Though all the Heroes have been practicing with the airline bag, it’s Barry that needs the skills next week for his big trip to Montreal. We have advanced to being zipped up and carried around now. I am including a cute pic of him and Lucky in the front seat on the way to the farm.
With our winter weather vastly improving and becoming spring, the boys are outside running amok more than they are in throughout the days on my days off. When inside I see them dashing out the dog door to potty and then running back in to resume play! It’s not perfect but accidents are less and less… and yesterday there were zero poops to clean up on the indoor potty grass.
Besides working with the sheep again, everyone got some good play in at Y-Knott Ranch. They learned that grown up dogs can share a common fetching soccer ball without argument or incident. They explored some holes, ate some dirt and had some Wrestlemania moments …cuz that’s just where 8-wk old puppy priorities lie!
Each day also includes practicing life skills… Sit/Stand/Down/Spin for cookies, patience waiting for meals, periodic crating to know life doesn’t always revolve around them, co-existing with Zipper The Cat and making good decisions in spite of being super excited that he showed up!
Training the “Off-Switch”
I’ve worked hard at building an “Off-switch” in these babies.
Huh? What’s that?
This means having a routine of expectation where they work (train), they play, they rest. A litter of ACDs left to their own devices with little human interaction will be largely active through the day — someone is usually awake and that someone will take it upon themselves to orchestrate chaos, waking up their littermates because it is entertaining and their brains have learned to go-go-go all the time. By ensuring that there is some quiet separation (whether they sleep or not) as a puppy you end up with an adult dog that:
- does not need to be constantly entertained
- has better work ethic
- has stamina when called on to use it
- has better focus because their brains can rest
- has better self control & patience
This becomes helpful in a practical sense when training at a facility where the dog must quietly wait their turn (whether dog sport or ranch work). Or when they are out away so you can get the floors mopped without “help”. Or when you have more than a puppy to give attention to in your life… just because you are in the room doesn’t mean they must be at the center of your attention. All of this is a skill no different than a sit or a stay — it requires practice.
Super proud of these little fellas in how much moxie they live their lives with and how much they already have figured out being on the planet a mere 60 days.