Puppies hunting puppy chow.
Another pup playing with the lock wing pigeon.
More puppies with a pigeon.
The puppies are almost 10 weeks old and 3 of them will be leaving in the next few days. I still have a female pup that hasn’t sold. I have enjoyed the pups but now it’s time for them to go to their new homes.
I have continued to socialize them by having as many people as possible pet them. Almost every day someone comes by (some days several people) and we pet puppies. I had several days that up to 7 people came by but the best day was a total of 11 people interacting with the pups. The pups are used to people and really like them.
I clean the kennels and replenish the food bowls for them twice a day. Each time I feed the pups I play the Master’s Voice gun conditioning cd. I started playing the cd when the puppies were 3 weeks old and they are almost 10 weeks old now. They still should be introduced to the gun properly but this makes it easier.
Each day as I let them play in the yard I turn pigeons loose for them. I put a pigeon to sleep and hide it in the grass. As they come by they smell it and sometimes point but more often just pounce on it. The pigeon wakes and flies away and they chase a few steps. I, also, dizzy pigeons and throw them down in front of them. The pigeon usually hits the ground in front of them, sits for a second and flies away with the puppies right behind it. This makes them bird crazy. When I open the pigeon coop door I usually have a couple of pups trying to get into the coop.
When I turn the pups out to play they go all over my yard. My house is east of the dogs pens about 75 yards and there is a little wet weather creek about 75 yards west. They cross the fence to the north and play in the fence line. There is no fence on the south side and the cover gets pretty thick just off my place. They go into the thick stuff but not far. This gives them a large area to play in.
Yesterday, Dennis Garrison, a good friend and a buyer of one of the females, and I were sitting in the shade watching the puppies play. We heard one of the pups barking near the house then just a few seconds later 2 of them came running, just as hard as they could run, back to us. When they got close they sat down and stared at the house. Our cat came regally, walking slowly across the yard with her tail straight up. She may have been sauntering. She was a homeless cat when we took her in and she doesn’t like dogs. She knew she was the toughest thing out there.
I do a lot with the puppies, when I have a litter but when someone buys a puppy from me I want him to get the best puppy he’s ever had. Running in a large area gives them confidence. They learn to cross fences, ditches and to go into the cover. They see tall people and short people. They think everyone wants to pet them. They see enough pigeons to become bird crazy. They hear gun shots on the cd twice a day. In my opinion, this makes a confident, well socialized puppy. The next chapter in their lives will be dictated by their new owners.
Puppies
Teasing the puppies with a pigeon.
The puppies like pigeons.