4 Puppies Heading for New Homes

..tomorrow at 2:00 a.m.  4 puppies and I will be heading off to Little Rock for connections to OK, CA, TN and NJ.

I am aways sorry to see them go.  I think “they are too young to leave their Moms and Sibs.  Who will they have to play with?  Who will teach them the way of the Dog?”.

In reality, I know these are really lucky puppies, each going to wonderful families, eager to have them join their lifestyle.  But I am always a bit sad to see them go!  In the end, though, I don’t lose a puppy, I gain some new friends.

The weather here has been terrible.  Storms and  tornado last week and again last night 70 mile an hour winds and tornados were about 5 miles away.  Too close to call till they had passed.

For those puppies that are leaving, here is a snapshot in their lives.    A photo display  is also available at Puppy Farm Life.

Friday was the pups first visit to the vet and first long “road trip”.  Everyone was perfect.  One upset stomach but no fussing or crying.  They took the vet office with quiet, contained  interest.

The puppies are sleeping on a quilt on the back porch outside my french doors.  There are several crates out there full of toys and soft spots to sleep.  They go in and out of the crates; some sleep in the crates and other on the quilt. 

The pups are in a chewy stage and those hard rubber cylinder toys with knobs sticking out seems to a favoriate at the moment.  Also they are big into bones.. big hard real bones to knaw on!  They love marrow bones.  I don’t cook them..

They are also into the holding on pant legs and grabbing the end of my skirt (not too much opportunity for that.)  I gently fuss at them for this. I may reach down and sort of growl at them and touch them with my hand to tell them to stop.  I might sort of kick at them.  Remember this are going to be working dogs.  They need to learn to respect the hooves or feet when herding.  It is not my goal to hurt in anyway these little pups.. just give them a signal that they must think before biting, or holding on to legs “or tail” of a moving object.

This idea feeds into my philosophy about how to introduce puppies to stock. The puppies have 24/7 access to  the horses that are in the paddock by the house and the calf paddock which is also by the house.  They  go with me on walks around the farm  and they spend time watching the calves and playing along the fence line to the calf paddock.

Lots of fun in the calf water over-run — and calf poo .  Big brother, Cowboy, even takes them into the calf paddock and watches over them – I have seen a calf run at them and they scoot back under the fence. 

They are  naturally wary at this stage and the pups gradually learn about being around stock as they mature.  These are English Shepherds so we are not too worried about them getting excited about being around stock.  We want them to be comfort and sit and watch and “bond’ with the animals.  

Horses are a bit different.  I keep the pups with me when I am around horses as long as I am not doing something where the horse is the first priority. Most pups will be stuck to your leg like glue which makes it easy  to herd the pups away from the hooves. The pups are a bit clumpsy at this age and not quick – so you have to be  careful but they need to learn a little along.  (Much of your behavior depends on your horses.  Thoroughbreds are quick and fractious and draft horses are gentle, kind and slower)

It is important to be calm.  We want the pups to be calm around horses so we must be calm.  If they read excitement from you, they don’t know it is because you are afraid they are going to be hurt.. they think it is because being around horses is exciting.

Their parents are good help.  The pups stay with the big dogs which are always in the right spot.

I never tie a puppy to a fence.  I think this is a big mistake.  If the horses are doing too many “horse things”, I pick the puppy up and carry it out of the area.  I might put a puppy in a crate where it can watch .. but you might be surprised.. if things get wild, most puppies will hide and watch on their own.

 
Much of this learning is in the morning and evening.  At mid day the puppies sleep.  And when they sleep ,they sleep like babies.  Hard to wake up!

As for food,  Mom still is providing some milk (God love, Gabby)  I don’t think puppies need milk at their new homes.  Milk is so full of hormones I don’t even give it to my family.  Organic milk is ok. Goat’s milk, sure.  But none of it is necessary!  Sometimes I top dress their food with milk replacer as a treat.  All the pups are drinking water

I feed the pups 3 to 4 times a day.  I fill up all the bowls and they wander around eating with different partners.  After all the puppies leave, I pick up the rest of the food.  At their new homes, I would just fill up the bowl and let the pup eat till she is full.  Then pick up the bowl.  That way it is easy to figure out about how much the pup is eating.

As for what to feed, I feed Iams Puppy most of the time.  Sometimes I feed Purina One  Puppy. I do feed different types of high quality puppy feeds as I am not convinced that feeding 1 brand is a good thing for the pup. I also don’t think that price is always a measure of quality.  Watch out for dog foods with corn as the first ingredient. 

Dogs are what they eat!  Some can be allergic to corn and other ingredients in commercial dog foods.

And, finally,  the pup will usually have to potty after she eats .. Or wakes up.  At this point abou 4 hours is all a pup can hold its bowels.  If you see your pup put its nose on the ground and start to act like it is looking for something… assume it is a potty spot and take it outside.

Night are hard for house raised pups.  As I mentioned the pups are sleep on my back porch.  Right now, some of the pups are  peeing on the porch at night.. normal.. too dark and scary to go down on the ground by themselves.  I just hose it off in the morning.  it will stop all by itself as soon as they get bigger.

Since they live outside, I am trying to trying to teach them about doors.. how to go in and out of a door.  They sort of wander over to the door but if it is not open, they aren’t yet sure about how to get it to open so they can go out.

I want to try this idea… I want to have a bell on a rope by the door – when I open the door. I want to pull the rope and ring the bell.  I bet the little pups will quickly pick up on ringing the bell for the door to open.  Then we just have to reward them when they go potty outside.

If you try this, please let me know.  One of the pups from a previous litter gave me this idea.  It learned it all by itself.  The bell was just there.. It started ringing it when it wanted to go out ” Smart, eh?”