Pups starting to go home

The babes are all leaving...and since many people are still asking about the pups..this handsome BC is available for adoption in NJ on Petfinder under NJ Puppy rescue or
Chris at rescue-me@earthlink.net

Brodie is neutered, up-to-date on shots & loves everyone!

He is a sun bleached red & white, very thin and recently rescued from a shelter. He has a great personality...so anyone who may be thinking of an adult please consider adopting him

So the pups are starting to go home and I have been so busy this week, have not been updating blog....

Cedar is in his new home with Rachel & family-went home on one of the most brutally hot days we have had this summer. Smart puppy, jumped into their pool, not once but several times!
Ash who is now FFlash in honor of his Mommas' Welsh name, went to his first trial this weekend and has already stayed in two hotels and logged 500+ miles on the road.

More updates to come...............

Learning Curve

First Real Training session last night, with each pup.
Since, the little monkies seem ready to learn new things...as evidenced by the escapees...spent time one-on-one "training". They got their first taste of string mozzarella cheese, which part of it is them learning how to take a treat...their depth perception is still limited.

So, each started the basics of a real recall, alerting to their name, Following and a little "circle" work at a trot, how to sit, and some agility basics-clicked for paws touching the down ramp of dogwalk and worked a very low jump bar on the ground or at 2" to see if they understood using their feet individually to step over and rocking back weight when a tiny bit higher. None knocked the bar, and all had very good style :-) On the plank, some even hopped on and waited for another click & treat....understanding duration this young??? Lily actually went into a perfect 2on2off on contact.....all was done in less than a few minutes- just a few reps of each, mixed with play. Some were able to focus longer, but I wanted to end while they were still interested. Played tug or chase me game after.

So, general observations about them..
Ash is very polite about taking food and gives killer eye contact already. He is also such a snuggler, that it is rewarding to him, to be petted...cheese is of course a big reward-but he closes his eyes and leans into you, just like Clayton....unless he was just tired. He is very smart, but not pushy, but does seem to rule the other boys a bit.....in a very quiet way. (Carole, don't have a heart attack....he will be fine with Mike, first to roll on his back with the big dogs....)
On the circle work, saw his little brain trying to understand not going into a full outrun circle in front of me. His momma has such a hard-wired balance point and wider working distance-he seems like at speed, he will have no problem with distance. Teaching him to be close with hand targetting, place of reinforcement rewards, tight turns over jumps as he gets older, will be important to teach him to be more flexible in his working space or he will be a huge jumper.
Aspen is the most independant about investigating new environments and may end up self-rewarding if given the chance by someone who doesn't understand BC's brains. So our session focused more on him seeing it was fun & rewarding to follow me and filter out distractions. He is such a happy-go-lucky pup, that once away from the litter, with a savvy person, he will do great. He is not a bossy pup, just has things to do and is pro-active about it. He is one of the first to throw himself into your lap, so the social aspect is there strongly.
Cedar was very interested in the whole session, but lower key about it like Ash, but goofier as is his style. He is such a dolphin, that working on a sit or at least not leaping into the air on his recall, was our main focus. I would actually teach him a default down for his recall-Aspen too.
He was very confident about the plank and has such nice rear angulation, jump bar exercise was a no-brainer. We used a piece of birch bark as tug toy afterward-so much easier to have pups that will value whatever you pick up!
Lily is smaller than her brutish brothers, so the plank exercise was very easy. She sometimes toes out slightly in the rear right now, but hard to tell if just developmental as then she will look very straight. She offered behavior very quickly and was one of the pups who waited on plank for release. She is such a cutey...and loves to play tug! She also gave great eye contact and seeks out your face, luckily sun was not out-her eyes are so blue, she needs shades.
Moss was VERY into training and complained bitterly while I worked with the other pups. He is very interactive and is a lot like his Daddy, although he has his Momma's eyes when training.

Wild puppies again sighted in the NH woods...

Aspen & Cedar take a field trip at the crack of dawn....

I let the pups out into their "yard" this AM. They have been really good about running down the stairs and going right outside-hardly using papers at night...anyway a bit later, I was trying to check my email and the neighbors Shepherd & little dog are raising a ruckus on the top of my fence line. They tend to run free, and actually live across the street, but this went on for awhile and since it was so early, I went to investigate.
Cedar and Aspen had somehow managed to flip the rock off of the bottom of the fence in one irregular spot, probably to go say hi to the two dogs-they are usually the first to seek out the older dogs...anyway, thank god for the little dog-who looks like a Corgi/Basenji mix-she kept them from going too far, with her barking! Both were exhausted and the one pic of Aspen soon after, he looks SO innocent. He really is a the adventurer!!!!

Want to thank everybody who has come to visit and help socialize the wild pups! They start to go home next week....which means life gets a little less busy & chaotic, but I also already start to miss them. They have such distinctive personalities and it is always interesting to me, to see how differently they react to different people. They also are ready to be more on their own though, and develop more of who they are as individuals.

Way too hot!

It is really blazing hot today! NH is not supposed to be like this.....
Anyway, yesterday was a very long day-spent as much time as I could with the pups, but work & life stuff kept pulling me away. Early AM, I expanded their fenced area to go up the hill and into the trees a bit-so they have more room to run. ...without "Aspen the Explorer" leading them on an expedition.
They are all starting to get nicknames added to their puppy name. Lily has become "Silly Lily", because I can see her crack herself up. Moss is "Moss the Magnificent" because for being the smallest, he has the biggest 'Tude. Ash is is "Mr Sweetface" and Cedar is "Mr Goof". They are already learning new things and I see major cause and effect understanding...so hard to know if puppy testing is even worth it on Saturday..learning so fast, I see them remember very specific things already.
Speaking of which..
I got home from agility class last night, to find the pupsters all downstairs!!! Not even a puddle anywhere...looked like they'd all been napping under the woodstove, but they were very happy to go outside and have a good romp for over the next hour in the dark... So unless they had help..I assume they figured out a way to move gate on door to upstairs. Little furry Einsteins..

Stairs and Stuff

After I posted the last update, had to get ready to go into the office and so brought the pups inside from playing. Almost all of the pups followed me up the stairs on their own! Then a few minutes later, getting ready to jump in the shower... I heard Moss' little voice. He and Aspen had figured out how to move the gate at the doorway upstairs, and were running around downstairs again! Ash & Cedar were halfway down as I swooped up their two bad brothers and returned them to the upstairs...of course they complained that their brilliance was not met with freedom.. My first thought was-be VERY careful of what you teach a Border Collie puppy....because they will always take it to the next step...the little imps!

Last night the pups were trying to give me a heart attack. They were scattering in all directions and flying down the driveway. I really need to put up some more temp fencing....or just have two free at a time, seems easier to redirect them to stay in the back. Lily had the zoomies last night, she was very funny. She also seems to be entering a mushy stage-showing a lot of submissive body language, not as body confident climbing like the boys right now, etc She and Cedar love flying up the "hill" and toppling back down, like kids rolling.. but she is definitely a girl. Aspen takes great glee in chewing on my flowers...Ash is almost the perfect puppy and really doesn't draw a lot of attention to himself..and then there's Moss....he is a handful!

Moss and Aspen are still the boldest. Cedar and Ash more middle and Lily is probably the softest right now...a few days makes such a difference at this age. The transition of learning at the supposed seven week mark and then the "fear" period always starts so much earlier with the BC's and the Aussie pups. They are all showing learning latency-Ash & Cedar were both more careful about going downstairs this AM. The first time, I expect them to be a little less cautious and make sure I help them. Once they bump themselves, etc they remember now. A couple days ahead of the developmental curve...but no surprise. Moss on the otherhand climbed the teeter last night, before I could stop him and fell off halfway off. Bumped his head, looked a little stunned and then climbed back on-he may never have a fear period :-)

Brilliant pups!!

When you see how brilliant little beings can be, that have only been on this earth for a few weeks... it is just amazing. I have been carrying the pups up and downstairs for last several weeks to hang out or go outside. When I am not home, they have the whole upstairs to romp in. So, yesterday, my back was a wee bit tired...and I decided to carry a couple down while encouraging the others to follow me. Moss was of course, the first to be up for the challenge and got a pretty good rhythm going. Cedar was next! Then this AM, they all did the stairs on their own.
Picture a full set of slippery, hardwood stairs-could be pretty daunting for some pups. Usually seems like going up is easier...but my back is thankful! Worked on their recalls and following me around last night-all are very curious exploring outside, but more responsive one-on-one. My neighbors scary Shepherd was patrolling the edge of my fence....if he tries to eat my pups...watch out for Mama Bear!

Pups & Visitors...

The litter's official photographer :-), Rachel, took some great shots of the pups yesterday...link to all below
http://www.flickr.com/photos/remcat/sets/72157600946371650/

Last couple of days have been too busy to write...pups have had many many visitors over the last week! Their personalities have really started to show and so now a bit easier to start figuring out who may be right for whom.
They are really exploring and climbing, and love the tree stumps in the woods. They also all have learned to lie down, head pointing downhill at the top of driveway embankment and make pebbles and rocks move...so they can chase them. Moss & Lily were first, but as of this AM, they all are doing it...observational learning?

So far, all seem to love everybody they have met, some are longer to hang around, but as I would expect they are all busy exploring the outdoors or checking out new stuff. I would rather have pups, that hit the ground running, than sit and wait to be shown. It may encourage more independence, but they all have the confidence to navigate new environments-which is more important right now. Not seeing much over-reaction to noises like the helicopters that go over us or the sound of motorcycles going up the hill. Cedar was a little more sound aware, earlier in the week, but seems to have worked it through. Nothing seems to bother Aspen-he is a such a happy little soul! Moss & Lily are too busy to notice and Ash is still somewhere in the middle.