Tate's Big Adventure

It is about a 2.5 hour drive to the Canadian border from our home so that made for a long day of getting Obi to his new home. Because Tate is a young puppy I didn't feel comfortable leaving her at home in a crate for 7-8 hours. She's too young (and mischievous) to be left loose and the last thing I want her to do is to start to potty in her crate when so far she is doing so well with her crate training.

Ready to head off down the path

So lucky little Tate got to come along on our drive north. She is an amazing traveller and doesn't make a peep when on the road. She rode in a small crate that was buckled into the car and had a bully stick and toys to keep her entertained.

"What the heck is that?"

The whale sculpture called for a closer inspection

After we handed poor car sick Obi over to his new dad we drove over to the Blaine Marine Harbour Park to walk along the paths. Tate enjoyed her chance to stretch her legs and she bounced along, looking for goose poop to snack on and anything new and interesting.

Searching for goose poop by the Semiahmoo Bay

It was a great trip for her and she seemed to really enjoy her outing.

Obi's Adopted!

Sweet Obi has scored a great home! He was adopted by a couple who adopted one of my foster dogs a couple years ago. 

His last night with us, snoozing with Chima

He'll be living up in North Vancouver, British Columbia where he'll get to hike, have lots of woods to sniff around in on walks and parents who both work from home for the most part. He'll also have a laid back Rat Terrier brother to keep him company. What Obi wanted most was a calm, loving home and that is exactly what he got. 

We draped everything in old rags for the drive north since Obi gets very carsick. Poor guy did not feel well

Today we drove him up to the Canadian border where we handed him off to his new dad. Poor Obi did not enjoy the drive up since he gets carsick. But he made it and quickly settled into his dad's car for the last leg of his journey home. 

He decided the cold wind was worse than a car ride and hopped into his new dad's car.

We've already seen a couple of photos on Facebook and he is doing great considering the long car ride and big upheaval he has gone through today. But happy times are ahead for him. This is his last move and he now has a terrier loving family of his own.

Hanging out with his new brother Django

Getting some lap time with his new mom

Play!

Sal decided she was ready to play today and Tate was more than ready!

Of course it can be a little scary for a 6 pound puppy to have an 18 pound dog chasing them so she was smart and engaged play from under the couch where Sal won't go. While she was a bit nervous during the play, she kept engaging  Sal so I let it continue. Once Sal seemed to be getting too intense I stepped in and had everyone take a break.

Chima tried playing too but was a bit unsure of this little snapping, barking creature. She chose to step away this time because she was feeling uncomfortable.

There is a fine line between play behavior and stalking/hunting type behavior and my two big girls are very prey driven. So I am very careful when they play with puppies to make sure everyone is having fun and that Chima and Sal aren't too worked up. I want things to stay safe and fun for everyone.

Experience

One of the most important job for puppy parents - a job that gives their puppy the best chance at a future that is happy - is to log in as many different experiences (in a positive, reinforcing way) as they can. There is a very short window when puppies are old enough to be away from their mom and littermates but still young enough that their brain isn't telling them that new/different things are scary.

Just taking a puppy around and "socializing" isn't going to work. In fact if it's not feeling like a positive experience you could actually be teaching the pup that being out and about meeting strange people is scary and uncomfortable.

I don't even really like the word "socialize" any more since so many people misunderstand it. Just getting exposure to people and other dogs isn't enough. Your goal is to squeeze in as many unique experiences as possible, all the while keeping things happy and positive. That means puppies getting to walk on different surfaces - grass, gravel, bark, tarps scratchy rugs.... It means experiencing lots of different sounds - vacuums, garbage trucks, ambulance sirens, doors closing loudly, dogs barking loudly behind fences, drive thrus where voices come out of a box.. And always when they are experiencing these new things it's important that their body language is relaxed and they are enjoying themselves. That means high value treats need to be flowing fast and steady and these new experiences need to be doled out in short but frequent doses. If they aren't relaxed you need to back up and break things down more.

Tate and I recently had our first "experience" outing to help her experience what life in the burbs is like for a dog. I put her in a small crate, belted it into the passenger seat and gave her a bully stick. Yum! She thought that was pretty great. Then off we went.

First stop was a Starbucks drive thru. She watched the screen a bit while it was "talking" and then I started popping little bits of treat into her crate. Yay! It was raining treats. Then up to the window where there was a stranger talking to me and reaching out the window towards our car. More treats and happy talk to her.

Then we were off to our second stop - the pet food store to pick up some puppy kibble. I shop at a small independent pet food store and the employees are great about helping out when I bring in dogs who are working on certain things. Since Tate hasn't had her 2nd puppy vaccination booster yet I couldn't put her on the ground. So instead we practiced just having people come up and say hi and pet her and give her treats. She did great! We bought her puppy kibble and then headed back to the car for home. Two different stops on our first outing was a lot of work.

When we got home she had a potty break and some tearing around time and then it was in the crate to rest up. All those new experiences worked her brain and she was ready to rest.

Chima Hates Puppies

I suppose "hate" is a bit strong. Let's just say Chima has a pretty rigid code of conduct for how dogs act and she doesn't cut puppies much slack for not knowing any better.

Chima checks out Tates crate to see if there is anything worth taking.

Obi and Frodo use body language as dramatically as they are able to try to get the point across to Tate that she is in their personal space. All of the looking away and turning their back is lost on her though and I have to watch to make sure the boys aren't getting overwhelmed and pushed around.

Frodo tells me that he is not happy about Tate stealing his new plush toy

Chima however has no problem giving a puppy the smackdown. There will be no jumping on her or biting at her face unless she initiates it. Puppies soon learn that her curling her lip means they have about 5 seconds to move out of her space before she gives them a face full of teeth and loud barking. It's actually a good amount of time if you think about it. She has given the warning and then gives time for the puppy to change their behavior to something more acceptable. If they don't choose to, she tells them more - um - firmly. While she sounds scary though, she doesn't bite or hurt the little ones. Instead she is just letting them know in the only way that seems to make them listen.

Dogs can be the best teachers. I'm not going to let Chima knock Tate around and I am not going to let her get bossy, but if Tate is behaving in a way that is irritating to most other dogs then it is in her best interest to learn through natural consequences what the result can be when you behave that way. Chima and Sal are more than happy to teach her those lessons. Some puppies aren't as confident and a quick curled lip is enough for them to get the message. Others like Tate will push boundaries so an adult dog who sets and maintains firm boundaries is great for them.

Chima, crated because during a short time out in the rec room she managed to break off one of her toenails. Poor girl. Not a typical time out for her. Usually she curls up on the couch and calms herself down. 

Sometimes Chima gets snarky when Tate isn't doing anything wrong and then she gets a time out away from the puppy to calm down and change her focus. Just a couple minutes which gives me time to change up the environment a bit so both Chima and Tate have a better chance at behaving the way I'd like them to behave. After all, it's my job to manage the environment so Chima and Tate are both getting what they need without the need of snarling and fights.

Tate Time

Little Tate has touched down like a 5 pound tornado whirling and leaping and leaving toys and irritated adult dogs in her wake.

Trying the leash for the first time and doing great

She's actually a very good little puppy for her age. She doesn't potty in her crate and because we are very vigilant on trips outside for potty time every 45 minutes there haven't been any accidents inside.

Obi is probably least thrilled with her, partly because he's too gentle to do much snarking at her and she likes to steal his toys. Frodo has the same issue. Chima and Sal have no such compunctions and Tate quickly learned that she needs to try to give them space.

Since it isn't fair to the adult dogs to have her mauling them all the time it's my job to run interference and keep her occupied and since she seems to have the attention span of a gnat it's a lot of work.

Attempting to get the adults off the couch to play with her

Pausing to come up with another strategy

Her crate has been set up to be as interesting as possible with squeaky toys and crinkly toys hanging from above and plenty of chew toys for a teething girl. It's important for her development to be out and about though so I'm careful not to overuse the crate. Short stints are enough to give the grown ups time to relax and also to give me time to get some things done without being on constant watch to make sure she doesn't have to potty and isn't bugging the other dogs.

Is she a handful? Absolutely. Young puppies are a full time job that comes with the weighty responsibility of setting them up with experiences that will allow them to grow into resilient, happy adults. She's been here less than 24 hours and we are already exhausted. But she is a nice little gal who I look forward to spending the next several weeks with.

Gerbil Ball?

I've always thought a large soft gerbil ball would be fun to try out with confident puppies. Well, Tate's temporary foster mom in CA found out that yes, they are fun for puppies.

She purchased a soft, pop up playpen for little Tate for her ride up to Washington. Since she hasn't had all her shots, she is called a "no paws on the ground" transportee or NPOTG. When drivers switch the dogs get a break to walk around on leash and potty but for puppies they have to stay off the ground. This way the transporters can open up this playpen, put in a potty pad and zip her in.

Well, is seems that they will also need to hold the playpen in place because Tate discovered that it is easy and fun to get around the house in her playpen. She turned it into a gerbil ball of sorts. I love seeing a confident active pup like this. Sure, she will keep me busy but at the same time, she is ripe for new experiences and I can't wait to give those to her.