I am aways sorry to see them go.  I think “they are too young to leave their Moms and Sibs.  Who will they have to play with?  Who will teach them the way of the Dog?”.

In reality, I know these are really lucky puppies, each going to wonderful families, eager to have them join their lifestyle.  But I am always a bit sad to see them go!  In the end, though, I don’t lose a puppy, I gain some new friends.

The weather here has been terrible.  Storms and  tornado last week and again last night 70 mile an hour winds and tornados were about 5 miles away.  Too close to call till they had passed.

For those puppies that are leaving, here is a snapshot in their lives.    A photo display  is also available at Puppy Farm Life.

Friday was the pups first visit to the vet and first long “road trip”.  Everyone was perfect.  One upset stomach but no fussing or crying.  They took the vet office with quiet, contained  interest.

The puppies are sleeping on a quilt on the back porch outside my french doors.  There are several crates out there full of toys and soft spots to sleep.  They go in and out of the crates; some sleep in the crates and other on the quilt. 

The pups are in a chewy stage and those hard rubber cylinder toys with knobs sticking out seems to a favoriate at the moment.  Also they are big into bones.. big hard real bones to knaw on!  They love marrow bones.  I don’t cook them..

They are also into the holding on pant legs and grabbing the end of my skirt (not too much opportunity for that.)  I gently fuss at them for this. I may reach down and sort of growl at them and touch them with my hand to tell them to stop.  I might sort of kick at them.  Remember this are going to be working dogs.  They need to learn to respect the hooves or feet when herding.  It is not my goal to hurt in anyway these little pups.. just give them a signal that they must think before biting, or holding on to legs “or tail” of a moving object.

This idea feeds into my philosophy about how to introduce puppies to stock. The puppies have 24/7 access to  the horses that are in the paddock by the house and the calf paddock which is also by the house.  They  go with me on walks around the farm  and they spend time watching the calves and playing along the fence line to the calf paddock.

Lots of fun in the calf water over-run — and calf poo .  Big brother, Cowboy, even takes them into the calf paddock and watches over them – I have seen a calf run at them and they scoot back under the fence. 

They are  naturally wary at this stage and the pups gradually learn about being around stock as they mature.  These are English Shepherds so we are not too worried about them getting excited about being around stock.  We want them to be comfort and sit and watch and “bond’ with the animals.  

Horses are a bit different.  I keep the pups with me when I am around horses as long as I am not doing something where the horse is the first priority. Most pups will be stuck to your leg like glue which makes it easy  to herd the pups away from the hooves. The pups are a bit clumpsy at this age and not quick – so you have to be  careful but they need to learn a little along.  (Much of your behavior depends on your horses.  Thoroughbreds are quick and fractious and draft horses are gentle, kind and slower)

It is important to be calm.  We want the pups to be calm around horses so we must be calm.  If they read excitement from you, they don’t know it is because you are afraid they are going to be hurt.. they think it is because being around horses is exciting.

Their parents are good help.  The pups stay with the big dogs which are always in the right spot.

I never tie a puppy to a fence.  I think this is a big mistake.  If the horses are doing too many “horse things”, I pick the puppy up and carry it out of the area.  I might put a puppy in a crate where it can watch .. but you might be surprised.. if things get wild, most puppies will hide and watch on their own.

 
Much of this learning is in the morning and evening.  At mid day the puppies sleep.  And when they sleep ,they sleep like babies.  Hard to wake up!

As for food,  Mom still is providing some milk (God love, Gabby)  I don’t think puppies need milk at their new homes.  Milk is so full of hormones I don’t even give it to my family.  Organic milk is ok. Goat’s milk, sure.  But none of it is necessary!  Sometimes I top dress their food with milk replacer as a treat.  All the pups are drinking water

I feed the pups 3 to 4 times a day.  I fill up all the bowls and they wander around eating with different partners.  After all the puppies leave, I pick up the rest of the food.  At their new homes, I would just fill up the bowl and let the pup eat till she is full.  Then pick up the bowl.  That way it is easy to figure out about how much the pup is eating.

As for what to feed, I feed Iams Puppy most of the time.  Sometimes I feed Purina One  Puppy. I do feed different types of high quality puppy feeds as I am not convinced that feeding 1 brand is a good thing for the pup. I also don’t think that price is always a measure of quality.  Watch out for dog foods with corn as the first ingredient. 

Dogs are what they eat!  Some can be allergic to corn and other ingredients in commercial dog foods.

And, finally,  the pup will usually have to potty after she eats .. Or wakes up.  At this point abou 4 hours is all a pup can hold its bowels.  If you see your pup put its nose on the ground and start to act like it is looking for something… assume it is a potty spot and take it outside.

Night are hard for house raised pups.  As I mentioned the pups are sleep on my back porch.  Right now, some of the pups are  peeing on the porch at night.. normal.. too dark and scary to go down on the ground by themselves.  I just hose it off in the morning.  it will stop all by itself as soon as they get bigger.

Since they live outside, I am trying to trying to teach them about doors.. how to go in and out of a door.  They sort of wander over to the door but if it is not open, they aren’t yet sure about how to get it to open so they can go out.

I want to try this idea… I want to have a bell on a rope by the door – when I open the door. I want to pull the rope and ring the bell.  I bet the little pups will quickly pick up on ringing the bell for the door to open.  Then we just have to reward them when they go potty outside.

If you try this, please let me know.  One of the pups from a previous litter gave me this idea.  It learned it all by itself.  The bell was just there.. It started ringing it when it wanted to go out ” Smart, eh?”

Pushed to the back of my mind, these thoughts were stimulated by a request for a pup for possible SAR work. Now the need for more information has been pushed to the forefront.

Emailing a group of breeders, I received this informative email from Heather who is involved in SAR with English Shepherds.

“We came to the ES breed largely because we could not find another GSD that met our needs for a working dog and companion in one package. Ken and I
started with Lilly in ’91, (Lilly is a GSD) with both of us handling one dog. We wanted to get her operational, and then get another pup to train so we could each field at searches instead of fighting it out..

I’d actually looked into the ES back in 1992, before we moved to PA. I liked the working Aussies on our SAR team, but hated tail docking; this was before show breeding had taken off among Aussies.

So the ES attracted my attention. I’d spoken on the phone to Marian, and had some brochures from her. Pre-internet! But first we relocated — put off buying a pup — and then we found Mel’s breeder, so our second SAR dog was another GSD.

We started looking for a pup to take over Lilly’s job in about 1998. Hunted for two years before finding another GSD breeder who had what we figured we wanted. A teammate was also looking for a first SAR dog at the same time, and really wanted a smaller dog, and one that could work without being crazed all the time.

I suggested the ES, and Barb did the research. She found Theresa, and I went up to Erie with her to check out the dogs. We both really liked Dust-Dee and Cocoa, and my instincts told me that they could throw pups that had the right characteristics of each parent. So I told Barb to wait until they had a litter — turned into a pretty long wait.

There weren’t any other dogs at Theresa’s that I thought had “it” as far as making SAR dogs. The GSD litter and Cocoa’s litter came at about the same time, but there were health problems with the GSD litter that worried me greatly.

When I went up with Barb for a first look at the ES pups when they were five weeks old, I made the call that we would be better off with one of these pups than with one of the survivors of the GSD litter. Pip and her siblings were a really nice bunch of pups. Ken was uncertain, but had to agree. So it was in some ways a really snap decision, based on the individual dogs more than the breed.

I’ve always counseled people who are hunting for a SAR dog to search among several breeds that are acceptable to them and pick the best pup from the best parents, even if that’s their third choice of breed. So I actually followed my own advice!

Barb had first choice in the litter, and chose the most “medium” of the bitch pups in terms of temperament. That was the right call for her.

Ken and I chose the looniest of the five, the one with the most zest, drive, and chutzpah. I tested all the pups while Barb and her husband videotaped and assisted.

What I look for in a pup’s background, regardless of breed:

Working parents — in a job that selects for good character (junk yard dog or flyball don’t count, for example)

Genetic health — I took some gambles with Pip and more or less won, but
probably wouldn’t be so trusting again

Parents who I would wish to own myself. Intelligent parents who can problem-solve

Breeder who is committed to socializing

Then, in the puppy itself, through observation and testing:

Sociable
– no such thing as a too-friendly pup; discernment can come later, or not, I
don’t care

Bold and curious about people, things and animals

Fearless in new surroundings — you put it down in a new weird place, and he “owns” the space

Good following instinct

Prey drive — not excessive, but must be moderate to high

Hunt drive — almost can’t have too much of this, if the pup is sociable
and cooperative

Retrieving — nice to have at 7 weeks, but not the shibboleth it
is to some people

Cooperative — will tolerate some restraint

Forgiving — i.e. will follow after pain and restraint tests, will take a social correction without sulking

Bounce-back and persistence — later to manifest as “fight drive”

Emotional self-control — this shows up in the problem-solving exercises

Signs of intelligence — also can show up in the problem-solving, but often
breeder’s observation or my own is more valuable

A balance of all of the above — for example, I don’t want a pup with super-high prey drive who has medium or low social drives. The prey drive could become dangerous in that dog. If a dog is going to have one drive very high, others must be up there too, and the dog must not be stupid.

That’s Mel in spades — 95-100 in all the “forward” traits on the Volhard scales, 0-5 in all the “inhibiting” traits. Her social drive controls her prey, hunt, and fight drives.

A dog with a nice balance of medium drives has enough oomph to do the work, and will be much easier to live with.

Good solid sound physical structure, to the extent we can see it at this age.

Of these, probably the most definitive trait is the attitude when the pup is set down all alone but for a human stranger in a weird new environment. His attitude ought to be “Cool!

What’sthiswhat’sthiswhat’sthis????” as he explores every inch of space, and
occassionally “checks in” with the evaluator in a happy way. Tail up and
wagging, little S on his chest leotard.

I’ve picked three pups for myself (Moe picked me, and Sophia was shipped to us) and probably dozens for other handlers.

I’ve never picked a dud — and this is a field with a very high wash-out
rate. Some have washed for physical problems down the road, often
accidents or things one couldn’t have foreseen without a really good crystal
ball, but none have washed for lack of talent.

What I think the ES brings to the table as a breed are some things that are rare in other breeds:

Functioning off switches — Handlers are always oohing and aaahing over Pip’s
ability to switch instantly from rocket-powered to boneless.

Intrinsic ability to pack up with the handler in a smooth way while maintaining independent volition

Sensitivity to context (found in other herding breeds)

Self-controlVery high intelligence & good problem-solving”

Yes, those are the traits that we are trying to preserve in the English Shepherd. And one of the reasons that it is a rare breed.