I just couldn’t stand it any longer.
A couple notes here and there, a couple of pictures in my e-mail, a phone call or two … but I wanted more, oh yes, much more.
I wanted a definitive, detailed, expanded report from each and every home on how myMcKenzie’s puppies are doing. After all, these pups had been my entire life for more than eight weeks, everything wrapped up in making sure they were as well prepared as I could possibly make them for life in their future homes. And they’ve been gone for a week now. A whole week!
So I sent out an e-mail, beggingasking for updates.
The upshot: They’re all doing very well.
They’re happy and outgoing, learning the rules of their new households, getting more socialization, pottying more or less where they’re supposed to, allowing every inch of their squirming, wriggly tail-wagging happy bodies to be handled without resistance, getting their nails cut without complaint, walking on leash, playing with the kids, bringing back whatever’s thrown for them as quickly as their fat little legs can manage, sitting for their food dishes, learning how to be quiet in their crates and pretty much charming the very socks off their utterly smitten new families. They’ll be starting their puppy classes soon, where they’ll surely be the head of their respective classes.
My response:
Yes! Yes! Yes!
My heart sings to get such glowing reports. I have never worked so hard at anything in my life as to get these youngsters off to the best start I could. And now, to hear back that they are doing well, and with people who are working just as hard as I did to keep up the pace of good puppy-raising … well, it doesn’t get much better for a first-time breeder. I will always be there for these dogs and their families, as will their other “grandmas,” Katie and Mary. But for now, the reports couldn’t be much better.
Yay, puppies! Yay to Jack (the former Mr. Yellow), Parker (Mr. Green), Dooley (Mr. Blaze Orange), Keen (Ms. Purple) and Maya (Ms. Pink)!
At my house, the One Who Chose Me, Faith (the former Ms. Red), spent the weekend on the go. To the hardware store, to the patio at Whole Foods, to Peet’s Coffee. She spent a good deal of time on a leash and a good deal more in her safe crate in the car. She’s coming along with her house-training — pee puddles here and there, usually my fault for not paying close enough attention to her signals — but the rest of her business she can hold for the yard, not making a mistake for a few days now. She sleeps in a crate next to the bed, but later she’ll sleep on the bed with everyone else. She needs to learn where the limits are before I spoil her rotten, see?
And then, there’s the clicker training. If you’re not familiar with it, here’s a short primer. Clicker guru Karen Pryor was on “Good Morning America” this morning with a demo as well. I just love clicker-training puppies. I had “pre-loaded” the entire litter before they left by showing each of them the link between the click and the treat so their owners got a head start.
With Faith, I started the next stage of clicker training in earnest after her sister Keen left last Thursday, the last of the puppies to go to her new home.
Faith’s first goal: Learn to touch the plastic lid from a tupperware container. When she first figured out what we were doing, shelooked back at me with eyes suddenly full of understanding and amazement: “Seriously, all I have to do to get the click and treat is touch this thing with my nose? Cool!”
After just a couple of days, she will now touch it and come back no matter where I place it within about a 15-foot radius of where I’m standing or sitting. I’ll be increasing the distance, giving the behavior a “name” — “tap it” — and then moving on to other little tasks, all of which are designed to be built on or chained together, a foundation for learning to last a lifetime.
I have honestly never understood how anyone can consider dog-training an unpleasant chore. It’s an ongoing process with a reward that’s far, far better than having a well-mannered dog or one who does tricks – although both of those things are very nice indeed. When Faith first touched the lid, heard the click and looked back, the world changed for us both:
We were communicating in a common language.
Different species, and we both at that instant were connected, forever. She knew it, I knew it and we both found it more than a little amazing, a special moment for us both.
How could you not get a thrill from something like that? To me, it’s a miracle, every time it happens.
Image: Faith, 10 weeks old yesterday, and very very tired from a weekend of puppy-fun-with-a-purpose.
Our Dr. Marty Becker will be visiting Sacramento for an event at the VCA Sacramento Veterinary Referral Center on Sunday, Oct. 18. His talk will focus on what pets do for us. He calls it “The Bond,” and there’s plenty of peer-reviewed evidence of all the ways that having pets makes our own lives better. Come find out!
