Puppies finding dog food in the grass.
Hunting dog food.
Puppies finding dog food in the grass.
The puppies are still pulling a little rope from their collars. Every once in a while I see a puppy pulling one of the others around by the rope. They won’t be totally broke to lead just because they pull each around but it will make them easier to train. Either putting them on a chain gang or staking them out while you train other dogs really helps.
They are also still listening to the gun shy prevention cd, from Master’s Voice, twice a day. The gun should still be introduced in the right way but the cd makes it easier.
Tuesday morning I started writing down how many people came by and petted the puppies. In the 5 days, Tuesday through Saturday, there were 22 people that interacted with the puppies. It’s not always that way but this last 5 days they were well socialized. I do have as many people as possible pet them from the day they are born. This does cause the puppies to really like people. They think everyone wants to pet them.
Each day when I turn the pups out I throw some Puppy Chow in the grass in front of where I’m going to sit. This causes the pups to learn to use their nose. I keep dog food in front of them all of the time so they aren’t hungry but it’s like us finding Easter eggs. They run and fight then come back for a few pieces of dog food then run off again.
I also, get a pigeon from the coop, call the puppies to me, tease them with the bird and let it fly away. They chase a little way but the pigeons are too fast. Occasionally, when the pups are away from the area I’m in I put a pigeon to sleep and hide it in the grass. The puppies come back and either smell the pigeon or see it. The puppies pounce on the pigeon and it flies away.
Whenever I want the puppies to come to me I clap my hands and call over and over, here puppy, here puppy. Usually, they come to me at a dead run. When it’s time to go back to the kennel I also call them while I clap my hands real loud. I throw feed pans, buckets and anything else to make noise. When I wash out the feed pans and fill the water buckets, for all of the dogs, it makes a lot of noise. I want the puppies to know that when I’m around there is going to be a lot of noise.
I got an English Cocker Spaniel from a friend and threw it in with the English setter pups. The English Cocker is 6 days older than the setters. I brought him over late one evening. I turned all of the puppies out together in the yard. This was the first time the spaniel had been away from home, the first time of meeting other puppies. He was a little shy and the setters started picking on him. I felt sorry for him but I had nothing else I could do with him. I let them play and fight for about 45 minutes then put them all in the kennel.
The next morning when I went down to the kennel, the pups had worked it out. The spaniel was shorter but heavier than the setters. He was no longer shy. He was holding his own and then some. I got a pigeon from the coop and held it in front of the spaniel then let it fly away. The pigeon dropped some and as it flew away it’s wings hit the ground making a lot of noise. The spaniel shied from the noise. That was my fault. I should never have introduced the pup to a bird when it wasn’t used to the kennel. I had been doing this for awhile with the setters. I just didn’t think about it.
Over the next 2 or 3 days I held a pigeon in front of the spaniel and teased him with it. I held it high enough that it didn’t make much noise as it flew away. When I would tease him the setters would come around trying to take the pigeon from me. When it flew away the setters would chase. Finally, he started chasing, too. Now he’s as crazy about the birds as the setters are.
When people bring young dogs over to work them on my pigeons I always introduce the pigeons in a non-threatening way. I didn’t do it on my own dog. My mistake. It’s always better to go slow than to hurry any dog training.
Tonight I had my wife, June, come down to the kennel and take pictures of the me teasing the puppies with some pigeons. I used 4 or 5 pigeons. The puppies would scatter out playing and I would call them to me. Usually, I had a pigeon in my hand so I couldn’t clap but after a couple of pigeons the puppies came running when I called.
I have 2 of the puppies sold and they will be leaving soon. I still have 1 male and 1 female for sale. I like to keep the puppies at least 8 weeks and it’s probably better to keep them together for 10 weeks. I think the 2 I have sold will be here until they are 10 weeks old. The pups learn how to be a dog if left in the pack.
The puppies are getting active enough I can start taking them on walks. I will put some pigeons in a bag and throw some as we walk along. I will also, put some of the pigeons to sleep and hide them in the grass then call the puppies back to find them. This is fun for me as well as the pups.
As long as I have them with me I will keep introducing them to as many different things as I can. This makes bold confident dogs and I want people that buy my pups to get the best dog they have ever had.
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Teasing the puppies with a pigeon.
More puppies with a pigeon.
The puppies like pigeons.