Breeze is teething...big time. It's like she took her dentures out. No teeth. All gums! I don't think I've ever had a puppy lose so many teeth all at once!
There were several big accomplishments this week. Only once accident in her x-pen at the training center. Otherwise, she's pottying on command and learning that she only gets to play and visit folks AFTER she's gone potty before coming into the building. (Otherwise it's into a crate for 10 minutes until we can try again.) Pottying on command away from home and on leash is hard for a lot of puppies, but it's well worth the effort, and if the owner is consistent, it's relatively easy.
Breeze also had her first opportunity to gait around the ring with the "big" dogs while my staff and I were teaching conformation class on Wednesday. I asked Ingrida to run the class so I could move Breeze in the line-up, and she did just as I expected. She tried to chase the dog in front of her, so I simply stopped and waited for her to ease up, then we resumed moving. (I forewarned the people behind me that's what I'd be doing so there wasn't a crash!) Surprisingly she didn't pay any attention to the Bulldog behind her; I expected her to be distracted by the different breathing sounds.
We're also working on the judge's exam for the breed ring. With Breeze on a grooming table (so she doesn't feel claustraphobic with people bending over her), I have my helpers feed her before and after I show her bite (or lack thereof). Then I feed her while the helpers go over her body. Breeze's job is to stand still, and the table helps control her movement.
A few more times on the table and we'll be ready to try it on the floor. Her floor exam work so far consists of standing still while the helper slips a cookie in her mouth before and after showing bite. We'll add the full body exam soon.
Breeze is also learning to lunge on a long line, just like a horse. She trots around me in a circle, looking straight ahead for the cookie that will magically appear somewhere. After a lap or so around me and while she's looking straight forward, I toss a cookie out in front of her and tell her it's okay to get it. If Breeze gets going too fast, I hold her back a bit until she resumes her trot. We practice a few tmes in both directions so she thinks it's a fun game. Right now she's about 10 feet away from me; eventually that circle will get bigger.
Since I just started teaching a new beginning agility class on Tuesday, Breeze had a chance to learn the baby equipment. She quickly learned to run the length of the dog walk (laying flat on the floor) and stop at the target plate. Short tunnels are great fun, and "jumping" over 6 inch jumps is pretty cool, too. The short pause table is fine but the wobble board is something she's not too keen on yet.
Walker, by contrast, was introduced to the wobble board at this age and after one day was pouncing on it, taking great delight in making it wobble and bang around. So far Breeze is happy to get on the board for a cookie while I keep my foot on one end so it's more stable. I'm waiting for her to become more intense about the board before I take my foot off and let it do controlled wobbling. Wobble boards are great introductions to teeter totters, as well as being excellent for conditioning young muscles. Here's a link to one type of board you can purchase (but they're also easy to make): http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=1704
It's going to be important for Breeze to have good muscle development and a proper introduction to the agility equipment. She's pretty fearless -- actually reckless is a better word -- around the house and yard. If I don't redirect her she will run toward me, launch herself, hit me with her front legs and bounce off, spinning backwards. She charges for toys that I throw, slides into them and spins around as her back legs slight out from under her. I remember when her mom, Cabe, was young she tried to run through a partially opened sliding glass door. Fortunately she didn't seriously injure herself! Cabe is still quite intense and energetic...not always making the smartest choices herself. And lucky for Cabe, Marsha keeps tabs on her!
Friday, September 23, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Fifteen Weeks
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| Spencer makes a great pillow and gives great tummy rubs! |
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| Basketball Babe at 15 weeks! |
We've started working on the "give" command. Her preference is to play tug-of-war, but she's already caught my hand with her sharp little canines and that hurts! So the tug game needs to be on a command and we play when it's my decision, not hers.
So far Breeze has one habit that's getting on my nerves: rippping grass out by the roots. Just when I think she'll entertain herself with some toys while I get some work done in the house, I come out 5 minutes later to check on her and there's a bald spot in her puppy pen. I'm correcting her when I catch her in the act and I've been able to stop her from going back to the same area by dousing it with black pepper, but considering I just had my lawn redone earlier this year this behavior doesn't make me too happy. (Fortunately I don't use chemicals on my grass because it's really a yard for the dogs.) I just keeping telling myself that it'll grow back and this phase will pass... I guess I've learned my lesson; now when I can't supervise her she's going in an x-pen on the covered concrete patio!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Greeting Belgian Puppies
During the month that I've had Breeze, a few people have attempted to greet her by doing what is traditionally thought to be proper puppy greeting behavior. The people have bent over, crouched down, and/or sat on the floor while "baby talking" Breeze. This confuses the heck out of Breeze, causing her to hit the floor and belly crawl up to the people. However, once I ask the people to stand up, act normal and talk to me (in fact just ignore her for a minute), Breeze jumps up, her tail is out and she is happily jumping up on their legs asking for attention.
Why?
Belgians (females in particular, even the puppies) are masters at reading body language. When greeting someone new -- that they believe they should respect (such as humans and other adult dogs -- see the photos with Breeze and Stella, below) -- many Belgians will show subordinate body language. This can be something as subtle as putting their ears back a little and/or lowering their tail a bit. I see this as a good thing; it means the puppy has been taught respect by its mother, littermates and breeder.
Unfortunately, the humans often read the puppy's body language as fear, so the humans become even more fear-inducing by also acting submissive. (Getting down low and talking in a high pitched voice equals submissive body language.) Then the puppy doesn't know what to think! Instinct and experience tell the puppy to show respect. When the puppy does show respect, and the human responds inappropriately by lowering his or her body to the ground and whining (baby talking), the puppy says "Oh my goodness, I thought this person was confident and dominant, and my job was to show them respect. When I tried to show them respect, they became submissive to me. Help! I don't understand! I don't know what to do!!!"
When the person (or dog) the puppy is greeting reacts in a neutral fashion, the Belgian puppy takes that as an invitation to come closer and say hello. This is how I want people to first meet Breeze: Ignore her. Stand up. Talk to me. Ignore Breeze.
What happens then, is Breeze reads the body language of the person I'm talking to. We both appear neutral. Neutral to a Belgian puppy is an invite to investigate. It only takes a second or two for Breeze to assess the situation and realize I'm talking to another normal human. She will then want to join in on the conversation. She is allowed to make contact first (I do allow her to jump up on adult friends at this point). Then, when the humans do turn to talk to her and pet her, her understanding of body language is reinforced. One meeting is all it takes to become Breeze's friend for life.
In addition, I'm teaching Breeze to "bait" off the judges for the conformation ring. Because her breeder introduced the word "treat" for puppy stacking (ears up, stand still & look adorable), I am using that with people who are pretending to be my judges. I say to Breeze, "Look...she has a treat..." and then I have my helper wiggle their fingers (that's holding a treat). When Breeze stands still with her ears up, my helper feeds her a treat.
I'll share a couple more greeting examples with Breeze and my other dogs.
Flame (10 year old Belgian Sheepdog) is a very dominant bitch that I bred. I know her like the back of my hand. Flame has no tolerance for young puppies. Breeze has known from day one that Flame is the alpha bitch in this pack. Breeze sees Flame giver her "the look" and immediately stops what she's doing. She's reading Flame's body language and the "the look" means "Watch your step, you brash little puppy!" Flame's look gets her what she wants (respect and distance), so that's all Flame needs to do. If Flame followed "the look" by getting low to the ground, whining while still showing dominant eye contact and ears, Breeze would be totally confused. She'd wonder if Flame was setting her up to be womped on! That's what some humans mistakenly do when greeting puppies! (Alternately, if Flame gave Breeze "the look" and Breeze responded with respect, but then Flame became more aggressive, that could cause Breeze to doubt her ability to read dog body language. That could result in Breeze becoming fear aggressive.)
The parallel with Flame's body language (above) and Breeze greeting humans would be a strange human, staring directly at her, with dominant body posture. That person's body language would be saying "Don't approach. Freeze." Wisely, Breeze would not approach. This has happened a couple of times when Breeze was in her x-pen at the training center. A person approached, head on, strong eye contact and dominant body language. Breeze froze in her x-pen. Then the person got down low, baby talking, but still giving strong eye contact. Breeze was so confused. But once I had the person change, Breeze immediately changed.
Tory (5 year old Belgian Sheepdog neutered male) is a goofy, happy-go-lucky boy. Hard to believe but he's Flame's son. I bred him. Tory loves everyone and he was the least dominant of the boys in his litter. It's only been in the past year or so that Tory will stand up for what he wants (such as a bone or toy if Flame attempts to steal it). He's always been at the bottom of the pecking order, and he's happy with that. Tory flirts with dogs and people, using his playful and inviting body language to get attention. When Tory gives Breeze this body language, she looks at him as a playmate -- not someone to respect. Tory does not get down on his belly; he is upright, grinning and "mirroring" back to Breeze the body language she offers him.
The parallel with Tory's body language (above) and Breeze greeting humans would be a friend who's casual and acts "normal" -- as though Breeze is just another one of my dogs. "Oh hi, how are you doing? How was your day? Want to go grab some dinner?" That's the way I want people to greet Breeze.
Walker (3.5 year old Belgian Sheepdog neutered male) is extremely dominant and self-confident. I did not breed him, but he was definitely one of he dominant puppies in his litter. I neutered him a year ago following some aggressive behavior that I did not want to see continue or passed on. Walker totally respects Flame and my 14 year old Schipperke, Journey. If Walker is in a crate and I go to let him out, Flame will go into the crate, grab Walker by the neck and haul him out. Walker totally accepts that. They then go outside to run and play together. When Flame is in the mood, she will allow Walker to rough-house with her, but as soon as she's had enough, he gets "the look" and if he doesn't stop, she pins him to the ground.
Walker doesn't know what to think of Tory. Walker shows Tory submissive body language, but being the dorky guy that he is, Tory doesn't respond as Walker's elder. Tory simply flirts with him. So, for those reasons, I don't leave them alone together unsuperivsed even though there has never been any aggressive behavior between the two males. My gut instinct is that they would get to running and playing too rough, and once Tory decided to stand up for himself, there could be an issue. Walker would rightly be confused if Tory finally stood up for himself, because Tory has never shown even the most subltle dominant posture towards Walker.
Yesterday morning in the house, I was taking Breeze out to go potty and had her on leash. Walker was in the house, walking along ignoring Breeze because he wanted to go outside as well. Breeze saw his "ignoring" behavior as an invitation so she jumped up and put her paws around his neck. It happened so fast, I didn't see it coming.
In a split second, Walker was standing over Breeze, who had flattened herself to the ground. He wasn't growling or acting aggressively; he was simply putting a stop to the unwanted puppy behavior. She responded appropriately by lying still. I sent Walker ahead outside, following with Breeze. Once Breeze was in her puppy yard, Walker arrogantly strutted past her a few times, did his business and then changed his body language to "Let's play chase." This game involves Walker running the perimeter of the play yard with Breeze chasing him from the inside. They then play bow to each other and play through the x-pen.
Had Walker given Breeze "the look" as Flame does, Breeze wouldn't have thought to jump up on Walker. In my experience, Belgian males are not as adept at the subtleties of body language. As she matures, Breeze is going to need to learn the differences in the ways males and females communicate.
To Breeze, Walker's neutral body language was an invitation for her to do what she wanted. Because she's an uppity puppy, what she did was too much. Walker told her so with appropriate body language. Breeze accepted it...but I fully anticipate she'll test the waters again.
There's been an interesting dynamic occur in my house with Flame since Breeze arrived. Flame is asserting herself as alpha more than usual, but in subtle ways that the average person would probably overlook. She will take a bully stick (chew toy) even if she doesn't want to chew on it. She will then lay it on the floor in front of her a few feet from where she actually lies down. She has put it out there as a way of saying "This is mine. Leave it alone."
That, of course, gets Walker all excited. He wants whatever he cannot have. He knows that he shouldn't try to take it from Flame, so he stands back and barks at her. He is trying to trick her into getting up to correct him for barking, so he can then zoom in and steal the stick. Flame is also choosing to take her naps in more dominant positions in the room.
I'll write about Belgians greeting children at another time, and share Breeze's experience doing a "photo shoot" last week with three very exciting children.
Why?
Belgians (females in particular, even the puppies) are masters at reading body language. When greeting someone new -- that they believe they should respect (such as humans and other adult dogs -- see the photos with Breeze and Stella, below) -- many Belgians will show subordinate body language. This can be something as subtle as putting their ears back a little and/or lowering their tail a bit. I see this as a good thing; it means the puppy has been taught respect by its mother, littermates and breeder.
Unfortunately, the humans often read the puppy's body language as fear, so the humans become even more fear-inducing by also acting submissive. (Getting down low and talking in a high pitched voice equals submissive body language.) Then the puppy doesn't know what to think! Instinct and experience tell the puppy to show respect. When the puppy does show respect, and the human responds inappropriately by lowering his or her body to the ground and whining (baby talking), the puppy says "Oh my goodness, I thought this person was confident and dominant, and my job was to show them respect. When I tried to show them respect, they became submissive to me. Help! I don't understand! I don't know what to do!!!"
When the person (or dog) the puppy is greeting reacts in a neutral fashion, the Belgian puppy takes that as an invitation to come closer and say hello. This is how I want people to first meet Breeze: Ignore her. Stand up. Talk to me. Ignore Breeze.
What happens then, is Breeze reads the body language of the person I'm talking to. We both appear neutral. Neutral to a Belgian puppy is an invite to investigate. It only takes a second or two for Breeze to assess the situation and realize I'm talking to another normal human. She will then want to join in on the conversation. She is allowed to make contact first (I do allow her to jump up on adult friends at this point). Then, when the humans do turn to talk to her and pet her, her understanding of body language is reinforced. One meeting is all it takes to become Breeze's friend for life.
In addition, I'm teaching Breeze to "bait" off the judges for the conformation ring. Because her breeder introduced the word "treat" for puppy stacking (ears up, stand still & look adorable), I am using that with people who are pretending to be my judges. I say to Breeze, "Look...she has a treat..." and then I have my helper wiggle their fingers (that's holding a treat). When Breeze stands still with her ears up, my helper feeds her a treat.
I'll share a couple more greeting examples with Breeze and my other dogs.
Flame (10 year old Belgian Sheepdog) is a very dominant bitch that I bred. I know her like the back of my hand. Flame has no tolerance for young puppies. Breeze has known from day one that Flame is the alpha bitch in this pack. Breeze sees Flame giver her "the look" and immediately stops what she's doing. She's reading Flame's body language and the "the look" means "Watch your step, you brash little puppy!" Flame's look gets her what she wants (respect and distance), so that's all Flame needs to do. If Flame followed "the look" by getting low to the ground, whining while still showing dominant eye contact and ears, Breeze would be totally confused. She'd wonder if Flame was setting her up to be womped on! That's what some humans mistakenly do when greeting puppies! (Alternately, if Flame gave Breeze "the look" and Breeze responded with respect, but then Flame became more aggressive, that could cause Breeze to doubt her ability to read dog body language. That could result in Breeze becoming fear aggressive.)
The parallel with Flame's body language (above) and Breeze greeting humans would be a strange human, staring directly at her, with dominant body posture. That person's body language would be saying "Don't approach. Freeze." Wisely, Breeze would not approach. This has happened a couple of times when Breeze was in her x-pen at the training center. A person approached, head on, strong eye contact and dominant body language. Breeze froze in her x-pen. Then the person got down low, baby talking, but still giving strong eye contact. Breeze was so confused. But once I had the person change, Breeze immediately changed.
Tory (5 year old Belgian Sheepdog neutered male) is a goofy, happy-go-lucky boy. Hard to believe but he's Flame's son. I bred him. Tory loves everyone and he was the least dominant of the boys in his litter. It's only been in the past year or so that Tory will stand up for what he wants (such as a bone or toy if Flame attempts to steal it). He's always been at the bottom of the pecking order, and he's happy with that. Tory flirts with dogs and people, using his playful and inviting body language to get attention. When Tory gives Breeze this body language, she looks at him as a playmate -- not someone to respect. Tory does not get down on his belly; he is upright, grinning and "mirroring" back to Breeze the body language she offers him.
The parallel with Tory's body language (above) and Breeze greeting humans would be a friend who's casual and acts "normal" -- as though Breeze is just another one of my dogs. "Oh hi, how are you doing? How was your day? Want to go grab some dinner?" That's the way I want people to greet Breeze.
Walker (3.5 year old Belgian Sheepdog neutered male) is extremely dominant and self-confident. I did not breed him, but he was definitely one of he dominant puppies in his litter. I neutered him a year ago following some aggressive behavior that I did not want to see continue or passed on. Walker totally respects Flame and my 14 year old Schipperke, Journey. If Walker is in a crate and I go to let him out, Flame will go into the crate, grab Walker by the neck and haul him out. Walker totally accepts that. They then go outside to run and play together. When Flame is in the mood, she will allow Walker to rough-house with her, but as soon as she's had enough, he gets "the look" and if he doesn't stop, she pins him to the ground.
Walker doesn't know what to think of Tory. Walker shows Tory submissive body language, but being the dorky guy that he is, Tory doesn't respond as Walker's elder. Tory simply flirts with him. So, for those reasons, I don't leave them alone together unsuperivsed even though there has never been any aggressive behavior between the two males. My gut instinct is that they would get to running and playing too rough, and once Tory decided to stand up for himself, there could be an issue. Walker would rightly be confused if Tory finally stood up for himself, because Tory has never shown even the most subltle dominant posture towards Walker.
Yesterday morning in the house, I was taking Breeze out to go potty and had her on leash. Walker was in the house, walking along ignoring Breeze because he wanted to go outside as well. Breeze saw his "ignoring" behavior as an invitation so she jumped up and put her paws around his neck. It happened so fast, I didn't see it coming.
In a split second, Walker was standing over Breeze, who had flattened herself to the ground. He wasn't growling or acting aggressively; he was simply putting a stop to the unwanted puppy behavior. She responded appropriately by lying still. I sent Walker ahead outside, following with Breeze. Once Breeze was in her puppy yard, Walker arrogantly strutted past her a few times, did his business and then changed his body language to "Let's play chase." This game involves Walker running the perimeter of the play yard with Breeze chasing him from the inside. They then play bow to each other and play through the x-pen.
Had Walker given Breeze "the look" as Flame does, Breeze wouldn't have thought to jump up on Walker. In my experience, Belgian males are not as adept at the subtleties of body language. As she matures, Breeze is going to need to learn the differences in the ways males and females communicate.
To Breeze, Walker's neutral body language was an invitation for her to do what she wanted. Because she's an uppity puppy, what she did was too much. Walker told her so with appropriate body language. Breeze accepted it...but I fully anticipate she'll test the waters again.
There's been an interesting dynamic occur in my house with Flame since Breeze arrived. Flame is asserting herself as alpha more than usual, but in subtle ways that the average person would probably overlook. She will take a bully stick (chew toy) even if she doesn't want to chew on it. She will then lay it on the floor in front of her a few feet from where she actually lies down. She has put it out there as a way of saying "This is mine. Leave it alone."
That, of course, gets Walker all excited. He wants whatever he cannot have. He knows that he shouldn't try to take it from Flame, so he stands back and barks at her. He is trying to trick her into getting up to correct him for barking, so he can then zoom in and steal the stick. Flame is also choosing to take her naps in more dominant positions in the room.
I'll write about Belgians greeting children at another time, and share Breeze's experience doing a "photo shoot" last week with three very exciting children.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Breeze and Stella
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| Breeze follows in her "Aunt" Stella's pawprints. |
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| Stella was bred by me and owned by dear friends, Alda & Luckie. Before we enjoyed a great BBQ, Breeze got to meet "Aunt" Stella. |
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| Although Breeze looks submissive in these photos, it was all an act. She was quite confident and brash at times. She knows how to use her body language to get what she wants! I'm introducing Breeze to dogs I trust, who will tolerate her uppitiness to a point, then appropriately put her in her polace. When Stella had enough, she let Breeze know! |
We spent the afternoon at Alda & Luckie's house where Breeze met Stella and Rain (Belgian Sheepdogs that I bred), as well as our friend Bill. Breeze hadn't met Bill or Luckie before today. She went right up to them, but her "style" of meeting new people is to crouch at their feet wagging her tail and then greet normally. Thirty minutes of playing with the dogs, exploring the yard and visiting the people and Breeze was ready for a nap in her crate while we had dinner. Tired puppy = happy Kathy!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Growing like a weed!
Even though I only have 3 large/wide steps from my kitchen to back patio and back yard, Breeze doesn't have the control or understanding to take them smoothly at top speed. The last thing I want her to do is face plant on the back steps, so I'm careful to supervise her when she's near them!
Tomorrow's big adventure will include a Labor Day BBQ at a friend's house.
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