The fun in raising a puppy...
 

It's funny to watch them explore their little worlds now with the large amount of curiosity that they have.

I set up a small (4'X4') x-pen for Luna downstairs and while she's not happy to be contained in it she has more than enough to do in there.

She's pouncing on the puppy pad in there in between taking bites of food or sips of water (not playing with her water bowl... yet).

She's also fascinated by the carabener (sp?) holding the two ends together. She's barking at it (play bark, play bow).

She's also flipping around the little toy in the air as you would expect a puppy.

And I spoke to soon about the water bowl...:rock_3

and the food bowl... :lol:

Edit: She jumps up and lands on the water bowl. As it flips over the floor making a loud noise she jumps back with the best look on her face. "What did I do? It was so fun!"

Her expression while playing (like this) is the same exact one our liter of Finnish spitz puppies had when they broke out of their whelping area one night (running around with the largest smiles on their faces, ears all the way back).

I'm not sure, but it seems this has something to do with instinctive reaction to ice. I saw puppy Lorka jumping like that not only on a metal bowl, but also on a freshly mopped floor, and on frozen poodles or lake.

And don't show her how you open the fridge, drawers, cupboards, windows, locks, etc. CSVs are excellent observers and like to imitate humans.:twisted: If they don't learn how to do it when they're still little there is some chance they will not be interestsd in them later. :)

Don't forget we have a very intelligent GSD and malinois (and the finkies were very bright, too). We don't deliberately teach them anything. Our GSD learned how to open the back sliding glass door (it does not have a handle on it).

She could also like metallic objects. A lot of working line GSD and malinois breeders will test their puppies' temperaments (and workability) by throwing keys into the puppy pen. Those that play with the keys would make better working candidates while those that didn't usually went to pet homes. Metal isn't something most dogs would want to play (chew) with and they make loud noises that they usually don't like.

Haha if chewing on metal makes them a good working candidate, my boy must be a champion! He completely chewed through the metal car barrier that kept him in the back of my truck [as well as eating the entire interior of three trucks now] chewed through a chain link dog kennel, and has chewed up multiple metal dog bowls. And with his pure strength he has broken two heavy duty wire cables, two leather collars, a choke chain and a prong collar. Have fun with your little monster!! :lol:

yes, my Tupac can open all doors and the special 'dog gate' and he learnt by watching me :roll:

and water!! my boy is obssessed,puddles ,lakes ,rivers even his water bowl :roll:

There are times when puppies are good...

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...na-feb27-1.jpg
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...na-feb27-2.jpg
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...na-feb27-3.jpg

(Don't worry - the wet spot on the puppy pad is from spilled water).

We took her to a dog show today for socialization and she did extremely well. There were a lot of rare breed people there (oddly) and everyone loved her - everyone was curious about her, the breed, what she's like. She was very polite to all the humans (I tried not to expose her to any other dogs except my own considering how clueless a lot of people at the shows are about their own dogs).

She went into the show like a trooper and didn't back down one bit.

We also wanted to take her to schutzhund for puppy play (and videos) but it got rained out. We'll try again next week.

Exactly this was my point!8) Lorka at the age of 4 month opened a window (turned the handle with her teeth and then pulled) and mastered the lock of the front door - she was able to turn it round twice! :shock: I may assure you nobody taught her these skills deliberately! :lol:

Yes! After repairing said hole he chewed though in the kennel, Loki quickly found an easier way to escape. He would simply stick his top and lower halves of his muzzle through holes in the chain link and effortlessly lift up, dehingeing the entire door and have free run around the neighborhood again! And of course, opening the door, or dissembling his entire sleeping crate was one of the first 'tricks' he ever learned!! I love how smart he is though!! :lol:

Her favorite game:

We now have a ceramic water bowl (heavier). She loves to jump with her front paws into it and splash the water in the bowl (and out of it).

Her favorite toy this morning was a piece of kobble that fell into it and was floating around in the bowl.

Splash splash!!

Apparently, this game is genetic.:lol:

In the summers, Anthea will place her whole front end in any bucket of water, anywhere - and submerge her whole head and forepaws - looks like a polar bear in the zoo. Then she splashes and throws water everywhere - her head always smells fresh! I get a kick out of throwing sinkable toys into a kiddie pool and letting her fish them out. :)

I'm not an expert by any means, by there definitely has to be a genetic or instinctual link to this game with the CSV. Splish, Splash, Kerplop!! Over and over and over...

Oh, keeping any water in the water bowl (for drinking) used to be such a challenge! I used to get so frustrated (as well as amused) that I ended up getting something like 10 different water bowls, hiding several in obscure places in the yard, and then only "showing" my non-CSV dog where they were so she could at least have some water to drink.

The plastic kiddie-pool did help some as well, regardless of whether it was summer or winter. Then I went through about 5 or 6 of those when my CSV discovered how fun it was to shred them apart.

Eventually the dunking and splashing wore off - at least in the drinking water bowl. :)

She is such a brat!!!

Tonight she grabbed one of my sneakers and started to run around with it (it was an older sneaker so I really didn't care too much about it).

I went over and started to play tug with her and she gave out the biggest and hardest growl I've ever heard out of a dog. Of course, I start to kiss her on the muzzle while she's still tugging and her growling gets more intense!!

I pick her up and she lets it all out - I didn't even know her lungs could power a growl like that!

I know it's important not to let her win in a case like this so as much as she growled, I didn't let her go, but I did when she was good.

Later on, we were playing and she was growling again, of course Maiya (our 9 year old Belian malinois - show lines / couch potato) hops behind her and starts to mount her (soliciting her to play). Maiya **NEVER** plays. It was funny to watch the two of them - Maiya was very gentle with her (can't say the same about Luna, though!!).

Marcy - what did you give us??

SHE JUST MARKED IN FRONT OF KIRI'S CRATE.

I was outside with her, she peed and pooped and then within a minute of being back in side she ran in front of Kiri's crate and peed, just a little.

It was clearly a MARK and not a pee.

To give you any clue...

Anthea lifts her leg to pee, if allowed, she tries to overmark every spot she detects. She is clearly in control, just below Roni (who mostly stays out of stuff, unless he is giving Bongo a reminder about leaving his beloved purple ball alone), within the pack. She established dominance over my GSD at 4 months of age - as soon as she came home, and has never been challenged.

Welcome to my world!

Marcy

Luna lifts her leg to poo sometimes.

Hahaha! :lol: Time to bust out the Nature's Miracle! ;)

Nah, tile floors, just some bleach spray and some paper towels.

Luna got a new toy today. Too bad I didn't record the whole ordeal, she was hopping around it for a few minutes before I took the video. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CacOdG2SJ94

Aww Luna is so cute! I miss having a puppy, though Flint still gets that excited every time he gets cow hooves!! :p

Awww, Luna's getting so big!! Her coat is coming in beautiful, is it as thick as it looks??