It's a beautiful day

Today we are going to have a beautiful day - sunny and warm, with the temperature in high 40s. Finally, it feels like spring is going to come after all.

Puppies started the day with a long walk in the field, and now they are in our puppy yard, where they can bask in the sun and explore new setup. They are having a lot of fun checking things out. Tomorrow they are going to be eight weeks old so I shot some closeups of their faces.

To the right Olive

Ollie

and Ollie again

Olive and Ollie

Olana

Olana, Oak in the background

Oak

By the way, today we weighed puppies and their weights are:

Oak 3150 gr

Ollie 2890 gr

Olana 2830 gr

Olive 2430 gr

Pups were dewormed today with fenbendazole, and we will repeat this treatment on Sunday and Monday.

Playing in the rain

Today we let pups out when it was pretty wet outside due to the light rain and drizzle. Puppies have to be exposed to all kinds of situations when they are young, and a bad weather is one of them.

To the left - Ollie on the front porch


Pups were surprised by the wet deck but did not mind.

Oak marching on the wet gravel.

Olana

Wet grass? No problem!

Following John to the barn.

Pictures from the field

Last night it rained and most of the snow has melted. It was quite mild today so we went for a walk. These walks in our field give pups a good opportunity to use their noses and muscles, and when they get home they are tired enough to snooze quietly in crates.

To the right - Olana


Emma loves to run, and pups try to keep up with her, of course unsuccessfully.

Hey Mom, slow down, wait for us!

Oak is a handsome male, masculine and strong.

Ollie investigates the brush pile.

Oak

Pups are weaned now, and eat four meals a day. Today they had a mix of ground chicken and veggies for breakfast, and turkey necks for lunch.

It is snowing again

Yesterday puppies turned seven weeks old. We had our friends over but somewhow we forgot to take pictures. Anyway, puppies are very good with people and don't show any signs of timidness.



Today winter came back, and we got some snow and sleet. Pups are not concerned about the cold and wet weather, and they are happy to go outside to run and play.



To the left - Olana





This picture shows Olana and Olive frolicking in the fresh snow.

This is Olive who is starting to grow some hair. Now I am pretty sure that she is not going to stay smooth but will have a very tight wirehaired coat.

Olana

and Olana again

Ollie checking things out.

Oak and Ollie

Oak

Ollie

Brush piles busters in training

Today puppies went to our fenced in grounds where we maintain a good habitat for rabbits. Emma and Asko came along.


Well, first the pups had to go a few stairs down, which was not a simple matter as the steps were too high for them. Oak just jumped off the deck as he could not be bothered with the stairs. Others have to be helped.

Then after a short walk across our front lawn, pups got into our fenced in area. Having Asko there helped a lot as pups wanted to follow him and he did not mind.

Pups really enjoyed going under the piles of dry grass and brush.

Emma and Asko were their role models but they really did not need much help.

Altogether we were out for 40 minutes, and pups enjoyed the exercise. When we came back home, they were tired and did not protest when I put them in crates.

Emma does not let them nurse any longer so we cut down her food and now we feed pups four small meals a day.

Few pictures of Oak

Today I took some pictures of puppies, and the ones of Oak turned out the best.

Vegging out

It has been brutally cold outside so today puppies had to stay inside. They usually spend part of their day with us in our kitchen and dining area.

I am impressed how stable the pups are. Today a plastic bowl fell down on the floor nearly hitting Ollie, but nobody panicked. The pups were startled for just few seconds but then they quickly went back to play.


Ollie and Olana

Oak and Olive

How to condition blood tracking puppies

Yesterday we exposed puppies to a short blood line, and they showed a lot of interest in the scent. Since the line was very fresh, pups actually were licking drops of the deer blood off the grass blades and ground.

The picture to the left is of Olana trying to get to the blood.






Besides "working" puppies on a short and fresh blood line, we also played with puppies by dragging a deer liver on our front lawn. First we actually teased them with a big chunk of deer liver. They certainly liked it and got fired up.

Then John dragged the liver in front of the puppies. This kind of exercise stimulates and awakens puppies' prey drive .



Finally pups had to use their noses to follow the scent. We do not consider this kind of exercise as a serious training but rather conditioning.




After were were done with the blood, pups spent some time playing. There is a lot play fighting going on these days.

Here we can see Olive dominating Ollie. Even though she is the smallest, she is quite fiesty and dominant.


















Oak could not resists and got into the action too. He is a very laid back pup but at the same time he is quite possessive. We will be learning more about the pups' personalities in the next few weeks.

Now that pups are six week old this week we will be working on:

crate training
isolation conditioning
human-dog socialization
tracking exercises

This week we will start taking pups on short car trips.

A busy day for puppies

Today puppies are six weeks old, and they had a very busy day. We expect quite a bit of snow tomorrow so we had to take advantage of today's relatively good weather.

In the morning I took puppies to our doggy yard (it was their first trip there) where they could meet some adult dogs. It is easier to manage new encounters like this outside where dogs do not feel cornered or crowded and can get away from puppies if they want to.

To the right - picture of Joeri and Ollie


Puppies had a chance to socialize with Asko (their great-grandsire), Billy (their uncle) and Joeri (their sire). Asko and Billy know all about young puppies and they have no real interest in them. However, Joeri was fascinated by them. All went well and everybody had a good time.

The the right - Joeri and Olive. BTW, puppies got new collars few days ago, and right now Olive is without collar as I discovered that I don't have a yellow one for her.


This is Olive with Asko, while Joeri watches both of them. Even though Asko is almost ten years old, he does not look his age, and he behaves himself very much like a puppy.

Emma got busted by puppies but she managed to get away after 30 seconds or so. While she is in the house she still spends a lot of time with her pups. Once outside, however, the only thing on her mind is hunting.


In the afternoon puppies were exposed to deer blood and liver, but we will write more about it tomorrow.