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| Starting to interact with each other |
This week, between the ages of 14-21 days, is considered the transitional week from a neonate to a dog. Among those changes are eyes and ears opening, more exploration of the world around them with their mouths, and elimination without stimulation. Sophie's ears and the other pups' legs are prime targets for mouthing. They are also licking things more. I caught Honeybee suckling on Cricket's foot a few days ago. She moved too quickly before I could get a good picture.
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| Honeybee suckling Cricket's paw |
Junebug also thought my sister's face was a good suckling option.
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| Junebug |
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| Junebug, making a run for it |
As the puppies are starting to eliminate on their own, they naturally want to move outside their sleeping area to relieve themselves. So to capitalize on that innate desire and help start the house-breaking process, I moved the whelping box into the dining room with an extra space outside the sleeping area for elimination. Honeybee is my potty-training over-achiever. She goes out to the potty area quite often. Cricket is not far behind. The trouble is that they aren't quite proficient on all fours yet and sometimes will get semi-trapped in the potty area because their back legs slip out behind them. I put paper down first, but that didn't give them enough traction on their back feet. Now I've got towels there, which seem to be better. Once they can walk more steadily, I will use paper. This will facilitate the house-breaking efforts in their new homes as well because the new owners will be able to put paper in the area of the yard that they want the puppy to use in order to "prime" that space as the elimination station. After a short time, that area will smell like the place to go and paper will no longer be necessary.
After the pups are in their new homes, it will be important that they get used to relieving themselves on a variety of surfaces -- dirt, grass, gravel, concrete, for example -- because you want them to be able to eliminate on appropriate surfaces that they might not be accustomed to using. Many years ago, Lucy came home to me during the fall in Virginia. I chose an area under the trees off to the side of the yard as the potty area. I even (sort-of) trained her to
eliminate on command. Months later, I was walking her on leash at a hotel where there was very little grass or dirt. I kept walking and walking and repeatedly commanding her. She kept sniffing and sniffing. I knew she had to go, but she just couldn't find that perfect spot. Then BINGO. She found a forlorn little pile of leaves along the curb and finally peed. It wasn't until that moment that I realized the strength of association these puppies form while young and in training. To Lucy, "do the macarena" meant pee on leaves, not pee on concrete. This is one of the important lessons for us to learn so that we train our dogs more effectively. To a dog, the location, body posture, tone of voice, etc. are all part of the command, not just the word that we've chosen to label an action. To really train a reliable recall, for example, we have to train not just in our own backyard, but in lots of other safe locations until "come" means "come" everywhere and anywhere.
