On June 14, my husband and I picked up my newest pack member, a 7 week old Australian Shepard puppy we fondly named Rue. Now for any of you who know me you might be asking "7 weeks? isn't' that a little early Tracy??" and my answer is... yes it is. I am a big believer that more is more when it comes to puppies. The longer they stay with their mother and siblings the better. Those first weeks, well that is canine 101. Everything they need to know about being a dog is learned in those precious weeks. And if your new puppy is your only dog, I would definitely ask the breeder to keep them a little longer to get the most of this precious education. Sometimes circumstances don't work out that way and if you have to bring home a puppy early, it just means you will have to be even more diligent when it comes to socializing your new pack member. Here at Beyond Obedience our puppy would have many opportunities to meet and socialize with lots of dogs so I made an exception to my rule. Our first meeting with the breeder was a very positive one. The property was gorgeous and well maintained, and the puppies all had beautiful and clean enclosures with an outdoor view of the river ( breath taking!!!)
We were of course introduced to to the parents of our new puppy and all of the litter mates as well. All of the puppies rushed to the edge of the enclosure showing great curiosity and interest in meeting us. No puppy seemed shy or withdrawn. After saying hello to the crew, our new puppy was removed from the litter and put down on the ground and asked to follow us (with her mom of course ) to the garden where we were going to talk with the breeder. Of course ones first response to seeing such a cute puppy would be to pick them up and carry the puppy but as hard as it was to refrain from grabbing and cuddling that cute little face, I know the importance of what this breeder was trying to accomplish. This first meeting with us was critical. It sets the tone for the transition for this puppy. And this is probably one of the hardest transitions, from dog pack to human pack. This is not the time for love and affection. This time was to help the puppy understand that I was going to be taking over the role of its mother. And contrary to what our instincts tell us which would be to hold and cuddle and soothe, instead I need to prove to her that I have what it takes to take over this important role. Her mother provides her with security and guidance, and affection comes after all the needs are taken care of. You see, this walk to the garden, was the first walk with me. It was the first time she was asked to follow me and of course it made sense to her because her mom came with us. Once we reached the garden and sat down for a chat the puppy was again left on the ground to play with her mom but also check us out on her own time. Given the opportunity to smell us and take in who we are without us forcing ourselves on her is very powerful for a pup (and dog for that matter, it shows respect)
Our chat with the breeder was an hour long. Here she explained everything she had done with this litter and I was so impressed with her dedication to behaviour and making sure her pups had the very best start in life. Through emails back and forth prior to this meeting we had told her what we intended to call the puppy. She than started using her name when she worked with the litter. She demonstrated all the commands that the puppy already knew as a result of her dedication. Sure enough our puppy, not only knew her name but came when she was called. She had already started working on follow me and go pee pee commands. She told us that she gave a "DO DO" command and bed time and all the puppies knew (with the help of the adult dogs in the kennel I am sure) to be quiet. And although the puppies were not kept in crates she did whole heartedly recommend the use of one. She then gave us all the vaccination records and the rest of the deworming pills with a schedule of when they were to be taken and the guarantee for continued support for the life of the puppy. When it was time to leave there was no sad good byes, our puppy was tired from all the playing in the sunshine while we chatted, so we got in the car and made our way home.
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