Puppy Blog 09 April 25

On Sunday 6th April I picked up Finn from his foster family. Finn is a kelpie puppy aged 16 weeks. I've been told he was rescued from a farm in NSW and taken in to care by Dogs4Jobs. (A quick plug for Dogs4Jobs: they do fabulous work in the rescue of working breed dogs. If you can donate or volunteer, please check their website)

I had forgotten how much mayhem one young dog can create. This blog may be a bit disjointed because I'm puppy-wrangling whilst trying to write. The first hurdle was to introduce Finn to my other dogs. Those who have met Indie know that she doesn't like other dogs. I was prepared for this to be a bit difficult, but was feeling a bit more comfortable to introduce Finn to Cleo, my Jack Russell. Initially Cleo was interested and pretty chilled, but when Finn decided that she was a chasey toy, she has decided she doesn't like him after all. Conversely, Indie was initially very anti Finn with lip curls and growling, looking away, avoidance. On Monday I had Indie and Finn off lead in my yard, fully supervised of course, and with Indie under voice control. After some posturing and avoidance, Indie initiated interaction with some circling and sniffing. Finn invited play with several play bows and eventually Indie joined in. They played a bit of chasey, and keepings-off with a toy. Indie is still keeping him in his place, and isn't keen on him when indoors, but it's a start. I feel more confident about them playing.

We immediately started teaching Finn about the rules of the house. We began with Not Jumping Up, and with Boundary Setting. He has to learn some manners. Then there were conversations about chasing and pouncing on Cleo. As she is 14 years old now, she doesn't need a puppy jumping on her, biting her, and generally being a pain.

Next we started on Sit. This was a bit challenging for him because of all the other things going on around him. We persisted and have fairly reliable responses now. Finn has to sit for his dinner. We don't approve of dogs leaping and snatching at their food dish. We also don't allow dogs to steal food from each other.

Day 2, Tuesday, I decided to fit Finn with a training halter. He wasn't listening to the pressure on the training collar, so the halter helps him to focus. He hated it. He tried all the tricks...pulling away, rolling, pawing at his face. Nothing worked for him, so he had a sulk-nap.

Over this time Finn has been on lead inside the house. This is to bond him to me, as well as keeping him controlled around the other dogs, and preventing him from getting into mischief. When I can't have him on leash, he goes into his crate. These are times like when I'm showering, when I'm cleaning or doing other chores, or when I'm preparing meals. Although he cries for a short while when placed in his crate, he settles fairly quickly and has a sleep. Finn sleeps through the night, but his body clock is set for a 6am wake up. So apparently now I'm a Morning Person.

Today is Day 3 of the settling in period. Today we have had the early start, Finn had breakfast and then a play in the back yard. Once my coffee began to take effect I fitted the halter and we worked on a few sits and sit-stepaways and then went for a short walk up the street. Although Finn is 16 weeks old, he's only just had his second vaccination. We don't know if his mother was vaccinated (we assume not) so I have to be careful about exposure to disease, particularly Parvo Virus. We walked on the hard surface footpath and minimised the amount of sniffing of grass. Parvo is transmitted via fecal matter and urine, so sniffing and eating grass in public areas can be very risky.

There is a critical period for puppy socialisation from ages 6 to 16 weeks. Puppies need to experience as much as they can in a safe and controlled way in this time frame so that they learn to be confident in new situations. Finn has shown lack of confidence to: the sound of the toilet flushing, walking up and down steps, walking on smooth tiles. We have worked on this already and he is far more confident about these things. On our morning walk he also experienced meeting a new person (and no jumping up), he saw an electric lawn mower, a lady walking with a pair of hiking poles, and a painter working on a house. We took the time for him to be able to observe and absorb these experiences and realise that nothing scary was happening. When we came home he had a nap in his crate, and then needed to go outside. After a playtime, he is now back indoors having a sleep.

Clients may have heard me talking about The Rule of Threes. This relates to the settling in period for a dog in its new home. The first 3 days are needed for the dog to decompress and adjust to their new environment. Finn adjusted quickly because he is clever, curious, and confident.

Over the next 3 weeks Finn will start to settle in and become more comfortable, allowing His true personality to emerge.  Focus: will be on continuing with the established routine, starting basic training, and positively reinforcing successes. 

After the first 3 Months I hope Finn will be fully acclimatised and bonding with us, his new family, thus allowing for more socialization and training. Focus: will be on continuing with training, socialization, and building a strong bond. 

Finn the black Kelpie

The Halter Sulk