Monday, March 31, 2008
15 weeks old and growing,
The next generation of guardians, I took this picture as all four of the pups took off to bark at something outside the fence
Enya, weighing in at 54 lbs only 15 weeks old, a big dog with a puppy brain
Enya and Cici
Cici enjoying a quiet moment on the couch with Kobi, I bring each puppy into the house for a while on most days
Everybody hold on to their chew toy
Cute huh? Samantha and Teddy.
But actually Samantha is quite a bossy little girl, and she quickly reminded Teddy that while it was okay for her to use his legs as a pillow, it was not okay for him to use her as a pillow
She keeps her head on his paw, while he is trying to figure out where to put his head, one can see the determination on her little face to demand her space, nobody leans or bumps on Sammie girl without her letting them know that this is not appropriate with a little grumble
you can just see the little wheels spinning in her head as she is pushing herself against Teddy who is trying to mind his own business
My globe willow tree in the dog run is sprouting new leaves and the puppies immediately discovered the new shady spot
Sweet Teddy boy
wrestling games, Teddy seems to always be on the bottom of the pile, just a laid back little guy
Teddy again on the bottom and the two girls "harrassing" him, he enjoys it though
Teddy taking it all in stride
Teddy loves to hang out with the adult males, I take him for walks with my intact male Great Pyrenees, here he walks along with Zazou and he loves to play with Kobi
Walking with Zazou, who is really not a "doggie dog", he very rarely gets playful with other dogs, when he first came here he was not sure of other dogs, he was aggressive with Nanuk, scared of little dogs and even puppies. These days he is not scared anymore of new dogs, he has adjusted really well to other dogs, including visiting dogs. Who says that old dogs can't learn new tricks?
Teddy and Zazou
Little Cici exploring the table
look I can get all the way up there
Zazou and the girl puppies
Teddy looking at a raven in the sky, all of the puppies are getting very alert to big birds in the sky
Teddy and Sophie my rooster
Samantha and Sophie the rooster
Sophie and Bella seem to be curious as to what the puppies are eating
When I came out of the house I couldn't see the puppies, as I walked around I noticed that all 4 of them had moved down where the goats are and sat right next to the goats. Seems like they enjoy the company, as they have plenty of other shady spots to choose from and I see them next to the goats a lot.
Kobi the terrier is chewing on a small piece of rawhide, the puppies are hoping to snatch it from him
Enya tries the paw
Enya patiently waiting
getting a little bit closer
Kobi and Enya
Kobi stepped down one step "what are you going to do now" he is asking Enya here
there they go, Enya in hot pursuit of Kobi in the forground
Something got both the chicken's and Samantha's attention and they both looked at that direction at the same time
Sammie and Lucie
Sammie takes a nap in the chicken yard
looking after a big black bird flying over
Sammie hopes the chicken is up for a round of play, she really wants to play with the chickens sometimes, so I am restricting her time in the chicken yard to only very closely supervised visits to reinforce appropriate behavior. This is a little experiment for me, as I think that if playful behavior at this age isn't allowed to be acted on by the puppy, which would be a self reinforcing behavior, that they will outgrow that phase and once it has passed, they should be able to be around the chickens without the desire to play.
The next generation of guardians, I took this picture as all four of the pups took off to bark at something outside the fence
Enya, weighing in at 54 lbs only 15 weeks old, a big dog with a puppy brain
Enya and Cici
Cici enjoying a quiet moment on the couch with Kobi, I bring each puppy into the house for a while on most days
Everybody hold on to their chew toy
Cute huh? Samantha and Teddy.
But actually Samantha is quite a bossy little girl, and she quickly reminded Teddy that while it was okay for her to use his legs as a pillow, it was not okay for him to use her as a pillow
She keeps her head on his paw, while he is trying to figure out where to put his head, one can see the determination on her little face to demand her space, nobody leans or bumps on Sammie girl without her letting them know that this is not appropriate with a little grumble
you can just see the little wheels spinning in her head as she is pushing herself against Teddy who is trying to mind his own business
My globe willow tree in the dog run is sprouting new leaves and the puppies immediately discovered the new shady spot
Sweet Teddy boy
wrestling games, Teddy seems to always be on the bottom of the pile, just a laid back little guy
Teddy again on the bottom and the two girls "harrassing" him, he enjoys it though
Teddy taking it all in stride
Teddy loves to hang out with the adult males, I take him for walks with my intact male Great Pyrenees, here he walks along with Zazou and he loves to play with Kobi
Walking with Zazou, who is really not a "doggie dog", he very rarely gets playful with other dogs, when he first came here he was not sure of other dogs, he was aggressive with Nanuk, scared of little dogs and even puppies. These days he is not scared anymore of new dogs, he has adjusted really well to other dogs, including visiting dogs. Who says that old dogs can't learn new tricks?
Teddy and Zazou
Little Cici exploring the table
look I can get all the way up there
Zazou and the girl puppies
Teddy looking at a raven in the sky, all of the puppies are getting very alert to big birds in the sky
Teddy and Sophie my rooster
Samantha and Sophie the rooster
Sophie and Bella seem to be curious as to what the puppies are eating
When I came out of the house I couldn't see the puppies, as I walked around I noticed that all 4 of them had moved down where the goats are and sat right next to the goats. Seems like they enjoy the company, as they have plenty of other shady spots to choose from and I see them next to the goats a lot.
Kobi the terrier is chewing on a small piece of rawhide, the puppies are hoping to snatch it from him
Enya tries the paw Enya patiently waiting getting a little bit closer
Kobi and Enya
Kobi stepped down one step "what are you going to do now" he is asking Enya here
there they go, Enya in hot pursuit of Kobi in the forground
Something got both the chicken's and Samantha's attention and they both looked at that direction at the same time
Sammie and Lucie
Sammie takes a nap in the chicken yard
looking after a big black bird flying over
Sammie hopes the chicken is up for a round of play, she really wants to play with the chickens sometimes, so I am restricting her time in the chicken yard to only very closely supervised visits to reinforce appropriate behavior. This is a little experiment for me, as I think that if playful behavior at this age isn't allowed to be acted on by the puppy, which would be a self reinforcing behavior, that they will outgrow that phase and once it has passed, they should be able to be around the chickens without the desire to play. 
Sunday, March 16, 2008
13 weeks old,
My little yard helpers checking for irrigation hoses that need to be replaced. They are very thorough with their work, checking the system inch by inch. All I have left to do when they are done is replace the parts that have punctures.
Nanuk and Teddy making friends, Teddy has the most exxagerated submissive tail wag I have ever seen, his whole rear end swings back and forth, in this picture you can't even see the tail anymore. He looks like a Spanish dancer stepping from side to side moving out of the hips if that makes sense.
The Boys, I am hoping that by taking these two for walks together and spending time with guardian duties together that they will get along as Teddy grows up
Teddy trying to hold on to Midgets rope leash
Teddy is using Calming Signals as Midget gets closer
when she walks his way he gets out of her way, smart puppies, they are very respectful towards the goats
Enya is curious about Midget
checking each other out from a distance
When Midget steps towards her Enya gets out of her way, I am really glad that all my puppies have enough sense to get out of the goats' way instead of trying to play with them. All my goats are quite feisty and will butt a dog that is a little bit too curious. I don't want the puppies to be injured, so I am taking my time with the introductions. There is no rush as far as I am concerned, the puppies are always near the goats, and as the goats get used to them they will be less likely to butt them when they get together.
Enya and Midget
Teddy spending time with his mom in the chicken yard, he is wonderful with the chickens
Leydi and my rooster Sophie
Enya and Sammie playing in the mud
all 4 puppies playing in the mud
Puppies playing, having 4 puppies is actually a good number, they tend to play in pairs, they all run around together, it's really nice that they have playmates their size and age, it never gets boring to watch them play
Enya standing in the mud
Mud puppy Sammie
Teddy with muddy paws
Sammie and Teddy playing
Handsome Teddy
My sweet boy Teddy
Samantha in the chicken yard, last weekend she was really interested in chasing the chickens, so I didn't bring her back for a week to see what would happen, this weekend she was back to being nice and appropriate around the chickens. I think some livestock guardian puppies go through stages when they want to chase/play with livestock, I am curious if this can be corrected simply by taking away the temptation/opportunity by removing them during those times and then to try again after a few days, sometimes maybe weeks to see if that phase has passed. We will see.
Enya, her paws are officially as big or maybe even bigger than her mother's
Enya just had to check out the pain brush and what I was doing, she got purple and white paint all over herself
Leydi, she really enjoys the company of her puppies, she plays a lot with them, she also very stern in her demand for respect, what's interesting is that when I give her some raw chicken, she sometimes lets the puppies take it right out of her mouth, they just go and grab it and she lets them do it, when at other times she has a chew toy or a bone and she will fiercely defend it and not let them touch it. I think this is really a good example that this "alpha theory" stuff is much misunderstood, as many people believe that the "alpha" or the leader should always eat first. I think this is not correct, what happens is that the leader decides who gets to eat first, if the leader, in this case Leydi, decides that the puppies can have her food, she will let them take it, she could easily hold on to it and tell them to go elsewhere, but it's her decision to let them eat first and the puppies know it, they don't challenge her when she tells them to leave it alone.
Enya has some black hairs growing in on her back, will be interesting to see if she gets them elsewhere or just on the top, it gives her tail a striped appearance
Sammie, her coat is really interesting, it is a light bisquit color on the outside, but underneath it is a dark gray
Sammie stretching her long legs, one can see how dark her coat is under all that blonde hair
Enya found herself a shady spot amongst the weeds
it also allows her to keep an eye on her surroundings when she can hardly be seen
can't think of anything to say about this
other than that he is certainly alive, after napping in the little hole, he sprung quickly into action when he heard something
My little yard helpers checking for irrigation hoses that need to be replaced. They are very thorough with their work, checking the system inch by inch. All I have left to do when they are done is replace the parts that have punctures.
Nanuk and Teddy making friends, Teddy has the most exxagerated submissive tail wag I have ever seen, his whole rear end swings back and forth, in this picture you can't even see the tail anymore. He looks like a Spanish dancer stepping from side to side moving out of the hips if that makes sense.
The Boys, I am hoping that by taking these two for walks together and spending time with guardian duties together that they will get along as Teddy grows up
Teddy trying to hold on to Midgets rope leash
Teddy is using Calming Signals as Midget gets closer
when she walks his way he gets out of her way, smart puppies, they are very respectful towards the goats
Enya is curious about Midget
checking each other out from a distance
When Midget steps towards her Enya gets out of her way, I am really glad that all my puppies have enough sense to get out of the goats' way instead of trying to play with them. All my goats are quite feisty and will butt a dog that is a little bit too curious. I don't want the puppies to be injured, so I am taking my time with the introductions. There is no rush as far as I am concerned, the puppies are always near the goats, and as the goats get used to them they will be less likely to butt them when they get together.
Enya and Midget
Teddy spending time with his mom in the chicken yard, he is wonderful with the chickens
Leydi and my rooster Sophie
Enya and Sammie playing in the mud
all 4 puppies playing in the mud
Puppies playing, having 4 puppies is actually a good number, they tend to play in pairs, they all run around together, it's really nice that they have playmates their size and age, it never gets boring to watch them play
Enya standing in the mud
Mud puppy Sammie
Teddy with muddy paws
Sammie and Teddy playing
Handsome TeddyMy sweet boy Teddy
Samantha in the chicken yard, last weekend she was really interested in chasing the chickens, so I didn't bring her back for a week to see what would happen, this weekend she was back to being nice and appropriate around the chickens. I think some livestock guardian puppies go through stages when they want to chase/play with livestock, I am curious if this can be corrected simply by taking away the temptation/opportunity by removing them during those times and then to try again after a few days, sometimes maybe weeks to see if that phase has passed. We will see.
Enya, her paws are officially as big or maybe even bigger than her mother's
Enya just had to check out the pain brush and what I was doing, she got purple and white paint all over herself
Leydi, she really enjoys the company of her puppies, she plays a lot with them, she also very stern in her demand for respect, what's interesting is that when I give her some raw chicken, she sometimes lets the puppies take it right out of her mouth, they just go and grab it and she lets them do it, when at other times she has a chew toy or a bone and she will fiercely defend it and not let them touch it. I think this is really a good example that this "alpha theory" stuff is much misunderstood, as many people believe that the "alpha" or the leader should always eat first. I think this is not correct, what happens is that the leader decides who gets to eat first, if the leader, in this case Leydi, decides that the puppies can have her food, she will let them take it, she could easily hold on to it and tell them to go elsewhere, but it's her decision to let them eat first and the puppies know it, they don't challenge her when she tells them to leave it alone.
Enya has some black hairs growing in on her back, will be interesting to see if she gets them elsewhere or just on the top, it gives her tail a striped appearance
Sammie, her coat is really interesting, it is a light bisquit color on the outside, but underneath it is a dark gray
Sammie stretching her long legs, one can see how dark her coat is under all that blonde hair
Enya found herself a shady spot amongst the weedsit also allows her to keep an eye on her surroundings when she can hardly be seen
can't think of anything to say about this
other than that he is certainly alive, after napping in the little hole, he sprung quickly into action when he heard something 