise. Then quickly tell her "drop" and take the item back. Reward her with praise AND a treat. Since the item is newspaper and not a toy, once she took it she realized she really didn't want it much and drop comes easily. But once you can reward her for taking it from your hand you might be able to get her to do it again. This is early prevention for refusal issues later. You are TEACHING her to take it, even when it has not flown through the air and even when it is not an exciting toy. This will become more useful than you can imagine!

More often puppies will look at you and be confused, but if your puppy will try to take it capture it and work with it. If not, then I will try to show how to handle that also.

Clicks For Tricks

2011-07-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

Tricks for Clicks - Clickers for future birddogs.

Clicker Training is the tool of “Positive” trainers today and remains less than popular for birddog trainers. The clicker often comes with this positive only mindset, and thus most positive trainers are NO e-collar, NO punishment trainers. Before this movement, clicker training was still around. It’s core concepts are used by zookeepers, marine animal trainers, and classic operant conditioning scientists with their lab rats. And now millions of pet owners. It’s very effective at helping dogs learn quickly and grasp concepts and I have grown to love it for puppy training. I DO use e-collars, and I do NOT carry this clicker out into the field, but it helps establish commands that you will use later and can reinforce with your preferred methods. Read up in old books and you will see all kinds of elaborate way to teach WHOA including posts, trees, pulleys, etc… All this is trying to teach an older birddog who loves to run to stop on command and stand still. This has become my preferred method and I can avoid all the posts and pulleys.

In short, the clicker is a “marker” that is used to tell the dog exactly when they are performing the behavior you want. The click is processed in a part of the brain that works more quickly and forms more permanent associations than listening to a voice marker, like “good dog.” You can use the voice and train the same way, but you will be slower, and the dog will be slower and capturing behaviors is harder, but possible. SO this is a tool many still choose to skip.

You can read more about Clicker Training here:

http://www.clickertraining.com/

Start with charging the clicker. In this game we associate the sound of the clicker with getting a reward. (Reward Marker) Small treats are given within 1-2 seconds of making the click sound. We want the puppy to begin to perk their ears and maybe even salivate when they hear the click. (Pavlov’s bell, right? You learned it in Psych 101) The dogs develops a physiological response to the sound, and thus knows immediately when a behavior is “correct.” I will not post a video of this because it is boring to watch. CLICK…TREAT. Repeat. You click, you give a treat right away, and you do it repeatedly spacing it out and keeping it up until the dog associates the treat and starts to expect it, when they hear the CLICK.

Next, I work through all the commands we started shaping in the earlier videos, and get more defined responses to the commands they have already been introduced to. It goes quickly. Here is “green girl” reviewing and adding the clicker to Sit, Stand, and Here, and Whoa.
SIT VIDEO - (green girl)

HERE and Review VIDEO - (green girl)

I add in a spin command as a fun action command that is a tension breaker to use for the active puppy who wants to go go go. It is “parlor tricks” stuff, and certainly not needed, but fun.

VIDEO - Moxie (pink girl)

VIDEO - Moxie (pink girl)

Next we are going to extend the whoa. This is where the clicker is SO nice. I don’t have to restrain the dog or touch them at all, I just whoa as before, but then quickly move my hand away and immediately CLICK-TREAT. They begin to associate the reward with the treat AWAY from them and an ever so slight hesitation. NOW, we have a hesitation to work with and can extend that on to a true whoa. See below videos.

VIDEO - (blue boy)

The same can be applied to SIT, but their is no need to create the hesitation with the quick away hand motion, because SIT is a stop command already. That is, to move they have to get OUT OF THE SIT.

DOWN- Lie Down, not OFF!
For some dogs Down comes easily, but for these GSP’s it can be a bit of a foreign concept. SO I usually end up starting with a Underarm Pass… below.
Clicker DOWN - green girl

Moxie (Pink girl)

We then Lower the arm until the dog must crawl to get through. AT this point we CLICK the moment the elbows tough the ground. That is extended to when the elbows and rear are both on the ground. And then we can start to remove the arm.

And again extend the Down in the same way. Just wait a bit longer before the click.

Clicker Tip - do not expect too much. You should be getting greater than 80% success even when they are learning and over 95% when you add time or move up the standards.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Retrieving
You should have a passionate retrieving buddy and can now (probably you already have...) move out of the hall. Now you can work on adding some distractions and teaching that running off with the toy is boring, but bringing it back is FUN!
1) Keep working on "DROP" or "GIVE" and add in some challenges. A few attempts at running of should end with the puppy searching for you and bringing it back, since you DIDN'T chase them like they hoped. If you have children wanting to run after them and chase them, then you have a dog that likes to run away. You have to stop that, and make the children sit down and don't chase!! Sometimes training the family is harder than training the puppy. Also other dogs LOVE to chase, and that is exactly what they remember where their littermates chased them and how FUN it was. So play without other dogs around unless they are trained to be able to "honor a retrieve" and will not chase when you ask.
2) Without requiring it, you can start to withhold throwing the toy until the dog sit's or stands still. They will quickly start to try to get you to throw it by doing which ever you prefer. (Side note - If you want a upland birddog to STAND on point, then be sure your puppy will stand as often as sit. You can watch in the videos of Green girl above, that she is slow to STAND and HERE sometimes because the SIT is so preferred. Don't let the dog get over fond of sit. Make sure other commands are as important. Some of you may avoid sit entirely for a while.)
3) Add in a command for searching for the toy if they do not see where it falls, and help them find it. We use "Hunt it up." They should learn to start looking for something any time you say this. Eventually, you can hide the toy and say "Hunt it up!" and they will dash around and start looking, but for the beginning it should be very easy to find, or help them find it.

VIDEO

New Post Soon!!

2011-07-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

Check back! I have a new post nearly ready and it will be up Tuesday.!
1)Starting clicker training
and
2) advancing whoa with or without the clicker
and
3) extending the retrieving skills

4) tips to keep your family "helping" and not untraining...

Hunting Head Start Tips (1)

2011-06-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hunting Head Starts

Retrieving:

Your puppy is a versatile dog, bred to love retrieving, and retrieving is a very useful tool for helping your puppy burn some energy, learn to swim well, and a bit later, to reinforce “Whoa.”

There are many schools of thought about training puppies with retrieving. Some people say never tug with your puppy, or you will have a hard mouthed dog. Some say never let them chase a dummy, without a release command or you will have a breaker. Some say never let the puppy “own” the toy, always take it back and put it out of the puppy’s reach. Many wise and experienced trainers bring you these tips, so they certainly have information worth learning. That said, I think all of that is overdone for a puppy. Too many rules and too little fun. But there are many ways that work and I know those folks have trained some amazing dogs using those methods. Here is what works for me.

1) LOVE THE GAME – this is paramount to all else. You can add any number of rules to game and your dog will be happy to learn them if they love the game enough to do anything to get to play.

2) TO TUG or NOT TO TUG. When starting the retrieve work, I do let my puppies do some tugging. They have been playing with their littermates and chase and tug will be what they know and love. This gives you an edge, because they probably already like the tug game a little. You can use this to start teaching them “drop” or “give.” While they are this little you are stronger and you can always win. You can pry open their mouth by pressing your fingers behind the canines on pushing the gums into the mouth and pulling the top of the muzzle up gently. Take the toy out and say “Drop.” Every time you tug you should win, either they drop it on their own or you take it back. They can have this game, but you are teaching them that it is a game, not a power play. AND you are teaching this now, while they are little. That’s why I like to tug a little. Notice in my videos I sometimes use it to build drive. When puppies start to seem less interested I tease and tug to get them involved again.

3) NO ROOM FOR ERROR. Play this game in an enclosed area with no other interesting things to distract the puppy and no way out but to you. Start very small so just a few steps bring them to you. DRIVE comes before all else. Distance and distractions later.

4) SIT DOWN. Puppies know that a puppy or dog who wants to play is low to the ground. A puppy or dog standing tall might be threatening, so it might give your puppy pause if you are standing. Speak dog and get low.

5) CHASING IS A ONE WAY GAME. Never chase your dog when they have the toy, and try hard to avoid chasing them when they have something they shouldn’t. For the dog running off with your shoe, try to offer them something better and get them to trade. If they are running away with a toy, then you can be the runner. Turn away and try running a zig zag playfully away from them as if you have something fun that they will want. Hopefully they will chase you with their toy and you can call them to you, praise them and let them keep the toy while you hold them.

6) A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY. Don’t expect your puppy to play this forever at first. 3-5 very short retrieves may be plenty. Use short little sessions but you can do them several times a day.

If possible, transfer your puppy to a puppy training dummy while you are in this indoor/floor stage if you plan to run NAVHDA Natural Ability.

You are ready to move on when your puppy does not want to quit, gets excited to see the puppy dummy, and you thing the hall or space is too small for how much they want to run. But for now, get this down to perfection.

Swimming...

2011-06-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

Now that we are solidly into the HEAT of summer, we have put more work towards swimming. Taking a trip to the lake and swimming encourages the puppy to want to be with is. B&W girl (who just left for her new home last evening), Scout (Red boy), and green girl did the best with this.

"Where are we going?"

"It's just water little puppies, just a little further..."

Green girl contemplates deeper water...

The next day, after some bird work getting everyone hot and tired, we walked over to the nearest pond and tossed in a dead quail to entice them in. THIS was exciting! Scout was the bravest, going in after the bird every time. But then to my surprise, blue boy took the plunge, and repeatedly swam out to the bird. He couldn't quite get the swimming to work at the same time as the retrieving, but this was just a first time. He was also a speedy swimmer, faster by far than Scout. Green girl, Virginia (Red Girl), and Pink girl made some serious attempts and went fully into swimming depth water, but did not quite go out to the bird. Sadly I did not have my camera for this trip, since I knew I might have to wade into the mucky pond. No one panicks in the water, and everyone is using nice style when swimming, just need to get more confident. Given that everyone seems "cool as a cucumber" just cautious, I think they are all doing very well.

So now, we will put more attention to retrieving inside. And build the drive for this game, one at a time. Also adding in more whoa work for treats and food, and tracking on a food track.

After cooling down in the water and nice scratch in the grass...

A little birdwork at 6am

2011-06-08T07:05:00.000-07:00

As the days get hotter, we have to beat the sun. Early in the morning we take a few puppies out for some bird work. This morning there was only time for about 4 puppies before it started getting hot. Also the mountain mint (a wild growing perenial found in meadows here) is blooming and VERY strong smelling now. When I can smell it all around I know those puppies noses are probably getting that smell like the equivilent of being shouted at. Makes for a difficult time scenting much else. This evening we will change locations and make another run.

Conformation Critique

2011-05-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

I will have pictures to go with these critiques uploaded soon.

Graded for us by professional show handler, Ashley Watkins.
GIRLS

Blue
A smaller compact puppy at this age.
Head: Balanced muzzle and skull lengths well proportioned, would like to see some more fill in the muzzle. Good ear length and well set on the head. Correct bite. (Correct now, prone to seem tight and then resolve as she grows, thus far - noted from breeder) Well set eyes, not too light on color.
Front: Very nice front assembly, nice chest fill, and long feminine neck. Nice straight front legs, and tight compact feet. A very nice front for the breed.
Rear:Nice rear assembly, with very nice turn of stifle, hock a touch long, but may be age. Lower tail set with high tail carriage.
Body: correctly shorter coupled, not overly long with good loin, and good chest. Top line may be a bit arched.

Red
Head: Very nice proportional skull and muzzle length, good muzzle fill, correct bite. Ears set a bit low giving impression of more length than needed.
Front: Nice shoulder lay back, and top assembly, a bit short in lower shoulder with respect to withers to shoulder blade length. Nice straight front legs, and good feet. Very nice long well placed neck.
Rear: Would like to see a bit more rear angulation, good high set but not over done tail set, tail usually very high field style.
Body: Nice short backed girl, with good loin length and good chest fill. Could be a bit deeper in chest. Very nice top line, and overall image.
A bit lighter in skin tone.
More of a classic "Field type" girl, but very showable

B&W
Head: Nice breadth of skull and muzzle, muzzle length a bit shorter than skull length, giving appearance of broader head.Correct ear set and length. Bite correct.
Front: Would like to see a bit more angulation in the front, and shoulders, to give the neck more length. Nice straight front legs good length, tight compact feet.
Rear: A bit straighter in stifle than Blue and Green , Tail set well, and carried nicely. Not as high as some field people prefer.
Nice rich color, dark eyes, and nice dark skin pigment.

Green
Very well balanced, compact girl, a bit lighter in color but rich and with dark skin tones, and darker coat growing in
Head: Nice face, nice correct muzzle fill, feminine but not underdone, Skull length proportional to muzzle length, nice ear set and correct ear length. Nice dark eyes. Correct nice bite
Front: Nice front angulation, could stand a bit more lay back, but nice long neck and overall nicely agulated front. Front legs nice and straight, feet slightly less tight, but held well up. Perhaps affected by variations in growth at this age.
Rear: Best rear so far with nice turn of stifle, and nice angulation. Tail set well, with good carriage.
Body: Less short in back than blue, and nice top line when stacked.

Pink
Overall a bit boxy
Head: Nice dark well set eyes, correct ear set and length. Skull and muzzle length proportional, muzzle a bit over done and doggy.
Front: straight in front, lacking in angulation and chest fill. Straight front legs and nice tight feet. Lovely long neck.
Rear: straight and boxy in rear, tail well set and carried.
Top line tending to level. Nice rich color and dark skin pigment.

BOYS

Blue
Head: proportional muzzle and skull length, well set eyes and ears. Could stand more muzzle fill and breadth of skull. Correct well set bite. Nice expression.
Front: Striking long neck with head held high and proud. Shoulder lay back and placement are adequate. Front legs straight and feet nice.
Rear: nice rear angulation, hocks a bit long, at this age.
Long in body, but top line is very well held. Tail set very high, with equally high tail carriage.
A white factored GSP, with lighter skin pigment.

Red
Head: Very nice masculine head, correct bite, ears set correctly and appropriately long, eyes well placed and dark.
Front: Nice lay back, could use a bit more chest, and a bit more angulation. Nice depth of chest. Straight front legs, standing lower on feet, but holding outer toes well in.
Rear: A bit long in stifle and tall in rear, top line holding together well, with nice downward slope.
Nice proportionate length of body and rib.

B&W
A very nice whole package, needs to mature into his potential
Head: Nice face well set very dark eyes, nice ears and well set, correct bite.
Front: Very nice shoulder and front assembly. Well angled, well nice lay back, Straight legs, tight little compact feet.
Rear: well angulated and proportioned. Hair less turn of stifle
Body: Nicely short coupled, good length of loin and rib.
A very nice deep rich liver color, striking.

Green

Head: Nice head with good lengths and fill. Correct bite, nice ear and eye placement, pretty face. Correct bite.
Front: A bit straight in the top of shoulder, nice fore chest, front legs straight well placed, a bit low on feet but a fast growing large puppy.
A bit too long in loin, very nice top line, high well placed tail, with correct tail carriage.

Purple
A very nice whole package
Nice masculine head not over or under done, with correct bite, eyes, ears all very nice.
Well agulated front, good shoulder lay back, nice long neck. A bit long in upper arm, and though fur color holds dark color, skin pigment is less dark for his liver color.
Very nice rear and top line, perhaps the best whole package male puppy, with the exception of a poor looking tail dock. Tail set high and tail carriage is well matched.

Live birds!

2011-05-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

Wow! I am really pleased. The birds were extremely "flighty" which is good for the hunting but I had to pull the primary feathers on one wing to keep them down long enough for the puppies to see. But once the puppies discovered them the chase was on. Several of the liver puppies fell right into pointing. Red girl followed shortly, after some chasing. Green girl and blue girl and blue boy were unstoppable in trying to out compete the others. They caught and carried the birds all over the yard. Staying just ahead of the big guys most of the time. They ALL became very quickly obsessed. Red girl and Geen girl tracked the running birds for 10-15 yards through some very thick and tall grass much taller than the puppies.

Listen to the Wise

2011-05-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

Although I use lots of newer training methods, the old ways are often just as good. Delmar Smith was a well known trainer and about as eccentric as they come. I still use many of his concepts. He allowed puppies to take walks and experience the world, without rules and restrictions. Puppies develop confidence and desire, without being pushed. "Happy Timing" remains a part of my training program and I continue with the daily walks and romps for many months. Just get out and have fun. Learn about the world, and learn to love it. It's as good for my own soul as it is for their learning! He also uses a process he called, "getting the boogeries out." He places slip knotted ropes on each puppy and allows them to play with each other. The puppies tug and pull each other around and those ropes are oh so tempting. This MUST BE SUPERVISED WELL, but it is fantastic at helping puppies overcome fear and panic with collars and leads. They learn to give to the leash when it gets tight, and that panic does not help. Still, despite this help, most puppies will still fight the leash when they want something they can not reach, but they seem to learn faster and adapt more easily when they have have had Delmar's "Boogeries" method. I feel like I should put "" around the word method also, but I will resist.

Happy Timing

Boogeries

7 week School - Girls

2011-05-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

Blue girl

Red girl

BW girl

Green girl

Pink girl

School days, 7 weeks

2011-05-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

BOYS

Purple

Blue

Red

Green

BW

Playing and growing...

2011-05-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

Blue boy plays in the mud

Blue girl exploring the field

TALL grass...

more mud, red girl this time

Come on, you gotta laugh. That's green girl on the right maybe saying, "please! ick..." and averting her eyes...

Everyone has been weaned for a long time now, but Sky still loves to play with them.

(almost) 7 week pictures

2011-05-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

Girls

Blue

She is equally ticked on both sides, but you can see how the
camera sometimes washes it out. Nice shoulder patch on this side though.

in between about 20 wiggly shots, we take a break...

Red

BW girl

Green

Pink

Boys

Blue (Available)

Red (sold - staying here)

BW (available)

Green (sold)

Purple (available)

Catching Up

2011-05-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

We have been busy, and I have been remiss in updating the blog. So here is a little catch up, from my ipod notes. Pictures will be loaded soon also...

Sunday, May 8 - training and learning
As the puppies all move onto their brave exploration phase, we are putting more emphasis on confidence and less on obedience. When in the house and yard, we run through a bit of "training," but have been giving them opportunities to play and learn, encouraging them to carry toys of different textures, giving them things to climb over and around, etc. When I have a puppy inside, the others are out in the yard playing, and often the inside puppy notices and whines at the door (glass door) to play. Well, this makes for a great way to teach how to ask to go outside. They want out to play, they whine, the door is opened for them. Many of them are starting to get this very well. Little steps towards house breaking. Most everyone is doing very well, with immediately "finding a spot" as soon as they are brought outside. They still require VERY close supervision right now, as there are only a few seconds to realize that they might be about to "potty" and get them outside.
We have also started to add in "whoa" at feeding time by moving a puppy away and holding them back calmly repeating "whoa" until they briefly pause the struggling. As soon as they stay still I, praise them and let them return to the food. Also everyone has been rotating through car rides to school. B&W girl and Pink girl were thinking about being nauseous, but we made it with some small treats and keeping them from looking out the window. We will try a few shorter trips with them next time.

Tuesday, May 10 - First day to the Spring Pond
The weather has finally stayed warm for several days now allowing the water to warm up. The puppies all loaded up in the crate in the car, and we rode to the pond for a several hours of play. Everybody explored and played and chewed on grass, pounced on flowers, chased grasshoppers and frogs, and splashed in the water and mud. And most everyone ate some mud and drank the pond water, chewed on the pond weeds. No one was brave enough to swim, yet, but some came very close. I was up to my knees in the water also, and playing with them and giving them treats as they explored and splashed deeper.

Weigh in Tuesday night:
6 Week Weigh-in

Boys
Blue 5 # 2 oz
Red 6 # 5 oz
Green 6# 14 oz
B&W 4# 11oz
Purple 5# 10oz

Girls
Blue 5# 0.2 oz
Red 6# 1.5 oz
B&W 6# 1.1 oz
Green 5# 0.3oz
Pink 6# 12 oz

Wednesday, May 11 - too much pond muck...
Everybody has a touch of diarrhea today, so we kept it a light day and just stayed in the yard.

Thursday, May 12 - Vaccine day
Today was the first vaccine for the puppies, at six weeks, done by Dr. Donna Crow, DVM. Hard to believe, but 2 puppies are over 7 pounds! Half a pound more than 2 days ago. We ran a fecal to check on the diarrhea, and found nothing, but she gave me some metronidazole just in case some pond bacteria are disagreeing with them. Otherwise, everyone looked great, all vital signs good, and puppies were very well behaved for their shots.

Friday, May 13 - back to normal
Diarrhea is gone and everyone is normal, and very active. After working last night, I had hoped for a nap this morning, but the puppies were READY TO GO! So, I didn't get my nap until they fell asleep themselves, closer to noon.

More Future Birddogs...

2011-05-08T05:59:00.000-07:00

Blue boy

Red boy

B&W boy (pending)

Green boy (Pending)

Purple boy

-- On the "Rod & Wing" --
It's a useful tool to see some early points, and notice style, but it's important not to read too much into it. Style that they show here will stay and probably be even better on real birds, but a lack of style really says nothing. This is not the real thing, and these puppies are 5WEEKS old. I have puppies in the past not care about this game, or chase and never point, but stop on a dime if you put out scent or a live quail. We try not to overdo this, as pointing something they SEE too often (sight pointing) can lead them to expect to SEE their birds later. This can give you issues with a dog pushing in too close and bumping up birds. All that said I am really please with the early style I see in these puppies. Some NICE looking birddogs in the making!

Future Birddogs!

2011-05-07T16:51:00.000-07:00

Blue girl

Red girl

B&W girl

Green girl (got this pointing game first! LOVES it!)

Pink Girl

I'll put the boys in the next post so I don't overload the poor computer with images. I am just more and more pleased with these puppies :)

5 Week Weigh-in

2011-05-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

Weights on 5/4/11

Girls

Blue 3# 12.2oz
Red 4# 12.0oz
B&W 4# 9.0oz
Green 3#14.6oz
Pink 5# 1.0oz

Boys

Blue 4# 1.1oz
Red 4# 11.6oz
B&W 3# 9.0oz
Green 5# 3.3oz
Purple 4# 10.6oz

Developing Hints at Peronsality

2011-05-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

Developing hints at personality….

I hesitate to post these because each puppy has so much growing and changing to do still. Most of the puppies are moving into the phase where they begin to explore everything. As infants they have a “startle reflex” that allows them to avoid (theoretically anyway) potential trouble. The intensive handling that we do should help to move them through this faster and minimize this, helping them to be less nervous and more resilient. As they grow into their explorer phase, they start to be overly bold, running off stairs and chewing on everything, squishing into tight corners behind furniture and anything else a puppy mind can think of regardless of whether it’s dangerous or not. It’s the best time to introduce birds, water, and gunfire, when they are bold and unafraid. Hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate with us this week, but today it’s very chilly and raining hard. Not a good bird or water day…

BOYS
Blue boy
Blue boy seems to be a high achiever, but not YET an independent explorer. He is very quick to learn, quick to interact with people, still afraid to be alone, and tends to panic when he encounters a problem. He is very active, and very vocal. VERY treat and praise motivated! Might be “a lot of dog” for the average family home, and will probably need “a job” like lots of hunting, obedience, rally, agility etc… perhaps even more so than the average GSP… Sometimes so eager he loses focus. Most prone to startle at this age, but he should be outgrowing that soon.

He will be a medium ticked boy with a flashy tail patch, carries his tail high, and has a wide symmetrical blaze on his face. I am working on getting a photo of his ticking, but it difficult to see... stay tuned for this image

Red boy (probably “sold”)
Attentive, but not fast, very easy going, handles most anything without much fuss. He does well with one on one learning, but not YET an enthusiastic e explorer. Not afraid at all just less interested. He has a good long (for a 4.5 week old puppy) attention span.

He has a solid liver head and is getting a nice amount of ticking in. He will be medium ticked, perhaps a bit darker than blue boy, but not dark. Again image soon...

B&W boy
At this time he is the littlest, but does not have a classic “littlest” personality. He is pretty middle of the road, with good short term focus, and learning, happy to work for treats and praise, willing to explore a bit. A bit clingy still, but he will most likely outgrow that. Growing into his potential. Fairly tolerant for grooming, but can be overeager when he is really hungry or tired.

He is nearly solid liver color. No white feet or toes at all, and the smallest chest patch. Possibly slightly lower set tail, but carries it high when he’s being brave.

Green boy
Much like red boy, with a bit more energy. Green boy is tolerant and mild, but more enthusiastic than his “red boy” brother. Green boy throws some stylish stances like his dad, and is not afraid to interact with new things, though still staying pretty close on walks. A very well rounded puppy personality so far.

He has two white ticked “socks” on the front feet.

Purple boy
A very nice mix of looking to me for attention, and independence. Not afraid to be alone for short periods of time, not overly mellow, but not overly hyper either. Brave around new sights and sounds, less prone to startle. He has maintained a very nice attidude so far. A good problem solver, when trying to learn to get out of the box, through the dog door, up the stairs. He does not cry or panic just keeps trying. He rode with us in the car through the carpool line this morning and did very well. A bit nervous at first, but quickly fell asleep.

Girls
Blue girl
Active and eager to learn. Eager for food treats, easily distracted, but quick to learn when one on one. Does tend to get frustrated easily, and cry for help still when things don’t go her way. Enjoys playing with toys and not at all afraid of the other dogs or other animals.

The liver color can vary in darkness by itself, regardless of the amount of ticking. Blue girl has a very nice dark liver color, but will be medium ticked. Here is a close up to see how much ticking she has so far. She will continue to darken a bit but will still probably be a medium ticked girl. Still I think she will be the most heavily ticked of the ticked puppies in this litter.

Red girl
Red girl is a middle puppy, easily over looked, but nice fearless, and usually quiet. She is a nice puppy though, and middle puppies often make for the best family members/house dogs.

She is going to be a bright white patched and ticked girl. A bit more ticking than Sky, but certainly the brightest in the litter.

B&W Girl
First to carry and “retrieve” toys. Active and playful, very interested in the world around her. She has white “socks” on her front feet as well, very cute little girl.

Green girl
The littlest girl and running close with B&W boy in size, she has a reason to be eager for food, and attention. Always clamoring to be noticed in the crowd, but when alone, she is starting to carry toys and show early retrieving skills, quick to learn, and very bold and brave when exploring. With the whole group she is a bit more prone to panic and cry, but by herself she is bold. This leads me to suspect she will grow into a go getter girl.

As mentioned earlier, the liver can vary a bit in darkness. Green girl is the lightest liver of the group, and has a softer puppy coat. If you used chocolate as a reference (instead of yucky tasting liver) then she would be milk chocolate while most of the other solid puppies would be dark chocolate.

Pink girl
A fantastic personality, and fairly consistently the largest puppy, she is so far all around impressive. Not yet too pushy or overbearing (for the biggest) but bold and calmly inquisitive. Tolerant of new situations.

New experiences....

2011-05-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

Meeting other dogs
As puppies learn social skills with each other they can begin to learn to interact with other very friendly adults. They still play with their mom, but different "strange" dogs require unique social skills too. Mabel is our resident "auntie Mabel" and is enjoys puppies. Driggs also has shown himself to be a good with the little puppies athough perhaps too hyper for the puppy's safety at this stage, so we supervise VERY closely.

Mabel meet blue girl

red girl says hello

Introducing a pheasant wing

2011-04-27T08:25:00.001-07:00

4 week Individual Pictures and Weigh-in

2011-04-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

Fully updated!

Girls

Blue girl
3# 1.4oz

Red girl
3# 11.5oz

B&W girl
3# 6.1oz

Green girl
3# 1.1oz

Pink girl
4# 2.4oz

Boys

Blue boy

3# 4.9oz

Although I only have this one side picture of Blueboy, I'd like to note that he was very cooperative and I was able to take this by myself with the self-timer. He has no patches other than his tail patch.

Red boy

3# 14.8oz

B&W boy

2# 14.2 oz

Green boy

4# 0.4oz

Purple boy

3# 13.1 oz

Week 4

2011-04-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe they are already turning 4 weeks old today. They are eating solid food (still softened), and really getting into playing with everything. This week we will continue stand, sit, here, and up, and will be adding in the very early "whoa" introductions. Also we will be starting to indroduce gunfire this week, starting with a kids cap gun during feeding time and moving to a 22blank pistol. We will start taking longer walks and add in some new places, incuding taller grass, and woods. We may start some pond visits depending on the weather -- if is stays warm and sunny. If it's cool we will work with warm water here in the yard. The puppies have moved out of the whelping box and into "half crates." The bottom half of a crate is placed on papers to start to develop habit of sleeping in a smaller space and getting out of bed and off the blankets to use the "potty." We will also start adding in a few short car trips when they are sleepy, and see how that goes.

The video posting is proving to be extrordinarily time consuming. I will still continue to post lots of comments and videos, but feel free to ask if you don't see a puppy you are interested up yet. Often I have the footage, but the uploading and editing to keep them short enough to post takes a while.

Explorers

2011-04-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

At 3 and half weeks old, the puppies are really starting to play and explore.

Baths

2011-04-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

Photo shoot

2011-04-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

Archer takes charge of the camera for a photo shoot with the puppies...

Puppy Progress - week 3

2011-04-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

The first puppy out of the puppy box was Pink girl. Red boy also climbed out today. :)
The first puppy to get through the dog door was Purple boy. Followed mom though.

First puppy to bark at a person... red boy.
Everybody is walking off their bed to "potty" on the papers almost everytime.

Small Trials and Tribulations
Sky is still very concerned about the puppies and keeps them clean, but is not wanting to feed them. She has "spring fever" and mostly just whines to go play or brings me a toy. So, I have had to make her lie down and then pet her while she feed the puppies. She enjoys the petting, for the most part but gets bored. 10 puppies is a lot! Also, Sky wants to steal ALL the puppy toys and take them all outside to play. So I have to pick up all the toys toys too little for her, when she is around the puppies, and I give several times each day with her away from them for several hours, so they can play with their toys.

Early learning at 3 weeks
    The puppies can see and hear, but they are still learning to locate souds and their vision is immature with closer things more clear and farther things less so. Their coordination is rapidly developing, but they are still "toddlers." They are beginning to mouth toys and pick them up, play with and chew on each other and bark at each other. It's time to introduce lots of toys for them to explore and play with.
   This is also the ideal time to start work with many future commands. If we get the actions coordinated now, then all they will have to learn later is the signal/voice command associated with it.  They are being introduced to "conditioning" by recieving positive rewards (food and petting) when they are working with me. Sit and stand are begun with luring with food, allowing the pupy to understand the motions early. You may be surprised how quickly they start to associate the signals and commands too. When teaching stand, I do start with using the command "stand" as an action moving from a sit or down. Later we will add "whoa" which is a non-action or STOP command. The two will be joined and become one command (That's called chaining, but I am not sure if 2 is enough to count.) Next is "up." This a precurser to getting in the car or truck, up on the grooming table, at the vet's, onto a waterfowl boat stand or lots of uses in the future. As soon as the puppies are walking well, and hearing sounds we introduce "here". At this point I want to see the puppies beginning to undertsand that call means food and attention. I also want them to listen for the location and learn to pinpoint sound. We keep these very short in distance because the puppies cannot see well far away, and need very quick rewards to gain confidence. So if they do not find me right away I move closer to try again.
   We are exposing everyone to water and grooming, with daily "sponge" baths (this is a must when eating solids starts!!) in warm water, and standing in shallow warm water. We are trimming nails and touching the ears, mouth, feet, and tail every day. Puppies should be used to and excepting of grooming, though the holding still can be more difficult than anything.
   Starting today we are introducing solid food, as ultra softend puppy food mixed with puppy formula. Everyone loved it and made a great big mess!

Week 3 Weigh-in

Blue female - 2# 2.0 oz.

Red female - 2# 8.7 oz

B/W female - 2# 8.2 oz

Green female - 1# 15oz

Pink female - 2# 13oz

Blue boy - 2# 4.0oz

Red boy - 2# 14.2oz

Green boy - 2# 11.2oz

B/W boy - 2# 1.6 oz

Purple boy - 2# 13.7oz

Videos (I will have to add them as I get them uploaded)

Blue girl

Red girl

Pink girl

Green boy

B&W girl

Green girl

Blue boy

Red boy

B&W boy

Purple Boy

2.5 week videos, boys

2011-04-17T05:37:00.000-07:00

Blue Boy

Red Boy

BlackWhite Boy

Green Boy

Purple Boy

A few extra pictures

2011-04-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Puppy pile...

Red boy (bottom) blue boy (top)

you can see the ticking coming in...

2.5 week videos, girls

2011-04-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

These will have to come in stages. The computer takes quite a while to load and the SD card will only hold so much at a time, but I will work as quickly as possible. I know you are all anxious to see.

Each video has a just a bit of exploring, and the introductions to "sit" and "stand" positioning. Stand is a precurser to learning to stand still.

Blue Girl

Red Girl

Green Girl

Pink Girl

Blackwite girl will be coming soon. We had technical difficulties with her video. And the boys will follow this afternoon in a seperate blog.

Now, Blackwhite girl's video is here:

2 week old weigh-in

2011-04-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Boys
blue -- 1lb 11.6oz    eyes not open
red -- 2lb 1.1 oz      eyes open
b/w -- 1lb 12.8oz     eyes half open
green -- 2lb 0.9oz    eyes open
purple -- 2lb 2.6oz    eyes half open

Girls
blue -- 1lb 11.2oz     eyes open
red -- 1lb 13.1oz      eyes not open yet
b/w -- 1lb 13.2oz     eyes open
green -- 1lb 12.3oz   eyes open
pink -- 2lb 4.4 oz      eyes half open

Eyes opening

2011-04-12T18:33:00.000-07:00

Green girl's eyes are opening today
Pink girl's eyes are not open yet
Blue girl's eyes are not open
Black/White girls's eyes have tiny corners starting to open
Red girl's eyes are not open yet

Blue boy's eyes have tiny corners starting to open
Black/White boy's eyes are not open yet
Red boy's eyes are opening today
Green boy's eyes have tiny corners open
Purple boy has one tiny corner on the right eye open

Ears are starting to open also Green Girl will respond to the sound of a squeaky toy by twitching up her ears, no one else responded, but visually they are opening.

In two days or so, they will be living in a world full of sights and sounds :)

Positional Learning - phase one

2011-04-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Technical sounding? Yes, too much so. Phase one is simply getting a "treat" or "positive re-inforcer" started that the puppies like, that I can give them without mom's help. So at 2 weeks old there is really only one thing they should be eating or taking in -- thus we will use an oral syringe with supplemental puppy formula. We get them used to eating it and make it gentle and rewarding. We use a syringe to better control how much forumula they recieve and give about 1-2 ml of formula. To give a comparison I woulgexpect the average puppy of their age and size to eat about 15-20 mls per feeding. So of course most of the nutrition is still coming from mom. We will continue offering these supplemental "treats" every few hours throughout the day.

We started with the following puppies:
Blue girl - excited about the formula the second time
Red girl- excited right away, no hesitation
black white boy- after three tries interested, but still a bit hesitant

Next we have
Red boy - eager on first taste
Purple boy - hesitant, but accepting by second attempt

then
green girl - loved it right away
pink girl - not to sure about this after 3 times she is still not sure

then
black/white girl - loves it!
green boy - eager on second taste
blue boy - eager right away, also loved it! (he is the smallest and perhaps is more often last to eat, when I do not intervene)

Saturday April 9th (posted late...)

2011-04-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

Puppies are still working on the art of walking. Interesting how they could pull themselves around when crawling so easily, but now that they have started to walk it is nearly all they try and they are pretty slow at it. So for a brief few days they are actually a bit slower ;)
The weather is warming up and warm sunny days are allowing some short trips outside on a blanket. Their noses go into full gear sniffing and snuffling away for a few minutes and then they seem to settle quickly into a sleepy stupor in the sun. Their eyes are not open yet, but they certainly seem to enjoy the natural warmth.
Sky also knows it's spring and is getting more and more restless. I think my arm is sore from all of the games of fetch to keep her happy.
Tuesday we will add in some positioning to their daily routine and see how that goes. They are also nearly big enough for their collars now so you should notice those on in most of the pictures soon, helping you tell who is who.

Oh, and the ticking is tsarting to come in. Both the solid liver puppies with white feet will have ticking on their feet, and the patched and ticked puppies have some undertone ticking showing through. In about 4 days we should be able to see who is going to be brighter and who is going to be darker.

Learning to walk

2011-04-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

Standing up

2011-04-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day for some serious efforts at standing and walking. The puppies are pushing up off the ground and getting their legs under them. Green girl, pink girl, red boy, and purple boy are best at this so far, but everyone is giving it some solid work. Momma Sky is enjoying the spring weather and a bit tired of being momma. She still worries over them, but more often sneaks away when they are sleeping. She is happy to be playing fetch again, and very eager to get attention. Auntie Mabel (our lab) is trying to see what is going on, but keeps her respectful distance with that labby tail going all the time.

Though the ENS (stimulation) methods are all very gentle, the puppies learn to tolerate mild restraint and have to handle this while being alone and away from other puppies and mom for the "very long" span of about 2 minutes. ;) In the beginning it seemed that some puppies handled this better than others, but now, it's pretty obvious that the puppies with full bellies are the ones that are more relaxed. Their are a a few too many puppies for Sky to feed them all at once and she often feeds in a rotation usually 6 and 4 or 7 and 3. Those last puppies to eat are the most content during the positioning/stimulation. Across the board everyone is much more quiet and tolerant now than on the first day. Each puppy is being rotated through "play" or "holding" time with the family also, with just snuggling and cuddling. I hope this helps them to learn to associate positive calming influence from people, without other puppies around. Plus who doesn't love sitting with a 1 week old puppy for a cuddle!?

But still, everyone returns to the puppy pile....

1 week old weigh-in

2011-04-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

Boys

Blue boy 1# 2.3oz

Red boy 1# 6.6oz

Black white boy 1# 3.9oz

Green boy 1# 7.5oz

Purple boy 1# 8.3oz

Girls

Blue girl 1# 2.9oz

Red girl 1# 6.5oz

Black white girl 1# 4.4oz

Green girl 1# 4.9oz

Pink girl 1# 8.2 oz

6 days old indiviual pictures

2011-04-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

Boys

blue boy

red boy

black/white boy

green boy

purple boy

Girls

blue girl

red girl

black/white girl

green girl

pink girl

Pictures for fun

2011-04-03T07:37:00.000-07:00

“Early Neurologic Stimulation” and Neonatal Learning

2011-04-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

An introduction:

The environment and experiences during neonatal development in puppies has a significant influence on both the physical and behavioral qualities of the dogs they grow up to be. Studies have shown that physical illness, poor maternal care, and physical stress can decrease neurologic development. So of course, one wants to provide healthy, proper care for their puppies. But beyond that, it has been shown that early handing and “gentling” seems to accelerate the metabolism, nervous system development and even learning abilities. Puppies are born in what is considered to be an “extreme state of neuronal immaturity.” That is their nervous systems and sensory organs have lots growth to accomplish after birth. A process called “synaptogenesis” rapidly develops as they use the environment around them (external stimuli) in a primary role while their nervous system matures. Early handling including visual, thermal, tactile, acoustic, and complicated stimuli drastically alters the behavior of puppies. Puppies handled in this way were found to be more active, confident, more likely to explore, were more emotionally stable during their testing, and had better problem solving abilities. Of course visual and acoustic are not as important during the first two weeks before the eyes and ears open.

So what does this mean? Puppies have a lot to learn and learn much from their environment. Good sound genetics is a start but it is not enough. Puppies are very influenced by what happens and what does not happen to them while they grow.

“Early Neurologic Stimulation” techniques and findings:

The US military compiled a method called the Early Neurologic Stimulation or “Bio-Sensor” method. They found specific times during a puppies' development when these methods seem most effective. Their studies showed that the 3rd day through the 16th day involved such rapid neurological growth, and that it was actually one of the most important times in puppy development. The puppies were stimulated with 5 simple exercises in a sequential series with each puppy from beginning to end every day. The methods are very simple, and provide light stress and include things like holding the puppy gently on its back for 3-5 seconds, tickling between the each toe with a Q-tip, and placing puppy on a cool towel. But these simple procedures produced some very noticeable benefits including Improved cardiovascular performance, stronger heart beats, stronger adrenal glands, higher stress tolerance, and even greater resistance to disease. Also puppies were more skilled at problem solving when tested in mazes and puzzles. Puppies raised without these techniques became frightened, whined and made many errors. Stimulated puppies remained calm and made fewer errors.

Application:

All of this gives us simple but highly effective way to start puppies out with the best. We still play with the puppies, pet them, love them, and baby talk to them, like most puppy lovers would. But we also add this in everyday for each puppy at this age. You have likely met poorly socialized young puppies who grow into unprepared adults and have difficulty coping with separation, stress, unable to focus past their fears and not adapted for their family life with people. Fixing these problems later, is often more difficult and only partially possible. This is why this window of opportunity is so important. It sets the stage for their whole future and we want them to have the very best chance to be the best.

Further reading and citations

Gazzano, Angelo, Chiara Martiti, Lorella Notari, Claudio Sighieri, and E. A. McBride. "Effects of Gentling and Early Environment on Emotional Development of Puppies." Diss. University Of Pisa. Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology. Web. 2 Apr. 2011.

Battaglia, Carmen. "Developing High Achievers." Early Neurologic Stimulation. Breeding Better Dogs. B.E.I. Publications, 2001. Web.

Beerda, B., M.B.H. Schilder, and J.A.R.A.M De Vries. "Manifestations of Chronic and Acute Stress in Dogs." Applied Animal Behavior Science 52: 307-19. Print.

If she could talk...

2011-04-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

what would Sky be saying?

Puppy blankets get changed several times a day, but it was time for a whole box, srcub down and room clean and so I brought everyone over to nurse on a blanket. The basket was a puppy transport basket. Sky fed everyone, then whined at me and hopped in the basket and fell asleep....

Sad news today.

2011-03-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

Today was to be the first day of "bio-sensor" work. My post was going to show some videos and photos of the methods and the benefits that have been attributed to these techniques. But overnight our littlest puppy declined quickly. Despite supplementing, dextrose, and lots of special care, she did not make it through today. This is very hard for us all and so today, we dedicate to her. Momma Sky has her paws full still, but she keeps checking over each puppy carefully and I can't help but wonder if she is counting them.

Individual pictures

2011-03-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

Boys...

Girls...

The Puppies are here!!

2011-03-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

After a very long day and night we have 11 (yes that's right!) puppies and 1 tired momma. Sky delivered them all and hung in there for a very long delivery, like a champ. Babies are all nursing and very cute, and I promise to have pictures and details added to this very soon.

Update:
in birth order...
Puppy 1
female, patched and ticked, 13.1 oz

Puppy 2
Male, solid liver, 14 oz (1 white front foot)

Puppy 3
Female, solid liver, 15.0 oz born 12:01pm

Puppy 4
Female, patched and ticked, 7.7 oz 12:30pm (nicknamed "littlest")

Puppy 5
Male, patched and ticked 14.4 oz, born 4:39pm

Puppy 6
Male, patched and ticked, 12.2 oz, born 6:14pm

Puppy 7
Female, solid liver, 13.9 oz, born 8:58pm

Puppy 8
Female, solid liver, 12.5 oz, born 10:40pm (white feet)

Puppy 9
Female, patched and ticked, born 10:55pm (blaze, r patch, tail patch)

Puppy 10
Male, solid liver, low APGAR, not breathing, CPR.... weak but breathing, crying, trying to nurse at 1:40am (white front feet)

Puppy 11
Male, solid liver, 12.7 oz, born 2:50am (very little white)

5 BOYS

6 GIRLS

Silly dog -- or silly human?

2011-03-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

After preparing the nursery and getting it ready for whelping, Sky has decided that she has no interest in staying there. She whines and paces to come inside and sleep by the bed, when she could really use the rest. I am sure she would argue that the bed would be a much better whelping place, and she would say what a silly human I am wasting all that time. So we are currently working on making the nursery room more accaptable. Which means we are spending lots of time playing and giving small exciting treats and even napping in the nursery ourselves. Oh well, at least it keeps my mind busy while I wait. Much like I was as a pregnant mommy, she is clingy, needy, and difficult to please. :)

X-rays show 10 puppies!

2011-03-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

It gets pretty hard to count with so many, but we are all pretty sure we see 10 puppies on Sky's radiographs. I cannot seem to get the file to upload to this blog page, but all looks good so far. 8 days and counting... Sky is having to eat several small meals a day, and is starting to feel full quickly. We are putting the last finishing touches on the nursery and Sky is uncomfortably large, but otherwise happy and soaking in the attention.

Getting Close!!

2011-03-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

Almost time and Sky is getting bigger everyday. Later today is our scheduled radiograph so I hope to post those images tomorrow. In the mean time here is a short video of some light hunting. Keeping fit and in the field is important, but we are careful to select grounds that are gentle and secure and keep it short. Still, I usually have to "convince" her to leave as she would rather keep going! So for all of those who feel that hunting during gestation helps, take a look...

Click HERE to see her hunting video

Prenatal Care and Development

2011-03-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

Every good breeder knows that nutrition and health are extra important during pregnancy. It is always wise to be careful, feed a high quality food, and keep mom in sound and healthy shape. We take daily runs, continue light hunting, and manage Momma Sky’s weight and diet closely. She needs extra calories, but staying fit and not “fat” is vital.
Inside, puppies are growing fast and developing rudimentary sensory and motor abilities. The research on prenatal cognitive development in puppies is limited, but there is strong evidence that maternal influences do affect the future behavior of the puppies. So our socialization program and early learning begins now, during this early developmental stage. Studies show that females exposed to highly stressful experiences during their pregnancy, tended to produce puppies that were more emotional, and that these influences occurred without relation to genetic influences (Serpall, 1995).
In dogs, the fetal nervous system is very immature, and yet there is also evidence that the mother’s corticosteroid hormones (stress hormones) do impact the development of the fetus (Serpell). According to studies by Fox, petting and gentle physical contact with a pregnant mother during her gestation leads to more docile litters. In specific, it activates the parasympathetic system, according to Fox (1978), facilitating relaxation, digestion, and emotional attachment, leading to increased socialization. The tactile sensory system begins to develop well before birth, and is one of their strongest sensations in utero. Puppies stimulated this way during the prenatal period, show a higher tolerance to touching than puppies born from mothers deprived of this tactile contact. Handling and manipulation of the mother before birth has also been shown to facilitate greater resistance to stresses such as cold and hunger, and even disease in the puppies following birth (Dehasse, 1994).
What does all this really mean? It means this is a time to help make Momma Sky comfortable, happy, and loved. Playing games like retrieving, “find it” and light hunting may help her and her puppies more than we realize. Gentle petting and stroking is a family friendly way to help the puppies and the Momma. Everyone helps out with this every day.
Perhaps I should also include some interesting research relating to olfactory development. Bird dogs and their trainers have a special interest in scent development and some recent work has been done with prenatal olfactory experiences. It was determined that when expectant mothers were exposed to a strong smell in association with food while pregnant, and the same exposure was continued during the neonatal period while their puppies were nursing, these puppies later showed a significant preference for that smell at 10 week of age. These puppies with both pre and neo natal exposure showed a greater preference than puppies with only prenatal or puppies with only neonatal exposure, as well, which does indicate that the prenatal influence exists, but may be quickly lost. (Hepper and Wells 2005) This research relates directly to food identification, as the smells likely also had a taste, and may or may not carry over to olfactory abilities like scenting for birds or following scent trails. Nevertheless, it shows that prenatal influences can have noticeable effects. Perhaps more work will be done to carry this on, soon. In the meantime is certainly cannot hurt to continue to expose the mother to the smells that we intend for the puppies to search out in the future.

Dehasse, Joel. “Sensory, Emotional and Social Development of the Young Dog “ The Bulletin for Veterinary Clinical Ethology vol. 2 (1994) : 6-29.
Fox, Michael W. The Dog: It’s Domestication and Behavior. New York, Garland, 1978.
Hepper, Peter G, and Wells, Deborah L. “ Perinatal Olfactory Learning in the Domestic Dog” Oxford Journals. Oxford UP, 2005
Serpall, James. The Domestic Dog, it’s evolution, behavior, and interactions with people. Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 1995.

Starting to look pregnant

2011-03-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

Sky is starting to show, and continues her ravenous desire to eat anything remotely food scented! Everyone has to be extra vigilant with the doors and trash can lids right now...

I stacked her up for a quick photo, but she's all off balence and too much weight in the belly. :)

Puppies confirmed!

2011-03-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

Sky's ultrasound showed lots of little healthy puppies with little puppy heartbeats. Now I have a month to get everything ready for the new mamma. She is feeling great, and loving the extra attention she is getting.

Waiting...

2011-02-23T17:46:00.000-08:00

This weekend is the ultrasound. Sky is as energetic and affectionate as ever, and is happy to be spoiled. Soon we shall know for sure!

In the meantime, I am painting and prepping the nursery, and trying to keep Sky from eating everything in sight. She has been ravenous, and I have to convince her that she does not have to be a vaccuum all the time.

First breeding!

2011-01-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

Sky surprised us and came into season early, but the timing was fantastic as Maverick was already down this way to get back on the trial scene. She had her first breeding yesterday. 1/29/2011! Which puts the first expected whelping date at 4/02/2011. Woohoo! Can't wait!