We walked from my apartment area to the park in the next neighborhood over on leash. Doggie had an easy time dismissing dogs we met on walks. No problem passing them up close on the sidewalk. We practiced sitting and waiting to be released with “Libre” at the curb before crossing any and all streets we encountered, choosing a different route than the previous days: I want to mix it up to help him generalize. He’s getting better and better!
Choosing the pacifier tug over leash biting
During bouts of juvenile-dog-ness, by now, Doggie reliably chooses the fleece tug (when I have it on me) when his arousal gets high! Rather than jumping at me or biting my clothes/shoes, he simply holds on to his pacifier. Since this is actually more fun for him, he looks happy and calms down quickly – as opposed to occasionally looking desperate before I introduced the pacifier. I love how fast he learned to choose the fleece tug over leashes, human limbs and clothes!
Walking home off leash
Today is the longest I’ve had Doggie off leash in an urban environment: after our park adventures I’ll talk about below, we walked all the way home off leash. Doggie rocked it! I’m proud of him!
At the park: curiosity and neutrality towards unfamiliar dogs, handler focus, the tug pacifier and redirectability
Like aunt Chai, Doggie discovered how much fun it is to play in the fountains!
Today – a day WAY less busy than when we first came to this same park on the weekend – I had a few opportunities to record! The video below shows Doggie’s curiosity (first clip) as well as neutrality around other dogs, his handler focus (he chooses to happily play and walk with me rather than explore) and how easy it is to redirect him (last clip.)
If you’re located in the Global North, let me clarify something before you watch. The dog culture is different here. At this park (it’s in a somewhat, but not yet extremely gentrified area), there’s a 50/50 split of on and off leash dogs. Unless an on-leash dog’s human shows that they don’t want to be approached, on-leash greetings are welcomed by humans and dogs.
I know the Schnauzer in the first clip (but Doggie does not.) The reason I added this clip to the video is not to upset anyone, but to share Doggie’s curiosity – and, most of all, the “arousal-happy hackles” I mentioned in my post about day #1!
A fun detail to observe: “arousal-happy hackles” in puppies and juvenile dogs with a certain coat structure
You can see them well in the clip above, where Doggie interacts with the Schnauzer (watch his neck), and you can also see the loose body language. In the second clip, there’s still a bit of “arousal-happy hackles” from exploring the world.
Hackles up doesn’t necessarily mean a dog is grumpy. We need to read it as part of their overall body language. Think of it as a word in a sentence or a sentence in a paragraph: in and of itself, hackles in breeds with a certain coat structure (Malinois among them) mean arousal – no more and no less. The same goes for wagging tails (in all dogs): by themselves, they only mean arousal. They do not necessarily mean the dog is happy or friendly.
Unfamiliar humans at the park
As for humans, it’s been easy to redirect my off-leash guest at the park. He’s interested though and it doesn’t take much encouragement from a stranger, and he’ll approach. Running children are also tempting (but easy to redirect from.) I suspect if I didn’t redirect, he’d play-run and jump on kids. At 5.5 months, he is confident and playful with humans.
In the dog park
I also took Doggie into a dog park for the first time today. Below is a snippet of this part of our field trip:
This video is interesting. One, ideally, I would have hidden my treats and the toy to be less of a magnet for Doggie. He offers a lot of sits for me to get a treat (and since we are only just learning this behavior, I keep up my continuous reinforcement schedule.)
Doggie ignores the other dogs in the park in order to ask me for food instead. While this is lovely, it also shows that Doggie hasn’t been around non-household dogs: since he hasn’t been off leash outside and likes tugging on the leash, he has rarely been out and about with his humans. So it’s been a while that he had the opportunity to interact with unfamiliar dogs.
I’m reading my dog park observations the following way: Doggie is comfortable around dogs (I started recording right after going in, and the Basset Hounds came up right away to try and mug me for treats – no problem for Doggie.) At the same time, he doesn’t quite know what to do (how to play) with the unfamiliar dogs because he hasn’t had a chance to practice dog/dog play over the last few months. A dog his age and of his breed, with his level of energy, who isn’t afraid of other dogs should technically try to play, play and play even more (like he tries to convince Game and Chai to do.)
Watching him here, I decided to keep bringing him back into the dog park every day he’s with me to provide an opportunity to loosen up and start playing with the others. I might have to hide the food and tug the next time!
In any case, I’m really happy how chill he is around dog park dogs! My extreme-early-socialization bias wants to attribute this to the fact that he met between 50 and 60 different dogs in his first 8 weeks of life with me. If he hadn’t had this many interactions early on, I’d expect to see a fearful dog. Mind you, this is just me going off what I’ve seen in dogs this age who have not had a chance to interact with many other dogs since they moved to their humans at 8 weeks or so, and who have not experienced extreme early socialization.
In Doggie’s case, I see (I want to see!) a juvenile dog whose early puppyhood experiences have immunized him against fear of dogs. He hasn’t honed his dog/dog play skills with new dogs in months and therefore switches to known behaviors instead: sit to ask me for treats.
Thoughts on dog parks
We dog trainers will often tell folks to keep their dogs out of dog parks.
In reality, there is no one-size-fits-all solution: some dogs do great in dog parks. Others do not. Depending what part of the world a dog park is located in and what that dog park looks like, we can also either expect it to be filled with well socialized dogs … or with poorly socialized ones.
I don’t tell my international clients to take their young dogs into dog parks. I also don’t hesitate to take this puppy who I have raised with extreme early socialization into a Mexican dog park for continued juvenile socialization. Doggie is going to benefit. If he was a different dog or we were in a different part of the world, my decisions might look completely different. They’d also look different if I was a different person. There is no one right way, but there usually is what’s right for you and your dog right now – tomorrow may be different.
Free-roaming dogs around my apartment complex
I live in a neighborhood that’s not (yet) gentrified (not the same one as the one with the park I showed you), which means we get free-roaming dogs here.1 Today, I recorded Doggie’s encounter with two of them. If I remember correctly, he has seen both these dogs once before (but I don’t have it on video.) It’s lovely to see how quickly he dismisses the white dog and shows interest in sniffing/scavenging instead! No hyper-greeter feelings, no fear. Just doing his thing and co-existing. He’s a lovely boy!
Thunder? So what!
In other news, it’s been thundering and raining at least once a day since Doggie got here, and he has either not stopped whatever he was doing or slept right through it. SO happy that he’s doing so well! Even when a transformer fuse exploded today, he didn’t miss a beat! Yay! I’m aware that noise sensitivity can develop later in life, as it did in Game – but so far, so good!
Latin American dog culture differs widely, largely depending on two factors: (1) the socioeconomic bracket of a neighborhood and (2) whether it’s a rural or an urban area. ↩︎
Doggie was a bit of a desperate maniac when I finally released him from his prison this morning. I opened the door to the outside world for him to see what would happen (I need coffee before or while taking out the dogs these days; my brain won’t brain otherwise.) The open door is something he’ll need to learn for his humans, who worry he’ll take off. It’s safe here since we live on a plot that’s part of a high rise housing thing with a giant shared “yard” in the end of a dead-end street. His humans live right on a car street, which makes the same thing a lot more dangerous.
Our start into the day: getting to lo leave and choosing to stay; meeting a stranger and a new dog and imitating Chai’s toy games
Doggie did great: took himself out to potty, stayed close and came right back in. He sniff-explored within sight of the door and kept coming back in to check on me until I had transferred the coffee into my thermos mug (thank you, Chris) and was ready to head out.
I let Doggie observe Chai’s morning play session, and he picked up on it and started running along with her and showing signs of trying to imitate our game! Smart boy!
He also curiously approached1 the person who feeds the pigeons around here every morning. The birds flew off and the person waved the feed-bag (a big black trash bag) in his face and told him to get lost, and he calmly deferred and came back to me. Lovely job there, Doggie! I’m focusing a lot on observing at this point to find my best training angles.
We also met our first free-roamer this morning. The dog came over to greet us because they didn’t know Doggie yet (they know Chai and Game), and he was completely neutral towards them, just like he’s been with the various strange humans we’ve seen. I’m very happy with this – so far, the only thing I’d like to be different is that I wish I had gotten more sleep. I’m glad our first two days are a weekend where I have less non-Doggie things on my plate!
Time to train!
All three pups have settled down as I’m typing out my morning notes2, so Mr. Doggie is going to get a training session next! If possible, I use sessions to reinforce being chill (rather than reinforce bouncing-off-the-walls with training.) I’ll use half his breakfast and then the other half for the outing I’ve planned for later this morning. The preliminary plan for Doggie’s second day and, if it works well, the days ahead:
+ Short morning outing with either play or exploration. + Non-Doggie work until/while he’s calm and sleepy. + First training session of the day for part of breakfast. + Work until/while he’s calm and sleepy again. + Longer outing by himself or with Game and/or Chai to observe, move his body, play, potentially train in public. + Work until/while he’s calm and sleepy again. + More training. + Work until/while he’s calm and sleepy again. + Depending on the day, more training or right into the … + short evening outing. + Calm down and bed time.
Day #1, session #1: revising the suitcase (“¡Maleta!”) and adding distractions
Remember: the goal is for Doggie to default to staying on sidewalks/stop at curbs unless/until released to step off. I’m using the suitcase to explain the basic principle that differences in surface height have meaning.
Doggie did fantastic this morning! Not only did I work up to opening doors and going out of sight while he stayed on the suitcase; I even added Chai as a distraction in the end of the session.
Now Mr. Doggie is chilling out again. I like how quickly he was able to down-regulate after the session. This may be either because he didn’t get a lot of sleep last night or because his morning needs for moving and thinking have been met. Either way – I’ll take it!
The longer outing
We walked to “the”our” park in the next neighborhood over. It was as busy as it gets on Sundays! I had Doggie wear a head halter because I’d seen him pull badly on a collar. He didn’t pull at all, but carried his leash in his mouth and occasionally shook it or gave a tug. No feelings about the head halter at all – he walked in it as if he had done it all his life.
At the park, I let him off. He ignored or politely greeted all dogs we met. He was interested in a sweets-selling stand and tempted to jump on one person who carried a bag of food (our old “Pup-pup-pup!” recall worked again!) He curiously approached about 3 people who encouraged him for pets. He ran after a soccer ball kids played with, but once again called off the moving ball with “Pup-pup-pup!”
Outside of this, he often chose to stay close and make physical contact with me – not out of fear, but because he was clearly over the moon we were out and about together. It feels great to see how strong the early puppyhood relationship we built is showing up so many months later!
On the way back, we worked on “Espera” – “Libre” – “street is lava” with several street crossings. Doggie picked things up fast!
Back home, he quickly relaxed on the cool tile floor. Excellet job, little one!
Toy play!
We’re starting to build interest in interacting with balls! When Doggie doesn’t seem interested in cooperative play – Game to the rescue! I ended the session below the moment I noticed he was about to opt out. Ideally, we’ll never beg our dogs to play (if at all, the other way round!)
The video angle is a bit weird, and in addition, it’s a wide angle video – but you get the idea!
… I don’t remember what else we did that day – not enough note-taking! But I do remember Doggie being very, very cute:
Sweeter dreams!
After a longer evening outing with Game, his second night was already calmer than the first one.
To clarify: letting my off-leash guest approach busy strangers is culturally acceptable in Mexico City (except for certain gentrified and foreigner-heavy neighborhoods.) People will communicate with the dogs they run into rather than expecting the owners to do it for them. ↩︎
The note-taking I’m talking about in the present tense here happened on September 1 – unlike my pre-publish editing of this post, which is happening on September 28, 2024 (right now). My blog posts will often involve some time travel. ↩︎
This week is the last week for most of my little rebeldes – except for Chispa, who will likely move out in week 9. A student just asked how I feel about the puppies leaving. I’ll have to think about it some more once I have … well, time to think! The FDSA term just ended yesterday and for the first time in weeks, I’ll be able to catch a breath … not today because I have plenty of stuff to catch up on, but hopefully tomorrow. Back to today:
7 weeks, 1 day (May 13)
Morning socializing
As planned, we headed to the town square and got there at 7:30 in the morning, giving us half an hour out. It was busier than on Sunday (it’s Monday today.) We saw plenty of school children. Several people stopped to pet the puppies, and the puppies followed a few folks and were enchanted with someone’s shoe laces. They ventured further and were significantly more confident than yesterday already. I suspect this is partly because they are recognizing the location as familiar by now. Mostly new folks, but the same place.
Everyone met 1.5 dogs (I’m counting 1.5 because everyone met the first one, but I don’t think every single puppy met the second one – for one, Chispa did not. I’ll make sure she gets an extra dog encounter when I get the chance.) Here’s the one everyone met:
The second one was an injured Pitbull who didn’t get up, but was gently sniff-greeted by those who wanted. We saw three more dogs, but they just passed in the distance.
The puppies played with each other in the gazebo and had a great time trying to latch on to my sandals and the belts of the carrier. Playful and confident! Everyone ate kibble and followed my pup-pup-pup recall.
Fierro really is currently the most barky when it comes to other dogs. He’s eager to approach, but he likes to bark as he does so. Game was like this as well: she very much liked hearing herself talk as a puppy. Bravo is currently THE most confident (almost always the first to approach novelty), and not barky along the way, followed by Oso and Fierro. Rebelde has shown a fair amount of curiosity as well these last 2 days. She’ll approach humans and dogs and venture pretty far. Right now, Chispa is the one who is least interested in approaching and most interested in watching from a distance – she and Rebelde have switched the roles they held last week!
Because of this, Chispa got pet less by strangers this morning, and she is the only one I know for sure didn’t sniff our second dog (and only sniffed the first one because I held her up to them, like last night’s Chihuahua.)
Chispa’s solo adventure
To boost her exposure, I took Chispa on an out-of-crate solo adventure once we had gotten home, and the lovely store person next door held here while I was rummaging through my pockets for money. Humans for Chispa this week: +1!
Who’s the most noise sensitive right now?
Right as I got home from this afternoon’s ice cream hunt, we heard a siren – and Rebelde ran off. At this moment, she still seems the most noise sensitive even if she’s overtaken Chispa’s and perhaps Fierro’s confidence in other aspects. All other dogs in the yard were completely chill and kept playing though, which, I hope, will have set an excellent example for Rebelde!
… at this moment may have been the key phrase in the paragraph above: when we went to Mercado Hidalgo, the town’s cra-zy Monday market I discovered today, folks were just packing up. Someone was taking down a metal structure and throwing the poles to the side, making very loud noises. Chispa ran off, but Rebelde didn’t!
Who’s the barkiest?
No doubt there: right now, the barkiest puppy is Fierro. He has been barking at dogs, and at Mercado Hidalgo, he barked at a teen who approached him. The dog-barking didn’t go along with insecure body language, but the teen-barking did. I venture he’s – right now, today – the kind of dog who likes expressing himself in words. Tomorrow, he may be a different puppy entirely – or not. We’ll see!
Every puppy got a frozen chicken foot to chew on today. I gave them a little time to get into it and then approached, announced “Let’s trade,” bent down, rudely took away the chicken foot, immediately fed a raw meatball and then gave back the chicken foot right away and left. Every puppy got two rounds of this while working on their chicken feet. Rebelde, by the way, was the only one who finished hers completely, in one go and FAST!
I videoed the first two puppies – Bravo and Fierro. Note how in this video, I make sure that the first indicator of me taking the food is the verbal “Let’s trade” announcement. Only then do I bend down. And only once I have bent down and taken the chew do I whip out the even better snack: a raw meatball. This order of events is what you’ll want to aim for if working on this protocol with your own puppy or puppies.
Also, the punching bag in the top right corner of the last clip? It comes with this place. I’ve never had a punching bag. I tried it the other day – feels surprisingly good to have a go at the thing!
Handling and husbandry
Everyone got the nails on their left front paws done and worked through the handling protocol along the way. I recorded the first puppy, who happened to be Rebelde. She also happened to be one of the two most relaxed ones (Rebelde and Chispa.) Everyone else struggled a little – not because of fear but because they had better things to do. It is SO obvious how different this is from a puppy who is afraid of a husbandry procedure. I love that we’ve got this foundation now. Based on it, folks can either build a “no choice” routine (“When I say we do these things, we will – that’s it”) OR cooperative care. Whichever way a puppy’s future human(s) go, they will NOT have to countercondition discomfort or fear before getting to work on the actual behavior (be it the dog opting in or the dog learning to hold still when told to do so.) That should give everyone a major shortcut in the husbandry department! Of course, a new person will have to first win the puppy’s trust, but I’d venture that it will go relatively fast, especially since the new humans will soon be with their puppies – and the puppies still young!
The one thing I forgot in the video above was the “needle” protocol. I got it in later! Note how I announce everything I do before doing it: “Collar off” – “nails” – “brush” – “paws” – “teeth” – “eyes” – “ears” – “collar on.” (The needle announcement is “needle,” and before picking up a dog, I say, “up.”) Announcements are not cues – they are what I use if I am about to do something and don’t want to surprise the dog. Over time, dogs learn what different announcements mean. If you leave a tiny pause between announcement and action, you will be able to see how your dog feels about what you’re about to do based on their body language.
Late afternoon/evening outing: Mercado Hidalgo
I took four instead of five puppies tonight: Bravo stayed home. He’s ahead on the human count and usually gets the most attention because he is outgoing. Leaving him home gave me a chance to focus on the others. Plus four puppies are significantly easier to keep track of (and carry) than five!
We were going to go to the town square again, but came across the tianguis Carla had mentioned happened on Mondays. We took the opportunity to wander through parts of it. It was WILDLY crazy – more so than any of the ones I’ve been to with Chai during her remedial socialization time.
On this particular outing, we experienced: the most crowded space yet (the subway has been similarly crowded, but the puppies stayed in the carrier there – now, they were out, following me on the ground and trying not to lose me – not an easy feast in the midst of the chaotic market!) Children running and crying, dogs, fruit, meat, fried stuff, random objects on sale, people carting, carrying, dragging and pushing all kinds of transport concoctions around, people taking down large tarps as well as metal scaffolding, someone carrying a ladder, someone using crutches, a kid carrying a doll, kid cars you activate by throwing in a coin and that make noise when you – a puppy – get close, various people talking to me (about the puppies), people reaching for them and petting them, hopping on and off the curb, trash on the ground (which the puppies had fun picking up, tasting and carrying), cigarette smoke, pup-pup-pup recalls and working hard to not lose me. It was a wild ride, and they did great.
Some of the many, many things we saw, smelled, heard and people and dogs we met. The highlights were finding a mango stone with delicious mango bits left on it and a greasy paper bag.
When we got home, I heard Bravo whine. I had left him with Chai in the bathroom, but he was clearly not happy. I am sorry, Bravo.
Crate training
Oso
did his 20 minutes in the carrier! Superpuppy!
Rebelde
complained again at first – but only for five minutes or so. MUCH improved from yesterday!
Fun things
… we have time for now that I’m on break: I tried getting a photo of everyone, including me, to have a memory. I’ll give this another try while we’re still all together – two more days – and hope that one of these days, I’ll end up with a picture I like.
Look at Fierro!
7 weeks, 2 days (May 14)
Morning adventure
We got up bright and early and headed to the town square. I left Oso with Game today. The puppies are SO big now that it’s nearly impossible to carry 5 at a time, but 4 still works.
Everyone who came along for our outing got 1/3 of a human again. Fierro gets an entire human because … well, let me get to this a little further down!
They all also got 1/3 of a dog because we saw about 6 or 7 of them, watched, approached a little but didn’t directly interact. Fierro gets an entire dog in addition because he walked up to the injured Pitbull and sniffed them from up close (not after barking at them for a bit, not eliciting a response.)
On the way home, I took a little detour and stopped at the corner where my free-roaming friends live (the ones I feed when I walk past with Game and Chai, and who by now are happy to see us.) I held Chispa and she got sniffed by 3 all at once. Because I held her (she didn’t look like she wanted to be placed down) and initially stiffened (but quickly relaxed), I’ll count 2 rather than 3 of the dogs for her. I also got out Bravo. He got placed on the ground and voluntarily sniffed one of the dogs. +2 dogs for Chispa and +1 for Oso before we headed home!
How Fierro earned himself +1 human this morning
Right as we were headed back to the car, someone grabbed Fierro (who was maybe a meter ahead of me) and started crossing the street, walking fast. I yelled at them; they stopped. I demanded they give back my dog. They handed him over and then said something about the puppy having been on the ground, alluding that dogs on the ground are up for grabs (this dog wears a collar with a dog tag and I was clearly right behind him. Seriously.)
I was curious, so I calmly asked if they had tried to make a joke by pretend-stealing my dog or if they had actually attempted to take the puppy. (They were acting righteously and laughed and postured at me, which made me consider the joke option.) They said they would have taken the puppy. I couldn’t tell if it was true or still part of a bad joke because they kept throwing the occasional laugh in there. I loaded everyone in the car and turned around to see that person staring at me, so I looked them straight in the eyes and told them to go fuck themselves before I drove off. Our species? It’s the strangest one I know.
Barkiness right now
On this morning’s outing, Fierro was the most barky. He barked at all new dogs we met. Not necessarily fearfully, but with tentativeness. What I – not a developmental psychologist, just an observer who has read a lot (most of which wasn’t about dogs because there’s a lack of studies – we tend to study rodents and humans instead) – suspect I am seeing is that Fierro’s ability to experience fear is currently increasing. He is a little more barky today than yesterday because he is able to physiologically experience fear a little more strongly than he was yesterday. And, being Game’s son, he expresses his feelings in words.
This doesn’t mean that Fierro is going to grow up to be fearful or fear-aggressive. It means Fierro is at a point where I would not “force” an interaction. He’s at the point where it’s important to take things at his pace. Because he’s had a lot of socialization experiences and has confident canine relatives, chances are that taking things at his pace will be all that is needed. There are no guarantees, of course, and if a few days of taking things at Fierro’s pace don’t make a difference, my solution would be to teach him CU games and help him cope with the world that way. Since he is THIS young, the CU games may only be needed temporarily.
What I would not do is either force interactions he isn’t comfortable with on him (he’s “too far along” for this in terms of fear development) or completely shelter him from the outside world (his ability to experience fear cannot – or so I assume – be fully developed yet.) We still want to cash in on these early opportunities where the fear response is weak. I’d expect it not to be fully developed for another week or so. But then again – not a biologist here. Just a layperson, so take what I say with a brimful salt shaker.
If I was to keep Fierro, I’d orchestrate lots of dog encounters like the ones we had this morning: where he gets to choose if and how far he wants to approach, and the dogs don’t care at all that there’s a tiny puppy barking at them. He’d learn two things: one, dogs aren’t threatening, and two, barking has no consequence.
This is our puppy/dog video from this morning. Note that Fierro chooses to walk up to the dog on the platform. I haven’t encouraged him to do so. He goes up, he barks, nothing happens. Only towards the very end (unfortunately, Fierro happens to be barking at that moment too) do the free roamers get up to leave because they’ve seen another dog friend they want to greet. It’s not ideal that this coincided with Fierro’s barking (I don’t want him to learn that barking makes dogs go away), but apart from this, these dogs made amazing helpers and I hope Fierro learned a valuable lesson: dogs are okay. Bark at them, don’t bark at them … they’re just doing their thing. (Free roaming dogs are the most dog savvy dogs I’ve met anywhere in the world.)
Morning crate training
Fierro
had a go at his 20 minutes in the morning. I was hesitant to do it in the morning because by the time we were back from our adventure, I had had coffees #2 and #3, jotted down notes from this morning and had a good play session with the big dogs, it was a little after 9AM and starting to get warm. I know from experience that hot puppies are not happy in carriers (understandably; the airflow in there has got to be less cooling than outside on the cold concete or cool dirt or grass, where they could otherwise choose to rest.) However, since Fierro seemed so sleepy (while everyone else was still active! Their rhythms are starting to diverge!), I gave it a go. And he DID it! About halfway in, he mumbled something to himself and changed positions in the carrier and then went back to sleep. Since this kind of mumbling also happens with sleepy animals changing positions outside of carriers, I don’t mind. He was in no rush to get out after his 20 minutes – I lifted him out and he went right back to sleep on the cool concrete.
This catches Fierro up to Oso! Both boys have succeeded at 20 minutes and will be doing 25 next! I’m hoping for tonight. If all goes well, this will allow us to complete half an hour – my goal – before going back to Mexico City Thursday morning!
Who’ll get to go on future 3-dog adventures (there are 3 more before we head back to the city?)
Chispa needs her outings the least: she is going to stay with me past 8 weeks and come to the city with Fierro and Oso, which will go hand in hand with plenty of human and dog interactions. Fierro and Oso will also come to the city and likely meet a bunch of dogs and people there. I’m confident I can bring their count up to 7 before one of the boys leaves on Saturday – especially as I’ll invite Carla (and whoever of her kids is home) over again tomorrow so they can say goodbye. If Axel is around, we’ll get two people per puppy; if not, at least one!
This leaves Bravo and Rebelde. I’m not particularly concerned about Bravo. He has been SO confident that I’m positive he is ready to take the world in stride (OR his fear response hasn’t set in yet, which will also further set him up for success.) He is also going to meet a “new” (well, not that new, but we’ll count him!) person – Alan – on Thursday, and also hang out with Alan’s Border Collie Kiba again.
Rebelde is going to meet a new person on Thursday as well: Irving’s sister. I don’t know if they have a dog or will introduce Rebelde to anyone else before Irving comes back from Chiapas on the 28th. So I’ll want to get as many experiences for Rebelde in as I can before then. She’s the priority, especially as far as dogs are concerned.
This means Rebelde gets to go on every 4-dog outing we’ll have before we leave Teotihuacán. I’ll also bring her if the tamales person is around today and ask them to hold her again, or if I’m going to a store. On tomorrow morning’s free-roamer stop, if I get around to it, it’s Rebelde who I’ll take out to meet my friends on the way home.
Fierro will also get to come on all outings, simply because the free-roamers we’ve got here are going to be non existent in his potential home in the US (in case that’s where he ends up going – it’s a tie between him and Oso), and they are perfect for him at his barky stage.
As for everyone else, I’ll probably rotate through.
A new toy, play, and trading the toy to prevent toy guarding!
We broke out our third fancy toy today: the duck. Everyone loved it; it seems to be made of a material that’s particularly fun to bite into. After letting them have fun with it by themselves, I did a solo play session with Rebelde, Fierro, Bravo and Chispa. After letting them win the duck, I let them have it for a little bit (the time it took to head inside and get meat from the fridge), then traded for a raw meatball and then gave back the toy. Oso will get his turn tomorrow!
Evening adventure
I went on a 3-dog adventure tonight. Taking 3 is SO much easier now that they are this big and active! Three are totally manageable! I took Fierro, Rebelde and Oso. They all did great. We met two dogs each. Fierro barked at both of them, and they ignored him – perfect! After a little barking, Fierro met them along with the others. He was confident and seemingly felt good. We hung out with one of the dogs for about 15 minutes and there was quite some interaction – this other dog was interested in the puppies too (and in my treats.) She also corrected the puppies appropriately with a growl-bark and fast head movement when they went for a piece of chicken she had (while being perfectly content to watch them eat kibble from my hand in turn with her.) It keeps fascinating me that many dogs seem to respect a concept similar to temporary ownership. I say temporary because when it comes to toys, they’ll often be up for grabs as long as they aren’t in use by anyone, but off the table for everyone else once one dog has them. Note that this is NOT the case for all dogs – some want all the resources to themselves while others let anyone steal their toys. Some respect others’ objects/food while others do not. I’ve seen this kind of respect and boundary-setting often enough though to know that it is very much a thing among dogs – just not among all of them. For lack of a better word, I’d call it a part of their culture!
Fierro, Rebelde and Oso: hanging out with dogs and being stroked to sleep by kids.
The puppies saw lots of different humans and got touched by a few, and saw me talk to several ones. We ended up spending about 20 minutes with four lovely kids. The youngest was three (as the oldest informed me.) The oldest may have been around 7 and the other two in between. They were very gentle and lovely with the puppies. The oldest made sure to give everyone equal amounts of pets. They stroked them to sleep and kept hanging out with us. Because there was so much touch and interaction, I’m counting tonight as +1 human, even in the absence of being picked up, for everyone who went on our adventure.
Evening crate training
Fierro
I waited till Fierro had fallen asleep and then aimed for 25 minutes. I expected him to be more tired and had him go first since he had been on our evening adventure while Oso hadn’t. Fierro settled into the carrier comfortably … for 20 minutes. Then he woke up and started complaining at a level 1, escalating to noise level 3 after 2.5 more minutes. The last minute was a level 4, pretty nonstop. He’ll take another stab at 25 minutes next time.
Something interesting has happened yesterday and today: if I was going to keep Fierro or he was the only puppy I crate-trained, I would have let him cry it out today, like Rebelde at the baby gate yesterday. I know he feels safe being close to all of us, the temperature is as okay as it gets these days, and I absolutely feel that now, unlike in the past, the possibility for operant learning is high (operant learning in the sense that the puppy develops the superstition that barking causes the carrier to open.)
Since I am crate training two puppies, I just don’t have the time to let both of them cry it out. I need to switch them after their respective time (in this case 25 minutes.) It’ll be interesting to see if this sets Fierro back on our next go.
Oso
started out great. After 15 minutes, he changed positions and made a peep of talking to himself, but then settled right in again. Sadly, about 5 minutes later, he started whining calmly. Not upset, but not super happy. After calming down a little, he escalated to noise level 2. With 5 minutes left, he went up to a 3. I was tempted to let him cry it out after having taken out Fierro before – but no. I’ll stick to my plan of sticking to a certain time period and see how that goes, and if the puppies do – or don’t – develop superstitious whining. Unlike Fierro, Oso periodically calmed down again between fits of whining, but then went out with brief level 5 screams.
Fierro again
I gave Fierro a second go at 25 minutes. I really thought I’d be able to work up to half an hour for each of them before Joan got here, so … this is me trying to still reach this goal even though I’m running out of time. He settled in comfortably right away, so even though he screamed when I let him out the last time, he has no negative associations with the carrier as such. A good start!
… it’s 25 minutes later and I just had to wake Fierro! He DID it! Go superpuppy!! Next and last goal: 30 minutes.
Oso
got another go as well because I’m feeling confident after Fierro’s turn. Even though I’m ready to fall asleep, I’ll stay up 25 more minutes in the hope that we’ll succeed!
… and just like that, it’s 25 minutes later and Oso was the one I just woke up! Woohoo!! They both did it!
7 weeks, 3 days (May 15)
3-puppy morning adventure
Find the puppies!
I took Fierro, Rebelde and Chispa. Everyone met 2 dogs and saw a bunch of humans – but not enough to count. So 0 new humans and 2 new dogs for the three rebeldes this quiet morning at the town square! I finally got the picture of everyone in front of the Teotihuacán letters I’d been meaning to get. They all ate, tried to tug on my pants and tugged on my bag. The person who’d tried taking Fierro yesterday wasn’t there. Rebelde and Chispa crossed a street for the first time!
Fierro continues in his current approach to new dogs: bark as he walks up to them. Once again, we met two dogs who did not care one bit. I’m so grateful for these calm free-roamers who’ll just let him do his thing! I tried interrupting his barking with a food scatter, and he was able to eat, too – so not a fear response (I venture.) Today was the first day Rebelde followed suit and tried two or three barks at the second dog after Fierro started. Then she lost interest in barking again.
A stop with a helpful free roamer, unimpressed by Fierro’s barking, before heading back to our temporaryhome.
Duck tug – resource guarding prevention for Oso
When we got back home, Oso got his round of tugging on the duck, taking the duck away, trading for a raw meatball and getting the duck back. He did great:
Morning crate training
Fierro
mastered 30 minutes of sleeping in the carrier! Go puppy! Achievement unlocked!
Oso
started complaining after about 10 minutes. In our long-standing tradition, I left him in the carrier for his 30 minutes anyways and then let him out. He never escalated to top level, but did go back and forth between 10-second stretches of quiet, 2 and 3. Oso and I will take another stab at 30 minutes tonight!
Food bowl resource guarding prevention for everyone
Visitors
Carla and little Emmerson came over in the afternoon to see all the puppies one last time before the first ones go to their new humans. Oso and Chispa slept under the car and didn’t feel like coming out in the heat. Fierro barked at Carla while greeting her, and Bravo quickly followed suit. Emmerson then ran around the yard and for the first time, Fierro chased after him: best! game! ever! Luckily, he didn’t catch up with Emmerson – I don’t want them to feel those playful sharky teeth! Bravo joined the chase a little later, but Carla and I quickly stopped it – i.e. we stopped Emmerson, which is easier than stopping a Mal puppy on a mission!
Rebelde, Fierro and Bravo all got held for a minute by Carla – plus one human for the three of them! I tried calling the other two out from under the car, but they were too sleepy. They woke for a moment though, so they were at least aware that we had visitors and, I hope, got to benefit from a distance. Relaxing in the presence of visitors is a good exercise too.
Carla and Oso … and the bracelets Carla made for me! Thank you, Carla!!They are awesome!
Evening adventure
For our last 3-puppy adventure in town, I took Rebelde, Fierro and Bravo. Bravo and Rebelde got touched by two different strangers, and everyone saw kids running and screaming, a bike and lots of different adults strolling and sitting on benches in the twilight. I’ll count 1/3 of a human for each puppy who got petted.
Everyone also met a dog who was very gentle with the puppies. She showed up so fast that Fierro didn’t have time to bark. Only after greeting her did he remember his new approach to dogs and started barking. She stayed and wagged until he had calmed down again. Thank you very much! Dogs +1 for Fierro, Rebelde and Bravo!
Evening crate training
After spending half an hour in sleep-deprived toddler mode, chasing each other through the house and getting in all kinds of trouble (pulling on electrical cords, tugging on sandals, finding a domino piece under the couch, toppling over a bucket and climbing in it, getting themselves tangled up in a medieval torture device metal contraption for garrafónes, trying to climb on all the furniture, climbing on a metal shelf, pulling on my underwear, redecorating the floor with a sweater and pants and dragging a remote control out into the yard, they all fell asleep. I woke …
Oso
… and transferred him into the carrier. Timer’s set to 30 minutes. Let’s see if we manage this time!
… he DID it! Go Oso!! Archievement unlocked for both the boys! YAY! Just in time!
7 weeks, 4 days (May 16)
Names (again again)
Someone laughed at Fierro’s name tonight. I know fierro is also a slang word for dick, but I’ve never heard it used that way and both Carla and Axel thought the name was cool (I ran it by them to make sure.) They thought the dick connotation was super regional and I shouldn’t worry about it; if at all, it was the good kind of funny. Anyways, because he got laughed at (and not in a way that I like), I decided to change his for-the-moment name before he goes to Eduardo. I love my puppies; no making fun of them! For the time being, I’ll go back to Red when interacting with Spanish speakers.
Morning road trip
Right after an early breakfast, Game, the 5 puppies and I hit the road. Chai stayed behind to be looked after by Carla and Axel for a few days. We had two stops along the way and wanted to get the drive done before it got too hot!
Rebelde
Our first stop was in Vallejo, CDMX: Rebelde’s stop! She is going to stay with Irving’s sister for a few days while he is competing in Chiapas. Rebelde was happy to get out of the car and meet Dalay! +1 new human for Rebelde – and we’ve gotten lovely updates since then! I’ll share them under today’s heading because this was her last day with me, but some of them are from Friday and Saturday. Rebelde also met Dalay’s and Irving’s cousin and has been settling in beautifully! She is being showered with love and her extended new family is already very much in love with her:
Rebelde’s human and dog count for the week: 6 humans and almost 8 dogs. I didn’t meet the human goal this week because I didn’t have her with me all week – but we got an extra dog in. And it’s possible that someone else met Rebelde before the week ended; I’m only counting the humans I know about. In any case – she’s doing great and will have another new adventure soon when Irving gets back and she moves to his place!
Rebelde’s going away presents, apart from a blanket that smells of Game and her siblings, were the dinosaur toy and the furminator I’ve gotten the puppies used to.
Bravo
Our second stop was at Alan’s place where Bravo won’t only meet his future family – Alan’s dad and brother – but also see Kiba again! Bravo, of course, was confident as always! I’m counting +3 humans and +1 dog. He’ll even go to another new location and meet another new human on the weekend as he heads to “his” rancho outside Toluca and meets Alan’s niece!
Bravo’s human and dog count for the week: almost 4 dogs (his goal was 6) and 6 humans (his goal was, like everyone else’s, 7.) In Bravo’s case, I don’t worry about not meeting the goal: he’s been SO confident lately. It is also possible that he met an additional dog (Alan’s mom’s old little mix) and additional human or two (Alan’s mom and sister in law). I’m not counting them because I don’t know for sure. In that case, he’d have exceeded his human goal for the week and be only one dog short.
Bravo’s going away gift apart from a blanket smelling of Game and his siblings: the giraffe toy. He gets the biggest toy because he will live with kids, and they will need something for him to bite when playing! (Alan’s youngest niece is, I believe, 13 – old enough for a Malinois household. As long as they’re armed with a good dangly-legs giraffe toy, that is!)
Game, Red, Chispa and Oso
The four of us headed on home to the apartment. I had time to shower, eat a bite, walk Game around the block and feed everyone lunch before a quick apartment cleaning, and then Joan got here! The exciting part of the day was about to begin because Joan wass going to decide between Red and Oso, based on the temperament I’ve observed over the last few days, what Joan will observe over the next two days they spend adventuring and playing with the puppies and me and a structural evaluation via video call with Joan’s dogs’ rehab and conditioning expert!
We watched an old Chris Zink webinar to figure out how to stack puppies (and had a few good laughs), I probably talked Joan’s ears off telling them everything I could think of about the puppies that wasn’t on the blog yet, and then the boys had their stacking session on a puzzle mat on my fridge. The canine sports expert thought Oso had better structure for a long and injury-free agility career. This coincides with my answer to what puppy I would place in a sports home “right now” (the answer differs all the time.) The structural evaluation rests on Oso’s front angulation, which is similar to Game’s (we had her looked at too.) The boys did their stacking with the help of eating their very first hotdog, and they loved it!
My behavioral answer is that Red is currently barky and Oso is not. Red’s barkiness may not be fear related – he’ll often go up to another dog confidently while barking – but it’s just easier to have a sports dog who’s less barky; it allows you to focus on other behaviors rather than on being quiet. And just in case nerviness is part of what inspires the barking – that’s not what we want in a sports dog either.
Pictures above by Joan. It was nice to outsource photo documentation! Game and Chai say thank you for the gift toys (one of which is in the top right picture by Red’s sleepy feet!)
I know the other boy will have a more predictable routine with familiar routes and familiar people in it, so working through any barkiness that might crop up will be easier than it will be for an athlete who may travel to compete and meet different judges, stewards, sports people and dogs for the rest of his life.
The sports and rehab expert said Red would not be a bad choice either, but they liked Oso’s structure a bit better. So before making a decision, we were going to have puppy adventures so Joan could see the puppies out and about as well!
Evening adventure
We took the two boys to Fresa Parque and then to dinner on a patio. The staff there recognized them because they had been part of the socialization team and were happy to dote on the puppies. I don’t think anyone else held them, so I’m counting 1/3 of a human and 1/3 of a dog for both puppies. They saw dogs in the park and sniffed from a small distance and also next to us on the patio, but didn’t have direct contact with any. They were lazy at the park, but woke up at the patio: it was cooler now and they were ready for action! They got to explore around a stripe of bushes between the patio and the sidewalk, and also on the floor inside the place (where a little kid offered Red their teddy bear and he bit into the teddy bear … and the poor kid started crying. The teddy bear was unharmed, but the puppy hadn’t known that this was a “look, don’t touch” kind of deal. Neither had we humans. I’m sorry, little kid and teddy bear!
Both puppies had a little bit of kibble at the patio too. It was so much fun to see how fast they came running anytime I pup-pup-pup called them if they ventured too far! I reinforced their puppy recalls with serrano ham from my plate, and then they were off again to explore some more. They even found the restaurant’s water bowl and dove in for a drink!
Back home, everyone was wild and crazy and bitey. Joan got to see Chispa and her brothers running around being their crazy playful selves, and Game occasionally correcting them for nursing in a way that was painful.
7 weeks, 5 days (May 17)
Names (again again again)
I’ve changed Red’s name: he’s Mr. President. I unthinkingly called him this today and … it fit! It’s a fun name, and not one people will laugh at. I know Eduardo will give him his own name – he has one prepared that he’ll use if it fits! – but for now, Red is going to be Mr. President to Spanish speakers, and I’ll introduce him as Mr. President to Eduardo and Drago.
Morning adventure
We took all three puppies to Parque de las Arboledas before it got hot. There was A LOT of dog and people traffic! The remaining three rebeldes got touched by lots of different people and met different dogs. Mr. President kept being a little barky – but less so than earlier this week! His barkiness is going down!
He and Oso were the first to approach new people and dogs, and Chispa usually followed suit right away. No barking from her and Oso. I’m counting (and I’m making this up because I didn’t keep count) +3 dogs and +1 person per puppy.
A rare occasion where parts of ME are in the pictures (because Joan took them). No other dogs or people because I took another day off videoing and taking pictures, and Joan’s pictures focus on the puppies – the action was all around us though!
We made a shrine of everything the puppies found and took into their mouth during this morning’s outing. All cigarettes are curtesy of Oso. He’s a smoker, and he’s starting young! Not sure what doG to dedicate this shrine to – it’s up for grabs, all you doGs out there! Assembled with lots of love by Joan, Caden, Oso, Mr. President and Chispa:
Making art with your friends is good for “the soul.”
Evening adventure
After both watching them rest and playing some more with all three puppies, Joan made their decision: Oso will be their puppy!
For his solo evening adventure, Oso – whose name, as can be revealed now, is going to be Judge! – went to the vet’s. He got his third vet exam and a clean health certificate. He was confident and did well, and fell asleep on the table! Now that is one relaxed dog at the vet’s:
Purple Bear says, “Vets? Easy!”
We met two friends for dinner after the vet visit. One of them held Judge again and he got pet by both. So on this evening adventure, we got +2 humans for Judge! Again, there was a dog at the next table over as well. Judge did great and didn’t care: he slept through most of dinner in his carrier and then explored a little on the sidewalk and found the dog water bowl in the restaurant entry.
My food and Joan with Judge at Utopia! No, I don’t usually take pictures of my food. I also don’t usually eat food that looks fancy, so when I do …spinach lasagna!
Tomorrow, Judge will fly! His journey home is going to be the most exciting one since he’ll be on two plances (there’s a layover), three airports, touch two US states and meet Joan’s partner, all in one afternoon/evening!
7 weeks, 6 days (May 18)
The puppies played in the apartment in the morning, giving Judge a chance to get out his energy! Chispa was the last one standing after her brothers passed out:
Then we headed to the airport. After checking in, we gave Judge a chance to pee outside the airport – and he did so pretty much right away! He also explored, found another cigarette butt (oh boy, you really are starting young!), watched cars go by and then decided he was ready to rest – right in time for Joan to get in line for security. I waited until the two of them had made it to the other side of security before heading home.
Seeing Judge off after check-in at the airport!
My first update when Joan and Judge had reached the gate: one Very Good Puppy waiting to board! (He’s in the carrier I trained them with, has – like every puppy – a little blanket that smells of Game and his siblings, and one of the fancy puppy toys I got for the rebels.)From the looks of it, Judge approves of his travel arrangements!
A thought on airports past and present
Judge is the third puppy to leave, and the most difficult for me. On the way to the airport and when assisting Joan in checking in and anything else we were able to do pre-security, I was sad. Not about the puppy. I’m excited about the home Judge is going to. He’ll have a most excellent life. Not only that – he’ll meet several of my colleagues and students in person (he’s going to an FDSA hotspot) and he may show up in my online classes!
Being Joan and Judge’s airport person reminded me of the time I was someone’s virtual airport person when they picked up a puppy and went through their own puppy airport odyssee. They’re no longer in my life. I’d have been perfectly happy having stayed someone who, from a great distance, virtually joined their occasional dog adventure and vice versa in between talking life. As Judge leaves, I get to be sad that did not happen.
Here is Judge’s first friend in Joan’s house: Didi! The video below is from Sunday (May 19), but I’ll add it to Judge’s chapter on his going-home day here – the day he took off on his big adventure!
Judge’s human and dog count for the week: a little over 9 humans and a little over 9 dogs. Weekly goal more than met!
And here’s another update from Monday! The giant Lab puppy is only 16 weeks old. He’s a service dog puppy Joan and Terri are fostering for another week or so. Lucky Judge has got his very own puppy play friend right at home!
Husbandry and handling
After getting home from the airport, I did a round of handling with Chispa and Mr. President. They were being amazing, and for the first time, I clipped the nails on all 4 paws in a single session each. None of them complained even a little bit! Mr. President completely relaxed in my arms on his back, belly up and let me work through all his nails in one go! Superpuppy!
8 weeks (May 19)
Game, Mr. President, Chispa and I got up at 6 and were on the road to Naucalpan half an hour later!
Mr. President
Today was Mr. President’s big day: he went to live with his dad Drago and their human! Both he and Chispa got to meet their dad (who was very excited about the puppies and a bit much for them (the joyful-excited kind of much.) Chispa got held and met her brother’s human as well, counting +1 human and +1 dog for her today. Mr. President, for his part, did not only meet Drago and Eduardo, but also Eduardo’s dad. Two humans, one dog for him at 8 weeks old! AND a new environment: Eduardo’s dad’s car repair shop with tires and tools and all the sounds!
The picture on the right is an update I got a few hours after dropping off Mr. President. He’s already snuggling with his new human and fitting right in!
Mr. President’s dog and human count for the week: a little over 10 humans and a little over 13 dogs. Weekly goal more than met!
Chispa, Game and I carried on back to Teotihuacán for a few more days. Chai was VERY excited to have me back, and Chispa was VERY excited to see Chai! Thank you again, Carla and Axel, for taking care of my girl while I was gone!
Chai looks particularly good now: I used the undercoat rake I had asked Joan to bring me from the US. She’s been shedding, and I brushed out her “pants” with the new rake today!
Chispa
On the drive, we stopped for gas and Chispa got to explore a little around the highway rest stop. She saw a huge truck leave the gas station, several people walking in and out of the little convenience store, smelled gas and tentatively approached a free-roamer sleeping under a bush. The dog very gently curled their lips – almost inperceptibly. Chispa read them well and did not approach further, but went back to sniffing in the other direction. Love a socially savvy puppy!
She was a bit less confident by herself than she has been with her siblings, and seemed a little taken aback by the fact that Mr. President, who had only just been in the crate with her, was no longer there. I’m not counting the gas station dog for Chispa since there was no direct interaction, but I am proud of her for reading the canine stranger so well!
The most interesting thing so far this morning was Chai’s response after greeting Chispa. She kept going back to the car and putting her front feet up on the doors. This isn’t something she usually does, and there was no food inside that might have prompted her to mistake it for a car-shaped food toy. I’m pretty sure she was looking for the other puppies!
Game, for her part, seems perfectly happy to only have one puppy left. She played with Chai when Chai asked her to, I played a little with the two big dogs (before the heat got too much!), and now the three of them are resting contently in the shade.
Chispa’s human and dog count for the week: 7 humans and a little over 10 dogs. Human goal met, dog goal more than met!
Mops on a mission: an update on Caden’s don’t-eat-me protocol
I couldn’t post an update while in the city because I’m using diluted bleach there – not great for puppy mouths. But here’s Chispa today, wildly awake, when we got back to Teotihuacán! I’m using Roma with the Teotihuacán mop. It’s the miracle everything-cleaning-powder almost everyone in Mexico uses because it’s dirt cheap and works for everything from dishes to sidewalks to cars to laundry to watering plants after you’ve used it for something else. Dogs lick sidewalks that have been cleaned that way when they are thirsty and the sidewalks are wet. Birds drink it from potholes. So I don’t worry about puppies having Roma-water-mop fleece in their mouths as the agua del día.
Look at THAT difference! Chispa was the first one to be extremely bitey, and Mr. President caught up to her. The two of them were least interested in the mop and most interested in eating my feet. Only one puppy left to demonstrate how far we have come (when the right mop is near), but YAY!
The first time I come outside in this video is to demonstrate the mop protocol in action: moving around a space I share with a little shark and going about my day, having her sink her mouth full of kitchen knives into the mop rather than my feet and legs. The second time I come outside, it’s to turn off the camera.
Time to start training and fun stuff!
8 weeks is when I like getting puppies myself. If a puppy has been well socialized with their first human, socialization stays important, but can now become a little less of a priority than it was in the last few weeks: we get to do fun stuff now, like learning marker cues, how to follow a lure and toy play! When Chispa was awake again, we practiced some of these skills – I’ll share them in a separate post.
And in case you were wondering: Chispa isn’t staying – but since she’s still with me at 8 weeks old, of course we’ll have fun while she’s here! She’ll move to Jilantzingo on Tuesday.
I’ll refer to the puppies by there (provisional) names from now on because it’s a lot of fun to name dogs! Here’s the run down again, matching names to collar colors. Also and perhaps most importantly, I’ve decided what Black’s name is going to be! Since she is the one puppy who has stood out to me in having more tentative days than the others (so far! It may change tomorrow!), and since she had a few days where she very much did her own thing rather than hanging out with the puppy pile, she’ll get to carry the litter theme forwards: she’s Rebelde (rebel.)
Blue is Chispa, Purple is Oso, Green is Bravo and Red is Fierro. Three puppies have ended up with the names I had on my list of rebelde-themed names. Oso and Rebelde weren’t on my list. Oso just works for Purple (right now anyways; he’s a big fluffy teddy!), and Rebelde fits better than anything else I had on my list. It’s also a strong, brave name, and I want Rebelde to be strong and brave! If she is the most sensitive – which may of course change – she will need it the most.
Back to today!
Before heading back to Teotihuacán, we went to Fresa Parque early in the morning and got in some more dog interactions:
Park time before our puppy road trip.
Once again, two strangers asked me to sell them a puppy. This is getting old!
By 8AM, we hit the road. The shade structure did a great job and we got to our temporary yard before it was unbearably hot.
Open roads (with good music) and cats symbolize freedom for me. To be untethered to places because you choose rather than need to feels sleeping-under-the-stars kind of good.
More de-parasiting
Everyone had their first round of Heartgard, on the same day it was Game’s and Chai’s monthly turn. Oso (Purple) had the easiest time eating his and did so right away without hesitation. The others took a little longer. Only Rebelde (Black) needed hers diluted in a little milk or she wouldn’t touch it.
6 weeks, 2 days (May 7)
Game and Chai enjoyed a round of morning fetch in the yard while the puppies (who were smart and got out of the way) watched with curiosity. When a ball became available, two of them went for it!
Solo adventures
Bravo
I took Bravo (Green) on a 20-minute solo trip in the carrier. Even though it was already very hot when we got out, he didn’t complain at all. We met a free-roamer I let him sniff to bring up his dog count, which is the lowest of them all right now. He walked up to the wagging dog lying in the shade and investigated the waggy tail. No pictures because I wanted to safe myself some editing time! We went to a butcher shop and got ground chicken: the better food I’ll start adding to most meals in order to teach the puppies that hands near food are great news rather than a cause for concern. I also got chicken feet to gnaw on for everyone. I took Bravo out while the store owner ground up our meat and he got to see the goings-on.
Fierro
At 2PM, it was Fierro (Red)’s turn to go on a solo adventure to El Chichimeca. It was hotter now and he hung out under the bench, panting. For the first time, I saw him startle at a motorcycle sound. He didn’t respond to the second motorcycle going past.
A thought on socialization periods
I wonder whether we really are in the most important socialization and environmental exposure period now, and whether my early socialization has made a difference. OR if the main socialization period is already over, contrary to common knowledge, now that startle responses have intensified and fear responses set in. I’d probably have to have at least another litter with the same sire and do things differently to find even a little bit of an answer.
… and Fierro again
Tonight, I took Fierro on an errand without the carrier. At first, he was a little stiff in my arms, then he relaxed and soon fell asleep. I had been hoping we’d run into a free-roamer to catch up on his dog count, but no luck today.
Preventing resource guarding
This is what the ground meat is for! Today was the first day I added something better to the puppies’ kibble: raw meat! The idea is to create the association that my hand near food means good things for dogs: I will either add something better to what the dogs are currently eating or trade something they are playing with or chewing on for something better; then give the first object back right away. The hope is that by learning this from the beginning, the thought of guarding food or toys won’t cross their minds in the future because human hands near food mean good things. If someone happens to visit while I feed the puppies, I’ll have them do it too to generalize a little.
My raw meat is in the tiny plastic container and I just sprinkle a few flakes of it over the kibble every time my hand approaches. It doesn’t have to be a lot – it just has to be yummy!
So social, so interactive, so mobile!
Everyone continues getting bitier, which is delightful. Tonight, Fierro and Rebelde tugged with each other on a rope for the first time, and Oso discovered that he could try and dig holes!
For the last three or four days or so, they’ve also shown a new play move: they will sneak-stalk up to each other Border-Collie style and then play-attack! It is VERY cute. Yesterday, Bravo had the first puppy zoomies in the yard. Today, the others followed suit!
6 weeks, 3 days (May 8)
There were morning firecrackers – I suspect the left-overs from the saint’s day last Friday. The puppies are most playful in the morning, and we played through all of the firecracker background noise for about half an hour. (These aren’t the next-door firecrackers anymore, but a little further out. Still – good practice for any dog who’ll live in Mexico State!)
A thought on noise sensitivity
We could, of course, wonder why most dogs I know in Mexico, including free-roaming ones, are not comfortable with firecrackers, given the fact that most of them grow up with firecrackers. I wonder if the population – pre-firecrackers – started out average: most of them not noise sensitive, but with the possibility to sensitize (like Game.) Once they had sensitized, they had litters and those litters socially learned from their dams to be afraid. OR they themselves sensitized later in life. OR it is something epigenetic. In any case, my favorite scenario would be the one where the puppies socially learned to be afraid: that is the only scenario in which my puppies won’t eventually be afraid of firecrackers because I’m removing my adult dogs when the firecrackers get too loud and pairing firecracker sounds with play. I have no idea how likely or unlikely the social-learning hypothesis actually it is. (If you read this and know – show me a study; I’d love to read it!)
Here’s a few excerpts from our morning play! The puppies now play with each other as well as with anything they find: figs from the tree in the yard, a rope, my socks, my pants, balls, toys, Chai, long grass roots, twigs from a shrub, sandals, my phone’s lanyard. Everyone and everything is a toy, and I love it!
Chispa (Blue) and Rebelde (Black) say, lanyards make great tug toys!
Here’s Bravo having fun with a sock I let either Fierro or Chispa win – both of them got one each. I’ve been slipping socks for particularly fervent pulls like we do with bite sleeves in bigger dogs.
So! much! play!
It strikes me just how much play there is. I knew there was going to be a lot – but not the true extent of that lot. The puppies must be using ALL their muscles this way! By now, they chase each other as well as wrestle, and they roll all over the place in all the ways pretty much nonstop. What a way to exercise and learn about their bodies and each other! I would absolutely love to have another litter for them to play with – I bet this would have HUGE advantages for them: the newness of dogs AND play. It would be an amazing opportunity! I’m hoping to find someone on Facebook who is willing to have a playdate with us.
Solo adventures
Purple
went on today’s Chichimeca trip. He left the carrier, lied down in the shadiest place he found under the bench and complained: the heat. I feel it too. It’s too much!
Frontlining
Everyone got Frontline-sprayed again while asleep. I want to minimize them having to deal with the terrible smell, so half-asleep puppies are perfect. Nobody complained! Now that the pups are bigger, I’m using the spray the way it’s supposed to be used (more of it and massaging it in.) This way, we’ll hopefully be able to go a little longer before the next round!
Crate training
Fierro
mastered his 9 minutes (slept through them like a stone) and
Oso
mastered his 8!
Once they are up to 10, I’ll increase duration in 5-minute increments rather than 1-minute ones. My goal is to get up to 30 before one of these two boys goes on their plane trip.
Husbandry
everyone got the nails of their right front paws clipped – for the first time today, with the “big dog” clippers! They all did well – Fierro, Oso and Chispa were rather awake during their turn though and struggled to get off, having more important things to do and places to be. It’s not a fear-based but clearly a “Hold on, I’d rather be on the ground and do that other thing” kind of struggle. Big difference! Rebelde and Bravo got their turn later at night, and were very chill and relaxed – it was sleepy times already. Nobody batted an eyelash at the big dog nail clippers.
6 weeks, 4 days (May 9)
Velociraptor morning greetings are getting more fun by the day! I’m still slipping socks and sandals when they pull strongly. I’m loving my mornings: it’s the good kind of pain. Like getting a tattoo.
When I took Game and Chai for their morning walk, EVERYONE flooded out the gate. So far, it has always only been one puppy, and they’d been more tentative about it (usually Fierro or Chispa.) Today, everyone wanted to come!
I wish I lived in a street where I could let them come on an abbreviated morning walk, but as is, this is not a puppy-walking street. There’s about 2-3 cars a minute, but they are fast and I have already seen them not stop for dogs. It’s not that kind of town – other towns – even with more traffic – absolutely are. It is fascinating to me how within the same state, the human/dog culture differs.
This particular street also has a lot of barky dogs behind fences. This, too, isn’t the case in all towns, even if the number of resident dogs is similarly high! In any case, to get to the place where walking is enjoyable (it’s still a cactus desert, but without cars), we need to walk through the street with barking left and right and cars who won’t stop for dogs. Walking two adult dogs who mostly stay on the sidewalk is just the right number to do so relatively relaxedly. I’m going to drive to the cactus wasteland with everyone and the puppies though … maybe tomorrow. That way, they can have a little walk with the big girls without getting run over. And we can stop to meet our free-roaming friends. When I’m not bringing the puppies, I’ll have to move the x-pen to the gate to create an airlock … this morning, the simple act of leaving took me a couple minutes because they were very determined. I don’t expect them to want to go to the same extent if the adults don’t head outside, but just seeing Game or Chai them step over the threshold is now enough to make them want to come along. It would be fun to live in a super quiet street where I could watch them naturally expand their home range without worrying about cars. This morning showed me that they’d venture off this fenced property by now. Bravo even ran a few meters after a pedestrian passing! Yay for being attracted to new folks!
Social life
Solo adventures
Chispa
went on a brief out-of-carrier solo adventure to the store, and the person attending the store briefly held her. One new human – check!
Rebelde
went to El Chichimeca in the carrier. She was fast to leave it, briefly explore and soon fell asleep under the bench in the shade. It is SO hot!
Fierro
went on my evening hunt for ice cream. I wasn’t going to take anyone, but he was latched on to my sandals when I tried to leave – so picking him up and bringing him along for an adventure was the easiest solution. The first two places were out of ice cream (have I mentioned it is hotter than in Mexico City?) So our adventure was longer than expected – and Fierro got to meet a friendly free-roamer and take turns eating pieces of kibble with him!
Heading home with Fierro after finally succeeding at our ice cream hunt. Marveling at the beauty of not only murals, sidewalks and fading paint, but also rooftop water tanks. Everything turns beautiful under the right kind of sky.
Visitors
Around noon, Carla, Emmerson and Axel visited for a bit. Every puppy got held by either Carla or Axel – we’ll count them as new people again! Fierro was the first puppy to show object play with a person other than me: he tugged with Axel! What a good boy!
All puppies played with each other while Emmerson (the 3-year old) ran around the yard. These little social visits are perfect: they usually stay for about half an hour because by then, Emmerson gets bored. Both for me and the puppies, that’s an excellent amount of time to socialize.
We’ve done these visits over my lunch break so far, which is also convenient: during the hottest hours of the day, none of the puppies have enough energy to eat visitors, making it a great time to have a kid over and running around. Earlier or later in the day, I’d worry, especially since Emmerson is a bit tentative around the puppies. They are fast now, and I can see Emmerson running and screaming while 5 Malinois puppies think this is the best game ever, catch up with Emmerson, latch on to them and … ahm … like the cute tiny dinosaurs in this Jurassic Park scene:
In the evening, when it cooled down, I decided to try 2-puppy adventures this week as a change from solo- or everyone.adventures. The first two puppies got to go today:
Oso and Fierro’s 2-dog adventure
I carried them a little in the carrier, then set it down and gave them a chance to come out (once we were off the car street my temporary house is on). Both did so pretty quickly – when there are two rather than one, their confidence doubles! I walked a few steps and called them. Sure enough they came running! A piece of kibble for everyone and the opportunity to go back into the carrier. Both ate the kibble and wanted to stay outside, so we walked some more along the sidewalk. We saw several people, got touched by someone and Fierro responded slightly suspiciously when someone shooed him away from their plastic cup of beer. With a little encouragement, he then ran past them when I called. Brave Fierro!
I walked ahead and called a few times, feeding a piece of kibble or two each or offering water. I LOVE that they are already eating kibble out and about, and it was great to see their confidence on the sidewalk, and how they approached rather than retreated from two strangers (who reatreated into a portón before the puppies caught up with them.)
They also met a free-roamer, upping both their weekly dog count by one! Go puppies!
Tomorrow, I’ll take the next two. I’ll spontaneously decide who gets to go!
Crate training
Fierro
was tired and did his 10 minutes without issues as I was getting ready for bed.
Oso
was still wide awake. Both he and Chispa were in sleep deprived toddler mode, which goes along with panting quite a bit. I waited until Oso had chilled out and then went for his 10 minutes. Unfortunately, I hadn’t given him enough time to be able to modulate his energy down from crazy to asleep. He complained at a noise level 1 in the carrier, starting about a minute in. He stayed at a level 1 though and there were brief pauses. He was tired … until he saw Game head outside for her evening pee. At that point, he escalated to a level 3, and then back to 1 when she came inside again. Don Oso will do another 10-minute round next time!
Changes!
Purple used to be a very even-keeled and slightly lazy puppy until about Sunday. Now, he’s becoming more and more active and intense! They change SO much, all the time!
6 weeks, 5 days (May 10, 2024)
Adventures, field trips and socializing!
We went to our usual morning walk spot, but I drove the part that has cars and dogs barking behind fences so the puppies could come! I parked at the cactus wasteland and let everyone out right away. It is wild how much of a difference it makes in the puppies’ confidence when Game and Chai are around – especially Game! Since the big girls couldn’t wait to get out of the car and get to their running spot, the puppies followed suit. Chispa needed a bit of convincing – she was the only one who observed from under the car for half a minute before taking off into the open field. (Once again: notice how much they change: last week, the hesitant puppy would have been Rebelde while Chispa would have been one of the first ones to explore. Today, the tables are turned!)
What I was most fascinated by was that the puppies weren’t big on exploring this new environment. Instead, they did what they usually do in the morning: latch on to my pants and sandals to tug ferociously! Chispa, once she had decided she wanted to come, was all wiggly and happy when she finally got to me and then, of course, cashed in on her price of tugging away. Not a second look at the environment even though the big dogs were ahead and exploring! (Chispa is my current favorite because out of all the puppies, she seems the happiest to see me, and she has a facial expression that goes with an open mouth, ears back and fast wagging. She turns into the personification (canification?) of joy. None of the others can do that kind of expression. The random details we love about them are fascinating in and of themselves!)
My left leg and my right leg as I’m trying to walk further into the field!
I’ve only consciously reinforced tugging on my pants (it is something that typically only happens in the morning, when everyone is extra excited to see me and it’s still coolish) a few times – maybe between 3 and 5, for no more than 30 seconds each, and not with every puppy each time. And WOW, what a result! Going forwards, I’ll carry toys for them to latch on to instead. Unfortunately, I have no closed shoes, and my feet are pretty scratched up by now. It IS fun, but it’s also a lot to put on the puppies’ new homes! It would be nice to get them to target toys instead over the next few days, before they move out. Without having done any conscious drive building except for letting them tug on me a few times and slipping socks/shoes, I have unleashed the monsters! It is WILD to me how easy a genetic disposition to be mouthy can be turned up! (I continue being delighted, of course, but since they won’t stay with me, it’s time to tune things down in the eating-humans department.)
There is a very easy trick to get a puppy to let go, by the way: pick them up. The puppy, that is, not the thing you don’t want them to tug on.
After doing so a few times on our wasteland adventure, they shifted their focus to the environment (phew!) Here’s our first encounter with a cactus:
After meeting Mr. Cactus, we saw (well, at least Game did) cattle in the distance and I used the opportunity to whistle-recall the adults, knowing that the puppies would come running after them. Not only was there a scatter – the puppies also got reinforced with social attention (praise and pets) as well as an opportunity to reach Game’s teats for a drink (it is warm already and milk is liquid – the perfect reinforcer.) The scatter is mostly for the big dogs, but some of the little ones snatched up kibble as well. I believe social reinforcement is still pretty strong for them, but food is starting to increase in value.
In the video above, you may have seen that the person with the cattle has a dog as well. In the clip below, that dog has come closer and after eating a scatter (everyone except for Chispa, who observes the dog), we get to say hi. I call Game back twice to make sure she doesn’t get too intense with them. I haven’t let her meet dogs together with the puppies before. On the second up-close meet, before I have a chance to call them back, the dog feels outnumbered and heads off. This was a great opportunity for the puppies to meet a new dog, and see peaceful meetings modeled by their two big household dogs!
I’m only putting down one new dog for Bravo since he was the one who directly approached and sniffed the dog up close. I’m excited it was Bravo, since his dog count is currently the lowest (he had the least dogs “roll over” from last week.)
… and for the final adventure puzzle piece of this morning, we all climbed a wall (i.e. a wall that’s part of a ruin, making it climbable even for puppies:
This entire outing was around 10-15 minutes – there was just a lot that fit into a short time. If I walked at my normal speed, it would have been 3 minutes to do this small loop from the car and back to the car. The reason it was 10-15 is that we first spent a bit of time with me standing still and puppies hanging on to my pants, I stopped a few time to take pictures, I recalled them, we waited when they checked out the cactus …
Rebel & Bravo’s 2-dog adventure
Around lunch time, I craved quesadillas, so I walked to the quesadilla plaza with Rebel and Bravo. I first had them both in the carrier, then let both out and they followed me, then carried them both, let both of them walk a little again and, on the way back, took turns having one in my arms and one in the carrier.
We made it to the quesadilla plaza, and I let the puppies have a drink and run around. Rebel was out first. She had also been the first one out on our first stop in the street, and the first one to say hi to a person we met. Not a shy puppy this week at all!
Apart from seeing passers-by, we interacted with 3 people: two who pet them for a little bit (without lifting them up) and a 3-year-old (whose pink tulle dress looked like a great toy to rip up; I’m glad it was hot enough for the puppies to not sink their teeth into it!) who didn’t dare touch them, but danced and ran around them, came close and retreated again while we waited for my quesadillas. The puppies were, at this point, tired and watched with interest, but not in a hurry to get up or appraoch: they had just interacted with two of the four dogs on this plaza as well, staying on the ground, approaching voluntarily. Both dogs were friendly to them; it was great! By the time we met the kid, everyone was ready to pass out.
I’m counting two dogs and one human for both puppies. I’ve decided my human count will be 1 for every person who holds the puppies and, now that they are at an interactive age, 1 for every 3 people who interact with the puppies without picking them up.
When walking a bit along the sidewalk on the way to the plaza, I called the puppies successfully with Pup-pup-pup a few times, reinforced with pets and kibble and the opportunity to go into the carrier if they wanted, and occasionally a drink of water. They both took food (even though they had just had lunch before we left!) and were doing great. Bravo found his first scavenge-able little pieces of meat under the quesadilla stove. I had forgotten my phone, so no pictures or videos of this outing – but it was a most successful one! I just wish it wasn’t quite as warm. By the time I got home, I was ready to take a nap too!
Crate training
I usually crate train when everyone gets tired at night … but this morning, they were all wiped out from our field trip, so I used the opportunity to get some sleepy training in before it got too, too hot!
Oso
started talking to himself half-way into his repeat-9 minutes. He talked to himself on and off (lower than a level 1) until almost the end; I took him out when he happened to be quiet after 9 minutes. Since I’m aiming for total calmness, he’ll repeat the 9-minute stage again.
Fierro
took his first stab at 15 crate minutes. He started complaining softly 11 minutes in, talking to himself, escalated to noise level 1 around the 12 minute mark and to levels 2 and 3 another minute later. 15 again it is for Fierro! He started out really well though!
Oso – again
I gave Oso another go at 9 minutes after Fierro’s turn because everyone was still wiped out from this morning and it wasn’t yet UNBEARABLY hot. He aced it this time! On to 10 minutes for his next round!
Fierro – again
After Oso, Fierro took another stab at his 15 minutes – and he DID it! What a superstar! He woke up twice during his turn. Once because of a firecracker – he fell back asleep a few seconds later. And once at about minute 15, when the neighbors’ dog started barking. He was awake, head up, listening and looking for his last minute, but no complaints! Go Fierro! His next turn will be 20 minutes!
Oso aces his 10 minutes!
Tonight, Oso had another go at sleeping in the carrier for 10 minutes – and he DID it even though he woke up in the very end when the dog next door started barking! Go puppy! On to 15 minutes tomorrow!
Resource guarding prevention
Apart from Oso’s crate training win, we only did two things tonight: I used the mop as a “don’t eat my feet” toy (it works great for most puppies except Fierro!) and then added little pieces of raw to the puppies’ dinner kibble. I’ve been doing this for 1-3 of their 4 daily meals over the last couple days and am now starting to see cheerful anticipation when I approach!
6 weeks, 5 days (May 10)
Caden’s don’t-eat-me protocol
Below, day 1.5 of The Mop Mission for unteaching your litter of Malinois puppies to eat you. To successfully apply:
Have a baby gate between you and the puppies. Entice them with the mop before stepping over the baby gate for a better chance that they will target the mop (rather than you.) See 02:26 in the video below. The camera angle isn’t great, but at this point in the clip, I’m behind the baby gate in the front door to the house – and the puppies are outside. I’ve already moved the mop back and forth in circles and ∞ movements for about 20 seconds when the clip starts.
Move your mop AWAY from the puppies rather than towards them. Just like you would when teaching them to tug: toys try to escape like prey animals; they don’t try to jump into the preditor’s mouth.
Only if absolutely necessary use the mop as a barrier between you and a puppy. Note that this puppy, if there’s a reinforcement history for eating you, is learning to fight past the mop to get to you rather than to target the mop! My puppies have this reinforcement history.
If a puppy latches on to you, don’t pick up your leg or foot or shoe – this tends to cause Malinois puppies to latch on even more strongly! Instead, pick up the puppie. They are likely to let go (at this age anyways.) Place them behind the mop so they get another chance of chasing something they will be allowed to keep biting.
After daily practice, I’ll show you what this looks like next week!
Tugging with three puppies (the two sports prospects and my favorite)
Why? Because I have TIME for it. If I had gone to the city and done what I originally planned – socialize, socialize, socialize – I wouldn’t have. I’m using this time wisely to have a little fun!
Play with one puppy out at a time – but if you have several puppies, let the others watch from behind a barrier! They’ll want to go next!
Tug for 1-2 minutes (stop before the puppy gets tired!)
After some 50/50 strength struggle (thank you for that percentage suggestion, Shade Whitesel!), let the puppy win the toy when they give a good tugging effort: let go of it and let them have it.
Let the puppy keep the toy and do what they like with it for at least 20 seconds.
Announce a trade: show them something edible and delicious, take away the toy, give them the food, give back the toy.
Let them have the toy for about 20 seconds more and then distract them away from it if they are still interested. In Oso’s video, I start tossing figs since we happen to be under a fig tree. Pick up the toy when the puppy doesn’t notice.
Session over! Transition gently from interaction to puppy-amusing-themselves time, for example with snuggles or personal play.
Oso
Fierro
Fierro impressed me: he didn’t let go of the toy throughout his session! This is one tenacious puppy (today he is anyways – remember that at this age, you’ve got a different puppy every day!)
Chispa
When it was Chispa’s turn, she was too tired to play – or in any case, she didn’t feel like it. It was HOT! I first played in the usual spot by myself, but quickly gave up. These are Malinois puppies. If anyone is going to beg to play, it’s going to be them begging me!
I then briefly tried engaging her up closer – and she started chasing the toy! However, she soon stopped again and I ended the session. Take home message: don’t beg your dog to play. If it’s not the right moment for them, just try again later.
At night, after the rain, Chispa was big time into tugging with Chai on that same toy!
2-dog adventure
Chispa and Fierro went on their 2-dog adventure this morning. I hoped to find a person for Fierro and a dog for Chispa to meet. We found someone for Fierro: the tamales salesperson I bought my breakfast from was happy to hold him. No dogs for Chispa though. We saw one, but he was mistrustful so we left him alone.
The most interesting part was when we walked past a rubbish fence (made out of car parts, steel mats and corrugated metal) that had three (?) dogs behind it who started barking suddenly and all at once. Both puppies got scared (very clearly a fear response, not a startle response) but responded differently: Chispa booked it towards home and stopped maybe 15 meters from me on the sidewalk. The barky dog yard was between us. Fierro ran my direction and gladly jumped in the get-away carrier the door of which I held open. I tried pup-pup-pup calling Chispa, but she couldn’t come. Only once I had walked back towards her side of the barky dogs did she come (which didn’t require her to run past the barking, but still towards it rather than away from it – brave girl!)
Both puppies recovered within no more than 20 seconds. They voluntarily left the carrier again – Fierro before Chispa – and walked with me for the last part of the way home. Fierro even latched on to the belt of the carrier and tugged. And yes, that last bit was on the car street sidewalk, but the puppies were tired enough I trusted they’d stay with me.
The fascination of opposite responses and the onset of fear
I found two things fascinating today: one is that the two puppies showed opposite responses to the barky dogs: away from me and towards home (Chispa) and towards me (even though that was the opposite direction from home): Fierro.
It also was a clear sign that by now, at 6 weeks and 5 days, every single puppy (maybe except for Bravo? I’ll have to go back over my notes to see if I’ve seen a fear response in him yet) is physiologically capable of experiencing fear. The earliest I’ve gotten a puppy was at 7 weeks. That puppy was also a Mal. So really, there is very little chance that when you get a (Malinois) puppy, that puppy isn’t already past the sensitive socialization window (if we define that window as the time the puppy is socially receptive, yet entirely unable to feel fear.) The 7-or-8-week-old puppy’s fear response will still be smaller than the fear response of an older puppy – but like it or not, it’s going to be possible to show up while being entirely impossible at an earlier age.
The puppy you invite into your life
This is why I give young puppies ALL the opportunities to socialize that I can. As much as possible, even if it’s hard on them and they are very busy as a result of my socialization efforts.
I also advise new owners to do a lot in the very beginning (the no-fear opportunity is gone, but the fear response is still smaller than it will be in a week or two.) Once the fear response is noticeable when confronted with new experiences (depending on the breed and the individual, this may be at 7 weeks, at 12 weeks or anywhere in between), we slow way down and I suggest one or two calm days a week where the puppy learns that sometimes, nothing much happens and we still don’t tear the house to shreds.
Once the opportunity to reap the unique benefits of the time when curiosity is greater than fear has passed, we’re not in a hurry anymore and can focus on other important, but less time-sensitive things such as learning to be calm and not not always “be on,” crate training, marker cues, play and other life skills we may practice at home.
Up until then, we very much are in a hurry and quite busy socializing, going all the places and having all the visitors! But starting when the fear response is more than just a moment’s hesitation, I want the puppy to have the greatest possible agency over approaching or not, being touched or not, and the distance from whatever stimulus that feels right to them. This is when we may introduce CU games, desensitization and other more systematic (and hence less “organic”) protocols: while we didn’t need them for very young puppies, we do now!
Solo adventures without a carrier
Oso
came on an errand to buy milk. I had hoped to hand him to the convenience store person to hold while I scrambled through my wallet, but unfortunately, the store of our choice was closed and the person in the one we went to instead wasn’t quiete as dog-enthusiastic. Oso is still missing one human to complete this week’s count. This is the first time all puppies needed their rollover extra humans from last week because I didn’t go to the city today, where socializing puppies is easier!
We’ll go dog hunting tonight and tomorrow and find Oso a human to complete this week’s quests for everyone!
Rebelde
came on an ice cream mission in my arms a little later today. Almost everyone is out of ice cream! But we hunted some down!
Resource guarding prevention: toys
Everyone got a round of toy-guarding prevention: my hand approaching a toy means I’ll take it away, feed something delicious and give it right back. I worked with all of them, but didn’t take video of them all. It was fun to observe how some went right back to the toy while others were looking for more food!
While only 3 puppies got to play with me this morning, everyone got a round of playing by themselves with the resource guarding protocol!
Rebelde
Bravo
Fierro
Going forwards, I’ll only do toy play and trade after. Toy play is way too much fun to swap it for boring toy – food – toy exchanges!
The adventure that didn’t happen
When it cooled down a little, I put all the puppies in the big dog crate and drove them to the town center in the hope of human and dog socialization. However, just as we got there, it started pouring. I waited about 10 minutes, but the rain didn’t let out, so we drove back home – not having left the car. Silver lining: the puppies got another car ride in the big dog crate, and they heard rain on the roof of a car.
A note on play
It is fascinating to me that the puppies seem much more interested in playing with each other and with me than in playing with the adult dogs. Never before has it been THIS clear to me how important puppy/puppy play must be! Sadly, no news on my search for a litter of a similar age, even though I’ve now posted in two more local and semi-local dog Facebook groups.
Thought of the day
Grief comes in waves.
7 weeks (May 11)
Socialization adventure
Since we – that is I – had been too tired to go to the city this weekend, I took another stab at the town center this morning. No more rain and today, we were much luckier! Not a lot was going on yet on a Sunday at 7AM, but this made the stimuli there were the more salient. We met 5 dogs at varying levels of closeness. I’m counting 2 per puppy. This gets almost everyone to their weekly dog-interaction count (taking the rollover from last week!) There were also several people who touched some of them. I want one more round of this, and I’ll count one person for everyone too, which would also get everyone the required people count.
Everyone came and ate when I called, ran away and sprinkled breakfast kibble. Eating out, getting pets, practicing puppy recalls – check.
Curiosity, approach behavior … and scaring off two big dogs once they noticed HOW MANY little raptors were coming to say hi to them. Thank you for being kind to the first ones, you two!
Fierro also barked at another non-threatening free-roamer. This is the first time one of them has barked at a stimulus! Plus: we’re climbing stairs as if it was the most natural thing in the world! See for yourself:
We then met a fourth free-roamer and almost got run over by a trash cart. Almost! What’s most interesting in this clip to me is how Chispa approaches the dog with her tail tucked. She is clearly feeling tense. There is no reason for her to approach. I am at a distance from this dog, taking video – she could come to me or go any other way. And yet, she chooses to approach despite her tail saying that she isn’t entirely at ease! Curiosity wins – and nothing bad happens! Go Chispa!
Thank you for the person with the trash cart for stopping when I asked you to! We were getting in your way, after all!
After meeting the trash cart, the puppies found bread crumbs to enjoy and reconnected with the black free-roamer. They also ran after a bike for a few metters and after a pedestrian (I had to call them away from the pedestrian; they themselves stopped with the bike.) Bravo tried eating the pedal of a different bike. That’s not on video – but here’s Bravo and Rebelde learning to scavenge and our free-roaming friend! I usually don’t feed free-roamers, but I do these days because I want them to stick around me and the puppies. You’ll also see me having to call Rebelde away from a stranger in this clip. I lowered the camera when calling because the person looked like they’d like to be left alone, so you can’t see Rebelde’s nice response.
Folks were just starting to set up for the Sunday market when we got ready to leave (to avoid going home in the heat!) Everyone walked through the market corridor together – including our new found friend, of course! In the video below, you see me calling the puppies after the corridor. They are slower to respond – Rebelde seems to not be sure which direction my call is coming from, and everyone else is just tired by this point! Our new friend, funnily, is fast to respond to the recall she doesn’t know!
At this age, social reinforcement tends to be most valuable. I feed now and then anyways because I want the puppies to learn how to eat, and that food can be a consequence of behaviors. But not always: I want social reinforcement to stay strong and not turn every interaction into a transaction.
I would love to go to the city at least once this week before returning there on Thursday … but due to the heat, I think I’ll leave it at working here in town. I’ll just have to head out every morning and every evening (as long as we don’t get rained out, like yesterday.) Hopefully that way, we’ll come close to meeting our dog and people goals. We’ve still got tonight to break even for this week, and I hope to make it count!
This evening’s social trip
I looked for other plazas in and around town, but the only other one there is (as far as I can tell) – the quesadilla plaza – was pretty dead. So we headed back to the center again. And wow, was it fun! Much more alive than at 7AM! There were not as many dogs as there usually are at city parks, but plenty of people who wanted to interact with the puppies, including kids. Older kids running, couples lying on the low walls of the grassy parts, a balloon salesperson, a few arts stands (probably the same we saw setting up in the morning), people with strollers and lights in the trees. It wasn’t crazy crowded, but just right. Everyone met a tiny 8-months old Chihuahua who wanted to play (until my guys became too much when they found all their confidence) and another friendly free-roamer who was approached by Bravo (he’s the most confident, ventures the furthest and is the first to approach people and dogs these days), Rebelde, Fierro (who first barked and then had a good time) and Chispa (who I held up to both this dog and the Chi to sniff because she was being sleepy or tentative.) Oso got held by a new person, so he officially mets his people count for the day as well. Since everyone else got touched by all kinds of people, but not picked up, I’m giving them all an additional people mark too. Plus one Chihuahua for everyone and one free-roamer who wanted my pets, but not my food for 4 of the puppies. It’s going well! We’ll make this park a staple, twice a day for as long as the puppies are here and it doesn’t rain!
Crate training
Oso
Shortly after we got home from our evening adventure, there was a power outage. Nothing much we could do – but Oso got 15 minutes of crate time and rocked it! Both he and Fierro are looking at 20 minutes next.
While Oso slept in the carrier in the kitchen, everyone else was asleep outside the baby gate, outside the house … except for Rebelde. She vocally complained about wanting to be let in. I did something I haven’t done before. Since everyone was out there with her and peaceful, it was a familiar place and she wasn’t confined, I knew she wasn’t scared – she just wasn’t content and wanted inside, and she is someone who says what she wants. I waited her out, puttering around nearby but not letting her in. She calmed down after 20 minutes. About a minute later, I let everyone in for the night.
Did we meeet the new dogs and new humans goal (at least 7 a week for everyone?)
YES! I tallied up this week’s dogs and people, and thanks to today’s two outings and Carla, Emmerson and Axel’s visit this week, we made or overshot our dog and human goals this week as well! (Granted this is the first time we counted rollover dogs and humans from last week.) I have a good feeling that we’ll get things done in week 8 as well, now that we have a plan for mornings and nights!
We had a lazy day today. I made sure not to take too many pictures or videos so I wouldn’t have too much to write or edit either!
A sleepy Game sandwich.
Purple’s Solo Adventure
Purple went on a solo adventure to the lunch place next door. He did great in the carrier, and then I opened it to let him out – if he so chose – while waiting for my food. He came out onto the sidewalk, explored around the carrier and then whined, which was immediately remedied by picking him up. After watching the world go by from my arms – there wasn’t a lot going on, but we saw a cyclist, two small kids running and an adult walking by, a few cars and a motorcycle – he struggled, I put him back down and he explored some more before falling asleep on the cool tiles of the restaurant entry. No complaints on the walk back home either (it’s only a 2-minute walk.)
Purple watching the street on his solo adventure.
Green’s Solo Adventure
Green was the next puppy to go on a solo adventure when I walked to the copy shop to print out this week’s puppy trackers. He did great on the 5-minute walk there, and after getting my prints, I opened his carrier in a quiet side street to give him a chance to explore as well. He came out slowly – this is the first time he has this opportunity on his own, and he wasn’t as quick to explore as he’s been with his siblings around. I wonder if caution is a natural response when by oneself as a young puppy OR if this indicates his fear response has set on.
In any case, he did come out and explored around the carrier. There wasn’t much going on, but on the walk home, we walked parallel to someone with a wheelbarrow and also saw a few cars and a bike.
Crate training
Purple
did great and slept through his 6 minutes.
Red
complained and wanted out. Blue and Black were concerned and tried to get into the closed crate where their brother was screaming at volume level 4. I let him out after his 7 minutes, but not without wondering if I should let him cry it out. I know he’s frustrated because he wants out. I don’t believe he feels abandoned because everyone else is right next to him. I’ve never let a new puppy I crate trained cry it out, but these puppies were older – I built duration and alone time very slowly. With a puppy who’s been separated from everyone they know, it seems cruel to me to let them complain until they give up. On the other hand, imagining to let Red complain until he stops now feels different because I’m convinced he doesn’t feel abandoned. Hrm. We’ll see tomorrow.
In any case, the success of the puppies (for example the fact that Purple slept through his turn and Red didn’t) is, so far, based on the timing of when I started their turns. It’s not that Purple is more comfortable in the carrier than Red; it’s simply that when I put Purple in, everyone was still sound asleep, but soon after I put Red in, everyone started waking up and becoming active – including Red, who at that point didn’t want to stay in the carrier.
Deworming …
Every puppy got another spoon full of strawberry yoghurt laced with dewormer. Sadly, no strawberry yogurt for me today. I need to safe some for their third dose tomorrow!
Mobility, becoming social beings and the senses
The rebeldes are getting FAST when they run and, as of today, have REALLY turned into sharks. Their teeth have been around for a few days, but as of today, their jaws are strong enough to make teeth on skin hurt.
We’ve officially turned into little biting machines!
They’ve also started carrying tennis balls around and playing together with a tennis ball! Social and object play rolled into one!
AND we’ve heard the closest firecrackers we’ve heard so far. Game, Green and Red lifted their heads; everyone else didn’t even wake up. I don’t know what’s going on with Game – she hasn’t been THIS chill around firecrackers in a long time! I wonder what hormonal or other changes are causing this.
Also, here’s a lunch recall to a scatter in the grass! Sometimes, I recall to scatters, sometimes to different plates or containers – I want them to learn to eat out of any container and from any surface. This is a simple stimulus/stimulus pairing – classically conditioning my voice/pup-pup-pup-pup, followed by food. Easy, fast and effective.
5 weeks, 2 days (April 30, 2024)
Social life
This morning’s social play
Solo adventures
Both Blue and Black went on solo adventures today!
Black
joined me on my quest to figure out where to pay a parking fine (I outdid myself and got two in the course of 3 days, thank you very much.)
A note on urban planning (or the lack thereof) in Coyoacán
This town reminds me of the outskirts of Xela. It is urban-sprawly in a way that feels completely arbitrary. There are several streets that have this freeway-town atmosphere where there are businesses to their left and right – reststop-esque eateries and places to fix your flat tires, fruit and juice stands and a lot of surprisingly fast traffic.
Then there are little plazas in places you wouldn’t expect them, and NO plazas in places you would. There is an official center of town, but there are other places that could just as well be it. Government officies are randomly strewn across the city as if someone sprinkled them over the town for decoration.
There is paid parking where you think there wouldn’t be, and free parking where you’d expect it to be paid. The person I paid my fine to liked me and simply cut it in half because … why not.
People don’t seem particularly communicative – the goings on feel rushed. This is not a sleepy town. While in smaller towns, people may stop to let a dog cross the street, here, they will bump into them (at least one person I observed last week did. They saw the dog, slowed down and – gently – bumped into them with their car. The dog was fine.)
There is a lot of food everywhere, and places open and close at random hours. It is A LOT cheaper than Mexico City; I forgot how cheap good streetfood can be!
It’s a good place for puppy raising, especially because of the yard – but it’s too far from what I love about Mexico City, yet too loud, busy and urban for what I love about the middle of nowhere to be a place I’d want to stay more permanently. Most of all though, it’s a place with a very strange (lack of) layout.
Back to Black!
Black screamed at a new noise level – 5 – in the car for about 10 minutes and then calmed down for the rest of our adventure. I carried her around the main plaza with all its goings on and opened the carrier in the gazebo. Black came out after observing for a bit, made her way around the carrier and then got back in. I presented her (held her in my hands) to a helpful freeroamer who wagged and came over to sniff and be sniffed. New dog count for Black – one up!
The lovely fella on the left came over to be Black’s socialization helper.
Right: an unsuccessful attempt at adequatly capturing the center craze and all it’s goings on.
Blue
joined me on my hunt for food. The places I already knew weren’t there or closed, but we found another arbitrary plaza with random food stands and a bunch of children running around. I carried Blue around this plaza so she could see the world while waiting for my quesadillas. On the walk back, we met a friendly freeroamer who, like Black’s helper, kindly assisted in sniffing and being sniffed. Blue came out of her carrier right away when I put it down on the sidewalk and was curious to meet the new dog (who was hoping for a quesadilla.)
Top: Blue and I are waiting for my quesadillas. Bottom: Blue’s socialization helper.
Husbandry and handling
Everyone got the nails on their left back paws done and a round of my handling protocol. They were all completely relaxed – very nice! Their teeth are looking great! Being poked by my pretend needle (a pencil) doesn’t faze them. I wonder if the real needle of the vaccine is going to be very different.
More laced strawberry yoghurt
Everyone enjoyed their third and for now last spoon of yoghurt with dewormer. Only Black didn’t want to eat hers; I smeared it directly into her mouth. This was VERY easy; I assume because I’ve practiced looking at the puppies’ teeth a lot.
Sharky escape artists
This morning, Red and Blue were out in the living room. They had managed to escape the x-pen I set up because this very much doesn’t feel like “my” house. I suspect they managed to climb on Game’s chair and jump down from there – which is quite the jump. I changed the set-up for tonight to make it – hopefully – impossible to escape or break a bone for a few more days.
They all are ankle biters now and their needle sharp teeth are quite painful! I am delighted! The Mals are Malinoising!
Because the cuteness
5 weeks, 3 days (May 1, 2023)
In the middle of the night, the puppies woke me and complained – they usually wake me when they want their late-night/early-morning snack from Game. This time, I opened the door for them along with Game, who wanted to go outside. Every single puppy ran out to the grass and immediately peed out there! Go puppies!!!
The uncreepy duck
Yesterday, I set Creepy Duck into the doorway. Green was the only one who showed curiosity, but I wasn’t sure if the other ones just missed it. So today, I took another stab at having Creepy Duck show up in an unexpected place it hadn’t previously been. Nobody cared … not even Chai! She was the only one who ever found it creepy on the first encounter in my apartment. As Creepy Duck has no more use for us, Game did the sensible thing briefly after this video ended: she shredded it to pieces.
I’ll have to step up my game when it comes to creating The Uncanny!
Solo adventures
Red
Today was Red’s turn again, after he was the first one to go on a solo adventure last week! We walked to El Chichimeca. It was quiet out, probably because it was hot. Nevertheless, Red saw a few bicycles, two cars, a motorcycle and two pedestrians, one of whom was Carla who stopped to talk to us. He also heard the sizzling of something being fried on a gas stove and came out onto the sidewalk to play-tug on my fingers and gnaw on the carrier before falling asleep by my feet after getting his belly scratched. He was comfortable and at ease out and about, all by himself. I’m proud of him!
Gnawing on the world’s tiniest water dish, on the carrier and about to fall asleep upside down under the bench … after gnawing on it too.
Purple
went on his second solo adventure of the week! We just took a short walk. We had two sidewalk stops to drink water and a third one to briefly sniff a small dog while I held Purple. On the two stops I gave him time to leave the carrier voluntarily, he did so immediately and started exploring, venturing futher than any other puppy has so far (far being about 2 meters.) He found a piece of tissue on his stop that he was intrigued by, saw people, a bike and a motorcycle and met a second dog on the sidewalk. Such a brave boy! Since he didn’t want to go back into the hot crate, I “suggested” he walk with me, and he did – I only walked for about 5 or 6 meters along the sidewalk, but he happily followed along, tail held high! Then I put him back into the carrier. I’m pretty sure his occasional soft carrier complaints were heat related. Which made me think that every puppy should also have a carrier-free outing this week, just being carried by me! Time for more adventures!
Purple and I also heard a loudspeaker announcing a very eclectic selection of products for sale, passing by the truck things were being sold out of: differently flavored homemade aguas (lemonades), clothes, dirt for planting plants and fragrance oils.
Green
I carried Green down the street for no more than 3 minutes, just to check when the vet Carla had told me about was open – I want to use them for their next happy vet visit this week. Green watched the world from my arms and had no complaints.
I’ll want to do this with everyone, but also keep up the carrier outings: when carrying a puppy in my arms, I can’t give them the same agency to either come out of or retreat into the safe space of the carrier, so I wouldn’t want to put them down. With the carrier, I set down the carrier and open it and it’s up to the puppy to decide if and how far they want to come out. I really like the agency and portable safe space this provides.
Puppy play and canine conflicts
I’ve got two play videos for you today! In the first one, we see that tails are a-ma-zing … and that it may not always be the best idea to get near Game’s tennis ball! She drops it just to my right (not visible in the video), and when Purple approaches it, she corrects him by being loud and moving her head fast into his face (without making contact.) You can’t see her, but you can hear her – and you can see Purple’s very appropriate response: this was clear communication; he understands and he backs up; he’s off to do other things.
A note on emotionally intelligent conflict behavior
As I watched this video just now before uploading it, it struck me how much we could (if we were so inclined) learn from canine conflicts. Game is not beating around the bush or hedging her feelings. She says it like it is: “you being near my ball is not okay with me.” I’m anthropomorphizing for the sake of the point I am making: this is the canine equivalent of stating something clearly. Game doesn’t harm or scare Purple. Even though Game is loud, this is NOT the equivalent of the primate behavior of yelling at someone or being physically or emotionally violent. It’s the equivalent of stating a fact: “This is my boundary. Back off.” Purple hears the statement: “Oh, that’s your boundary. Got it!” He respects it rather than pestering Game to change it or questioning her self-knowledge (“But really, I know you better than you know yourself and your boundary is or should actually be over there.”) He moves on with his day and continues having fun without bothering Game. He’ll respect her boundary (except for when he forgets about it and will be reminded of it, which is also totally okay.) No bad blood. No grudges. No endless back and forth that doesn’t lead anywhere. If we were half as decent at communicating (and listening to each other the first time around), our species would be in a lot less trouble. Collectively as well as interpersonally.
… and here’s some more puppy wrestling … and Purple coming for me!
Crate training
Both Red and Purple mastered their 7 minutes without problems today: I chose a sleepy time and they did great! Up next: 8 minutes!
5 weeks, 4 days (May 2)
I had let everyone outside and slept an hour more. When I got up and headed out, I was greeted by everyone hanging on to my socks and pants! EVERYONE! I tugged with them that way and lifted Blue off the ground once again. Loving my little sharks! They are so Mal now! It is beautiful!
Social life
Solo adventures
Green
went on an in-carrier solo adventure this morning. We left around 9, but it was already hot. We stayed out for about 35 minutes, finding an ATM and taking several breaks for Green to drink water and choose if he wanted to come out of the crate. He came out halfway and observed from there each time.
He got to sniff two free-roamers from my arms observe a third one from his half-out carrier position. I also carried him through a tiny street market and then let him observe the goings-on there from his carrier with the door open for a few minutes. We set up outside a school building, so he heard the voices of small kids in the background as well.
The first of Green’s two free-roaming helper dogs and the market we walked through and observed.
Green complained softly on and off in the carrier (likely due to the heat) and calmed down when he could come half-way out or be in my arms. Anytime I closed the carrier exit to walk a little more, he pushed against it with his paws: open doors please!
We also heard an extremely loud screeching sound right next to us – I don’t know what it was, but it certainly hurt my ears! Green in his carrier didn’t seem to mind the sound.
Blue
and I walked to El Chichimeca in the early afternoon. There was less pedestrian traffic than usual, but more traffic-traffic. Below is an excerpt of Blue exploring (she immediately left the carrier and checked out the environment, venturing quite far) and the vehicles passing by. When I take someone on a solo adventure to this place, it’ll usually look similar to this.
We also heard a blender and a kid’s voice from inside El Chichimeca.
Puppy play!
Just because:
The two puppies without collars in this video are Green (the darker one) and Purple (the lighter one.) I just washed their collars and they are drying in the sun.
Blue is the most feisty and playful of them all today (the puppy without a collar who’s being chewed on is Green):
Part 2 of Blue’s feistiness:
Pedicures
Everyone got the nails on their right back paws clipped. By now, they are SO relaxed about this. I’ll bring the big-dog clippers and use those instead of the little human clippers starting next week!
As of this week, I’ve combined handling/husbandry and nail trims. Everyone got brushed, had all paws handled, teeth checked, eyes cleaned and ears cleaned and collars taken off and on again, with everything I do being announced.
I’ve changed the eye- and ear-cleaning strategy and now use a moist paper towel: there’s actually something to clean now that the puppies are spending parts of their day sleeping in the dusty dry dirt under the car (it’s the coolest spot in the yard.) I also added a new element to my “needle” protocol: it’s not just two pencil stings a la IM injection, but also two a la SQ injection by now (it’s two each because I do it left and right.) Nobody is impressed by this procedure at all. We’re about to find out what they think of their first actual needle when I vaccinate them this weekend!
A new toy!
Today, with Game and Chai cooped up, I brought out toy #2 from our fancy toy collection!
This video is the very first time the puppies see this toy – they are engaging with it in this way with no time to explore or think about it first. Go little sharks!
In the end of the clip, I say that we’re into toy play and object play by now. I meant to say we’re into social play and toy/object play by now (toy play is object play.) Excuse the video angle … I needed to hold the camera because I ran over my tripod.
A happyish (less gentle) vet visit
In the late afternoon, I took every puppy on a solo adventure – sans carrier; I carried them in my arms – to the vet who is practically next door, one after the other.
It was interesting to compare this experience with the first happy vet visit we did in the city. This vet was different (of course they were; every person is different – but I digress.) Their exam: the puppies got weighed on the big-dog scale, their mouths got fully opened (rather than just pulling up the lips like the other vet and I have been doing), and the vet manipulated their legs (and not particularly gently at that.) The vet also pulled up their skin (the way you do to check for hydration status.) No stethoscope this time.
The cool thing: the surface of the table was no big deal for anyone except (maybe) Black. This table was metal too, but it had texture unlike typical vet tables – maybe it didn’t feel as weird, or maybe the first happy vet visit table time made a difference.
Purple went first and Black went second. With Black, the vet observed (it wasn’t visible but I’m sure if they said they felt it, they did) that she initially trembled on the table and then stopped and calmed down. None of the other puppies trembled. Given how warm it is, trembling is fear-related, I assume. (Technically, it could also be related to some other state of arousal.) Assuming it is fear, Black’s physiological fear response has set in now as well – at 5 weeks and 4 days old, I’m seeing the first sign of it. Isn’t it wild how long “we” typically wait to start introducing puppies to the world? The average pet or sports puppy sees very little before having fear in their experiential repertoire. (This is NOT true for the average free-roaming puppy, who is the average dog. Pets and sports dogs only make up a small fraction of the world’s dog population.)
I let the vet do their spiel. After all, nothing cruel was being done to the puppies and I don’t know who their vets will be later in life. Maybe they’ll resemble this one! In the end of the visit, every puppy was mostly relaxed, even Black who didn’t start out that way.
A note on human behavior and first impressions
What stood out to me was how differently the vet treated each puppy based on their first impression of them. They immediately pidgeonholed Black as the most timid. However, rather than being extra gentle, they seemed more foreceful to me when handling her than they had been when handling the first puppy, Purple. This was confirmed with the puppies following Black: every one of them got less prodding and leg-pulling and joint-moving than her. I’d be surprised if the vet was conscious of treating them differently. They handled the most playful puppy (Red) the least and the most gently, and the second most playful one, Green, almost as little as Red. They very clearly “liked” Red best and Green second best because they were mouthy and exploratory and the vet commented on it, sounding amused. Blue resisted a little when she didn’t like something, but didn’t try to play or explore, and Purple was simply calm and relaxed, letting things happen. The vet told me that Red had “the most character,” which (the vet told me) was “a good thing in this breed.” Being a language person, I can’t help but notice that character (not a scientific term as far as I know) was seen as something dogs have a certain amount of. The vet didn’t use the term to describe a trait every dog has and that looks different depending on the individual, but as a trait some individuals have, to pick a unit at random, 5 ounces of and other individuals have 10 or 15 ounces of. Apparently, in the Malinois breed, the more ounces of character you have, the better. I wonder: if I asked the vet (which I didn’t do because I would probably have confused the poor person with my semantic eccentricities), would they tell me that there was a maximum amount of character an indivudal dog could have (say 15 ounces) or whether it was always relative to the litter in question (one would rank the puppies within the litter from most to least amount of character and consider the one with the most character the best if the dogs in front of one were Malinois. It might be the other way around if they were Cavalier King Charles Spaniels or Golden Retrievers.) In the latter case, if Red was part of a different litter where the other puppies had MORE rather than LESS ounces of character, Red wouldn’t be the best. This discussion isn’t meant to go anywhere; it’s just … semantics. But interesting ones that point to human biases! We all have biases, of course – it’s just a lot easier to see them in others (such as our vets) than in ourselves.
Being carried to the vet and back, everyone saw a person or two in the street. Purple also saw a dog in the waiting room. Black got pet in my arms by a stranger with two dogs when I carried her back home, and briefly got to sniff one of the dogs while I held her. I won’t count them as a new person – too little contact – but I’ll count their dog!
This vet liked hearing themselves talk, so I listened. They charged me quite a bit, so I made the most of our time there and stayed in the environment with every puppy until they had finished talking and sent me out.
A note on human behavior and actions considerd ethical/the subjective value placed on lives
I now know that they “rescued” a Belgian/GSD mix who was going to be put down because she killed farm animals. They kept the dog (even though they also have a farm.) Sadly, the dog has to always be chained up or they would keep killing. They have, in fact, been let loose a few times over the past few years, and several farm animals died in the wake of it.
It was interesting on several levels to hear this dog’s story. The previous human of this dog had either considered euthanasia kinder than a locked-up or chained-up life, or they were simply pragmatic and didn’t want their dog to kill their other animals. Maybe they considered all lives equally valid, and didn’t think it okay for this dog to kill others. Who knows.
The vet, on the other hand, considered living on a chain the better choice for the dog than death. At the same time, the fact that this dog stayed alive has apparently led to the death of several more farm animals over the years. I didn’t ask them to clarify their moral point of view and I don’t have arguments for or against their decision regarding that dog – but it sure is fascinating. Once more, I’m finding the dog world (our cross-species intersection with canines) to be like a mirror image of the world at large and its complexity of points of view and hard convictions.
Crate training
Purple
complained around level 2 on and off throughout his 8 minutes. I put him in the carrier when he was sleepy – but everyone started waking up right after and he clearly wanted to be part of the action. He’ll be doing 8 minutes again next time.
Red
slept through his 8 minutes and will be taking a stab at 9 next time!
Exploring the house
At night, it looked like it was about to start raining. So rather than hanging out outside like we usually would, I let everyone in and allowed them to explore all of the (studio) house. I’ve kept them outside during the day and in their puppy area at night because this is very much not my house and I don’t want them to pee everywhere and eat the furniture – but a puppy needs to entertain oneself when it’s raining! They had fun dragging everything they found (plastic bag, towel etc.) all over the place, tasting every object and exploring the nooks and crannies! There only was a single peeing accident inside. (And it didn’t rain more than a few drops after all.)
5 weeks, 5 days (May 3)
I let everyone outside when they first wake up in the morning and ask me to. Currently, that’s around 6AM. Then I sleep a little longer before joining them outside. This is what it looks like right now! (So far, Blue is the only one I can lift up – for the second day in a row!)
Here’s another delightful snippet of tugging with Blue. Yep, of course I’m teaching them to tug on clothes. As I said, these puppies will hopefully be socially and environmentally confident – gotta make sure their future homes have something to grapple with! Isn’t that why humans get puppies?
At 7:30, we got yet another new level of bomba (extremely loud firecrackers) loudness from the other side of the wall around the yard. Game asked to come in the house – this level was unfun to spend without me – but the puppies kept playing through it! I love that they are getting this experience. Except for the one puppy that is going to be very much a city puppy and the one who might go abroad, everyone is bound to hear these kinds of noises on a regular basis.
They have Game’s and Drago’s genes, but we believe (as far as I know) that almost everything behavioral is a gene/environment interaction. As a puppy, Game had no exposure to this noise level – she only encountered it as an adult, and at that point, she was ready to sensitize. All five of the puppies played through it today. Here’s to hoping this is going to immunize them from developing big feelings about explosions! (Just to give you an idea – gun shots are nothing compared to the loudness level of these bombas. Game wouldn’t flinch on what’s part of many bitey working dog apt-for-breeding tests, which is not responding to a gun shot. This kind of noise is nothing like a gun shot. It is only the second time I’ve heard bombas like these in Mexico, and I’ve been here for over two years. In Guatemala, we heard them or even louder ones almost daily.)
The second round of bombas next door happened around 10AM. This time, it went on for a while, and both Game and Chai (who I’ve never seen show concern about firecrackers) responded. Chai croached and tucked her tail and Game stress-panted. Red observed the adults, and since I don’t want social learning (puppies watching the reaction of an adult dog to determine whether a stimulus is something to be concerned with), I put Game and Chai in the house and played with the puppies. Red fell back asleep and Purple hadn’t woken up in the first place. Green, Blue and Black all played with me. Green and Blue got convinced right away; Black needed a bit longer to start playing despite the sounds, but then went on to play with her siblings rather than me.
The third round of firecrackers happened about half an hour later. These were a little more in the distance, but Black looked concerned (at a noise level she hadn’t previously been concerned.) I got her to socially play with me a bit and come close for snuggles that relaxed her. She also watched Green play wildly with my other hand. Green was being an excellent role model, and about half a minute after this round of firecrackers stopped, Black was ready to play with him. The other three puppies slept through the noise.
The rest of today’s firecrackers was the usual noise level and further away, so everyone stayed chill during those.
While I’ve mentioned in an earlier post that puppy temperament tests aren’t proven to be reliable to judge adult personality, I will take Black’s higher noise sensitivity into account. Maybe it will change – but maybe it won’t. Noise sensitivity is one of these things that (anecdotally) get worse rather than better the older a dog gets. I have nothing else to go on and it will be up to me to place the two girls myself, even though I’d rather have their future people pick: I’ll drive one to Miguel, who can’t pick up their puppy because they don’t have a car – and this will be before Irving is back from a work trip. Neither one has decided on a puppy and they both want one of Game’s – no matter who. If I keep seeing the difference in noise sensitivity, I’ll place my decision on this (we need to base our decisions on something and in this case, it is at least not entirely arbitrary): Black will go to the quieter home (in Mexico City) and Blue to the louder one (Miguel’s town is one of the loudest places I’ve been to in Mexico.)
Blue is currently my favorite because she’s SO feisty and fight-y. I love how I can lift her up, all 4 paws off the ground, attached to a sock! I can’t help it – I love the biteyness of Mals. It’s one of their most fun qualities. It’s fun and informative to stop and reflect on my favorites and how they change all the time.
Solo adventures
Black
and I walked to El Chichimeca. Black’s experience was pretty much the same as Blue’s video yesterday – except that it seemed even hotter. Black came out of the carrier right away, had a drink of water, explored around the carrier and in the entrance to El Chichimeca for a bit, had another drink and fell asleep in a shady spot under the bench. We also learned that there is a reason for today’s cohetes: it’s El Día de la Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is the saint in whose honor bricklayers put crosses on top of buildings they are working on.
Cohetes at night
It rained a little and the puppies got to turn the little house upside down again (after having fallen asleep under a bench outside and getting a little wet; smelling rain!)
When the rain stopped, the firecrackers next door started up again big time. This last round was the BEST. I left the big dogs inside and the puppies and I ran through the yard social-playing – I’d call pup-pup-pup, run away, they’d all chase me and get wiggly and excited when they caught up to me, and I’d play and pet them. (Human touch is currently highly reinforcing to them.) We played for a few minutes, until a little after the firecrackers stopped. Everyone was ALL IN the entire time, tails up and wagging, joyfully chasing me around the yard – including Black. I LOVE the change I’ve seen in her in this single day! It will be interesting to see what happens if/when there’s another saint being celebrated while we’re in town.
5 weeks, 6 days (April 4)
We drove to the city bright and early. Saturday morning traffic was light AND my new shade structure worked very well. No complaints from the gang in the trunk! We dropped Game and Chai off at the apartment and then the puppies and I met Alan and Kiba at Kiba’s Park. Apart from hanging out with them, the puppies met a few other dogs and people each and had a snack eating kibble from my hands at the park. Nobody hesitated to eat or drink out and about.
I saw Blue’s first big (comparatively) fear response: she yelled when she saw the first up-close dog today, before Alan and Kiba got there. She warmed up within about 20 seconds and proceeded to be confident around every other dog she met up close or saw from a distance.
Left: Alan’s arm, Kiba, Blue and Green! Right: we met Jambi and one of their people again – everyone got sniffed and held!
After a while, we switched spots and hung out outside the playground gate. Two kids, 8 and 9, came over and had lovely puppy interactions for about 15 minutes. They held and petted everyone and were very gentle with them.
We also met a Pug at Kiba’s park … and fell asleep in the bushes after having fun with the kids!
The puppies also saw to younger kids running. The first one caused them to watch with what looked like alert. The second one was taken in stride.
We got home and took a break, and then had the first of our two weekend visitors at the apartment. The puppies were still tired, so everyone slept in my friend’s arms. By the tame Rachel left and Pabla came by, the puppies were just waking up. Everyone played a little with Pabla, licked their beard and pulled on their shoe laces. It was delightful to see them interact so confidently!
I had asked Pabla to bring an umbrella because I can’t find mine. We startle-recovered two puppies. Everyone else had fallen asleep again and I didn’t want to wake them. Good thing I just remember where my umbrella is; I’ll give the others their turn tomorrow!
Unfortunately, Purple’s video is the only half-way decent one I took – in the others, you can pretty much only see the umbrella and not the puppy’s response. Here, you see the puppy’s response and can hear the umbrella opening … but you don’t see it. Oh well! In any case, Purple’s fast recovery is awesome!
I also fit in a solo trip for Purple. He went into an electronics store with me in his carrier, and then I carried him through a pet chain store without a carrier. The cashier briefly held him. Plus he got to experience the hustle and bustle of a busy parking lot.
Pet store adventure selfie with Purple … and Pabla is being eaten by Green!
What is becoming really clear to me is that temperature can be both reinforcing and punishing to puppies this age. Obviously, it can be both these things for any dog (and other animals, including us humans) at any age, but puppies are VERY responsive to it – definitely more so than adult dogs. Anytime the puppies are hot, they will immediately complain. I can observe this well when someone, like Purple today, is in the foot space of the car seat. He complained anytime it was hot and immediately stopped when I set the AC to the footspace. When I changed it to blow at my chest, he’d start complaining again almost immediately. It’s fascinating and I get the impression that at this age, temperature would be a stronger reinforcer (or punisher) than food or social interaction. From my subjective perspective based on my subjective observations, at this age temperature is the strongest reinforcer (or punisher) for the puppies, followed by social interactions, followed by food. I bet it would be possible to teach young puppies quite a bit with an experimental chamber containing floors of different temperatures!
After dinner, I took the puppies to Fresa Parque to check off our evening/night park time and people/dogs watching at weird light conditions. They looked alert at first, but again, were fully comfortable and started exploring after about 20 seconds. Everyone met dogs. Black got held by a stranger, and we were approached by a teen in inline skates wearing ALL the protective gear. Several people stopped to talk with me without interacting with the puppies; some with and some without dogs – another great experience for the puppies. The park was VERY busy tonight; it was perfect!
Night time puppies at the park! Much busier than last week! Black is panting because we just got out of the car, and it’s been HOT! (No worries; water was about to be served.) It was darker than my image makes it look.
We then switched spots and went into the very busy playground to hang out and observe kids running and playing, riding bikes, screaming and swinging in swing sets. The puppies are all able to visually track now and follow them by turning their heads! We observed and listened to yelling, screaming and laughing until everyone had fallen asleep. Purple stayed awake the longest and played with the tiny water dish (we’re outgrowing it) and then lay on top of a sibling and slowly dozed off as he was watching the world go by.
Tonight’s last station was an ice cream store they all joined me for in their carrier and backpack. Two kids came in right after us, and since I had opened the backpack (only 3 puppies fit in the carrier now, so 2 go in the backpack – and its ventilation isn’t great), the kids saw them and asked to pet them. Everyone got pet with the two backpack puppies – Green and Black – getting the most attention. They were awake while the others slept through the pets. I won’t count these two kids because they didn’t hold them, but it was a great experience, at the very least for the pups who were awake. They must have been a bit younger than the kids in the morning – maybe 6 or 7?
Now we’re back home and everyone is sleeping. It’s been a long day! I can’t believe how much I fit into it: seeing three friends, visiting two parks, running an errand and the drive back to the city! Today is my day off this week, which makes things feel lighter. We’ll see how long my energy and social batteries last. Raising these puppies isn’t only a great experience in terms of learning about very young canines – it also is a laboratory of getting to know myself.
6 weeks
As of this morning, we are chewing and pulling on and playing with everything we can find. My solution is to have out as many chewable objects as possible: half of the paper tubes, empty paper bags and cardboard boxes I collected over the last few months, our apartment toy … not worrying about anything that is indestructable or can’t be chewed up and putting electronics out of reach! They are SO fun to watch, and my favorite part was when Blue and Red climbed over the new and enhanced (in height) barrier and Blue was the first to be all over me, as excited as one puppy could possibly be to greet me in the morning!
For the first time this morning, Chai (poor rough-coated dog!) got the same greeting as me with puppies all over her, trying to hold on to her feathers. Being a pacifist, she had to flee to the couch for safety.
Becoming social animals
We started the day with a trip to Parque de las Arboledas. Everyone met LOTS of people and dogs! The puppies took turns sleeping and exploring/being held/meeting dogs/playing with each other and also ate kibble from my hands.
We met ALL the people and dogs in the morning! The puppy who fell asleep after opening this person’s shoelaces is Black.
A video – way too long! – of everything summarized by the pictures above, for myself as a memory, future rebelde homes and anyone else who’s got too much time on their hands and loves watching puppies:
BLOM
In the late afternoon, we went to hang out with our friends at BLOM1. I’m only counting one person per puppy and one dog for Black since Viri directly introduced her to their Yorkie Martina, but I didn’t keep track. We had Diego, Viri and Miguel – Diego is on the wait list for a puppy, but will probably miss out, but they sure aren’t missing out on the fun – as well as two random customers and Viri and Diego’s dogs, Yorkie Martina and Pit Maco to hang out with! I was only going to go for an hour, but it turned into two and a half. It was great! The puppies explored, we humans had fun with them and time flew by. Miguel broke out delicious pan de nata they had gotten at a feria and we all shared slices. The puppies ate kibble again and watched dogs and people walk past, some of whom stopped to talk to us. A little Chi barked angrily, and one of the puppies – I believe it was Red, but I’m not 100% sure anymore – went to go hide briefly, but was back out 20 seconds later, watching curiously as the still-barking Chihuahua was getting smaller in the distance.
Bottom left: venturing about 8 meters from where we were on the sidewalk! Bottom right: one of the two strangers who stopped to get to know the puppies!
Again, a video of what’s summarized in pictures above for those who (like me and everyone in this video!) can’t get enough of the little ones! This time, we’ve got Purple in a leading role. The thing inside the tote bag that he tries to get to is a wrapped stack of tortillas. Purple will currently eat everything he finds.
This afternoon, Purple was the most travieso of all and gnawed on everything in his way. Viri got him to play with them with a rug.
Of the two boys who haven’t been picked yet, I’d have sent Red to a sports home yesterday. Today, I’d send Purple. This just goes to show that REALLY, we don’t know who puppies will grow up to be. Unless they are outliers and very different from everyone else, we just don’t know. They change SO much.
There is only a single trait that has been somewhat consistent in a single puppy so far: Black has appeared more “think before you do” and “watch first” than the others, who are more likely to jump right into anything new. Black has “jump right in” days as well and the others have “think before you do days.” Black has just had more tentative days than the others.
“Breeders” (I don’t like this term, hence the quotes) who play matchmaker like to be in control (like most of us humans do), and they know that it is currently (in the US and probably Canada) considered best practice for breeders to match puppies with homes – and everyone wants to signal that they are “an ethical breeder.”
I’m European where you typically get to pick yourself (unless you signed up for a puppy later, in which case you take whoever is still available.) I prefer the European model that doesn’t attach ethics to puppy selection. I will pick the two girls because I’ll be the one driving one of them to Miguel (a different Miguel than the BLOM one) before either Irving or Miguel have a chance to pick – not because I want to.
Alan got to pick for his Dad. As for the two remaining boys, Eduardo (Drago’s human) is happy to go with the last one, whoever he turns out to be. I would let the second home for a boy – Joan; we can reveal a first name now! – pick, but I believe they do want my input. I will share it WITH THE DISCLAIMER IN CAPS that it means very little (because it CAN not be meaningful – I truly believe it cannot. Unlike some “breeders,” I have no God complex in this regard.) It will mostly depend on the day I’m being asked. We could, of course, Volhardt Red and Purple (or everyone) just for fun if Joan would like to. They’ll be a new dog person we could use as the evaluator before they meet them in a more casual way!
The senses
Vaccines – round one!
Red screamed. Everyone else barely woke up (I picked a sleepy time of day). Black looked at me briefly and then put her head back down. I suspect I didn’t sting Red in quite the right way, causing him pain. OR he’s more sensitive to it, or just got really startled. I may give things with an actual – empty or saline-solution filled – syringe (instead of a pencil) another try in a few days to find out which it is in his case.
In case the above is confusing: I typically vaccinate my own dogs in places where this is possible; i.e. where you can buy vaccines over the counter. That’s because I want vet experiences to be as relaxing as possible for the puppies and only emergency solutions for adult dogs. (This behavior on my part is caused by my own mistrust and anxiety around physicians and vets.) For these puppies, I hope to have created positive vet experiences and stung them with needles them in a less stressful context, at home. I know Miguel does the same thing with their dogs, so at least one puppy will get vaccinated by his human going forwards as well.
Exploring a bit of the corridor
Purple was the first one out the apartment door when we came back from Game’s afternoon outing, but everyone followed quickly. Purple and Green ran about 6 meters away along the corridor to explore, and Black, Blue and Red climbed 3 stairs each when I led Game up ahead of them. And then, they tumbled down the last one on their way back down! Brave puppies!
Green, Black and Purple were all fascinated by the mirror today (I had it show up in different places over the course of the day again.)
The Uncanny room, take 2
I transformed the former blanket fort into another uncanny room while the puppies were sleeping:
The order the puppies approached the uncanny room says something about the order they woke up in, not about who’s the most curious. After scaring himself, Purple was back to playing with the others 20 seconds later – outside The Uncanny Room though. I’ll set up Fred for him again when we get another chance so he can have a positive interaction.
I also found my umbrella and startled the remaining 3 puppies with it. They all had great startle-and-immediate-recovery responses!
Names
As I’m reading through this post and editing it before I hit publish – it’s Monday, May 6 – I’m thinking about names. I didn’t know if I would name the rebeldes before sending them off to their new homes. If I did, it was only going to be once their personalities – which may still change – started showing.
This weekend, Mexican friends suggested Principe for Purple. And somehow, I now feel like naming them all! That’s even if they’ll only have their names for 2 weeks before going to their new homes and probably getting new names along with it. For me, Purple will be Oso (bear). Green will be Bravo (corageous; aggressive in Spanish; great, super in German). Red will be Fierro (Mexican slang for alright; gun). Blue will be Chispa (spark) and as for Black … I don’t know yet!
Soap box tangent: how I approach bravery in client dogs
Different trainers have different views. That’s exactly the way it should be because different dogs and different owners need different solutions. What I do has worked well for myself, my dogs and my clients. Maybe it will work for you too. Maybe it won’t. If it doesn’t, I am sure there is a trainer out there whose approach is just right for YOU and your dog! And if you don’t find that trainer, you’ll just come up with your very own approach!
Being a lifelong learner is important to me, and my approach to fear and insecurity has evolved over the years I’ve worked as a professional trainer. Initially, I was very methodical: counterconditioning and desensitization, please! Then I discovered more nuanced and seemingly less stressful protocols like BAT and a lot of CU ideas. I tried using them with as many client dogs as possible (they are great, especially – if you ask me – CU).
Today, I look at the dog in front of me, their human and their environment. First, we make sure the dog’s baseline needs are being met (exercise, mental stimulation, social needs etc). Baseline needs differ from dog to dog – some need a lot of mental stimulation, some need a lot of exercise, some need a lot of social contact, some need a little bit of all, not much of any or something completely different such as a job (herding, hunting, obedience, bite work …).
Once we have met the baseline needs for 3-4 weeks, we take another look at the challenge. Is it even still a challenge or has it disappeared all on its own once we started meeting previously unmet needs? (Textbook example: a client with a young husky upped their dog’s daily exercise and offered frozen Kongs while they were at work rather than a bowl of food after they got home. We sprinkled a little management on top of it – and the dog stopped destroying the apartment, no further training needed!)
If the challenge is still present, the approach I choose will be the one that is …
easiest to implement and
most likely to succeed and
takes up the least amount of time and resources for whoever I am working with.
This means wildly different things depending on the owner’s resources (financial, time-wise, access to helper dogs and human support systems), where they live (urban, suburban, rural), what kind of dog keeping culture surrounds them, how they think (do you want fast solutions? Does authoritarian dog training appeal to you? Do you want to give your dog all the time in the world? Would you like to be a permissive handler? Somewhere in the middle, a different combination, something else entirely?) How experienced are you training dogs? How mobile are you (are you ablebodied? Do you have a car?) And of course it also depends on your dog: who is your dog and what is their baseline behavior in the face of the stimulus we are concerned with?
Depending on all of the above, no two training plans will look exactly the same. I may send you to consult with a veterinary behaviorist, with a general vet or I may even refer you out to a different trainer I believe will be a better fit. Or I’ll work with you in any number of different ways!
… and in my own dogs!
I will work with the dog in front of me and I am pretty relaxed these days. (I used to have a dog who wanted to murder other dogs. Once you’ve had that dog, everything else seems pretty minor in comparison.)
If my dog’s level of insecurity (my word for low-intensity distance-increasing behaviors) does NOT tip into fear (my word for mid-intensitiy distance-increasing behaviors) or even panic (my word for high-intensity distance-increasing behaviors), I will approach the challenge as organically as possible.
Space permitting and with the concerning stimulus being stationary and evoking insecurity, I may simply walk past a few times with my off leash dog. The May 27 video below (“Marching band madness”) is an example of this.
I may also apply the magic hands trick, bring the mildly insecurity provoking object into a safe environment (see the balloon in the June 14 video) or let my dog watch a confident dog interact with an object (magic paws if you will) – again, see June 14 video).
Faced with fear, I will be more systematic and likely use either CU or classical CC/DS with my dogs.
Faced with panic, I would put my dog on anti-anxiety meds until I got down to “fear” level intensity and then use CU or classical CC/DS.
How about human animals?
For myself, I gamify specific life challenges whenever possible. It is the approach of my choice and it works amazingly well for me, especially when there is a clear start and end date for a particular challenge.
Trusted friends I can safely share my challenges, vent to and celebrate successes with are a crucial element as well.
(Again – just me. It’s not for everyone and that’s totally okay – there are countless ways of dealing with challenges, and what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for the next.)
Just like for our dogs, meds may be part of the training (or life) plan, and so may be therapy – the human version of seeing a dog trainer/behavior specialist!
Video examples (dog, not human training!)
May 26, 2023: Recreating scary situations in safe environments: tarps blowing in the wind become curtains blowing in a fan
On today’s adventure loop, we saw a tarp blowing in the wind and Chai got a little spooked. After watching it for a while, she was able to cautiously walk past it. This is the second time I have seen this reaction to something blowing in the wind – that’s my cue that tarp feelings aren’t a one-off thing and we need to work on things blowing in the wind! When we got home, I set up the fan and pointed it at the curtains:
May 27, 2023 (Chai’s 51st day with me) – mastering marching band madness
June 9, 2023: braving the glass elevator at the mall without big sister Game
You might remember that Chai had a scary encounter with an elevator door (it closed on her tail) and ended up being suspicious of that particular elevator. The video below is from her second time riding a different elevator – the first time without Game and the second time overall. We rode it several times. Brave puppy!
June 14, 2023: bringing previously (mildly) suspicious objects into a safe and familiar environment; having a confident dog model interaction with a suspicious object; organic counterconditioning through play
Another way to help dogs get used to weird things is to bring them into an environment that is already charged with feelings of safety. This is what I did with a balloon Chai thought was suspicious when it was blowing around in the street. While we were out on a walk, I used the Magic Hands trick on it. Then, since Chai seemed fine with it, I took it home to let it blow around the air stream of the fan some more. Chai wasn’t fazed by its movement anymore at this point. Together with Game, she destroyed it (it took about 30 seconds and is sadly not on the video because the camera was facing the wrong way), and then the dogs went into dog/dog play. This is excellent because play is a wonderful way to reset, recover and have fun. By playing after interacting with a not-entirely-neutral object, we are counterconditioning the feelings about that object. (I don’t think we need to be doing much counterconditioning anymore at this point – Chai fearlessly approaches the balloon in the beginning of the video – but I’m showing it to you to give you yet another idea for how to help your (mildly concerned) dog accept a novel object. Both its presence in a safe environment and a confident dog modeling interaction with the object can be a game changer.
Caveat: do not introduce something your dog is utterly panicked about into their safe space! This could backfire and make the safe space feel less safe!
June 16, 2023: Magic hands in combination with negative reinforcement (distance) in a difficult situation.
Chai mastered the construction corridor right as I was ready to leave and find another way past!
June 27, 2023: magic hands and negative reinforcement off leash
June 29, 2023: braving the fountain pump with magic hands and R- (second time)
The treat toss relief game
Real life examples: in August, Chai was suspicious of the warm, loud sound/air coming from a vent we passed. We walked past several times, each time marking with my cookie toss marker and tossing the cookie away from the entry once we had passed the vent.
I’m calling this the treat toss/relief game (until I think of a sexier name). It is R- because having moved past the entrance is a relief. Of course I made sure the leash stayed loose the entire time and let Chai decide with how much distance she wanted to move past the vent. Chai’s comfort curves allowed her to have agency and be brave. Every time we passed, her curve was less pronounced and she was able to pass closer to the vent.
She still kept a little distance when we ended that first session, but has since – we’ve gone back to practice a few times – lost all fear of the vent.
In December, Chai encountered a suspicious tree stump on a sidewalk in our neighborhood and we applied the same strategy. After walking past several times and getting treat-toss relief on either side, she bravely walked up to the tree stump and sniffed it!
Here’s an example of what this looks like with a pretend suspicious object – on and off leash:
Puppies/juvenile dogs and fear responses
Young dogs are still learning about the world. Their brains are under construction, and occasionally, they will respond in unexpected ways to things that, to our human eyes/minds, are perfectly normal. Sometimes, they’ll even have a day where they will respond with suspicion to something they have previously been fine with such as your trash can.
If you take your dog out into the world on a regular basis and these incidents are few and far between – no need to worry at all. Chances are you’ve just encountered an object while the part of the brain that considers this object normal is closed for business. (I imagine puppies and juvenile dogs with cartoon brains, and one part of the cartoon brain, for example, says, “Trash cans are okay.” As your dog grows up, there may be days when that part of the brain is taking a vacation and not accessible to the rest of your dog. Don’t panic – just come back another day or use one of the organic strategies to remind your dog of that part of their brain.
Royalty-free Pixabay image by GDJ – thank you!
When to take further measures
If a particular fear persists for more than a week – think about training that may help; organic or structured. Example of a more structured session: Control Unleashed games or Shaping Confidence!
Shaping Confidence
Hadley demoes what Shaping Confidence looks like when encountering a rude penguin in the outskirts of Vienna, where penguins are an invasive species and not supposed to hang around doorways:
The clip above is an older video (ca. 2015; hence the less than great quality). Look at the video description to read my thoughts on this session at the time!
CU games
In the video below, Windsprite Winnie and her wonderful human Chantal play LAT and TAB:
LAT is hands down my favorite CU game for environmentally sensitive dogs! I LOVE working on it because I’ve seen the most amazing results. Winnie is an environmentally sensitive dog, but Chantal has helped her grow her comfort zone and relax in more and more spaces by first playing CU games (like Look At That and Take A Breath) and then shifting to chewing on Toppls while watching the world go by.
If fears gets worse or if your dog responds fearfully to many different stimuli in many different environments all the time, see a veterinary behaviorist (if you live in a country where behavior is a veterinary specialty) or consult with a trainer specializing in behavior who has a basic knowledge of medications and connections to vets (if there are no veterinary behaviorists in your country).
One US-based team of vets and trainers (who also offer virtual services) I recommend is Behavior Vets (New York, Colorado, virtual).
Distraction recall, iteration 6L3: 1/2.0/3.C: 6th training plan adaptation, 3rd location (L3), levels 1 (hand-held long line), 2.0 (tether) and 3 (off leash) with distraction C (liver; difficult).
October 25, 2023: upwards and onwards to our third and last real-world location!
Tacos de canasta! Chai prefers them filled with chicharrón. My favorites are de papas y frijol.
We restocked on delicious tacos de canasta de chicharrón (¡5 por $MX40!) and did an easy taco recall at the Urban Enrichment Jungle yesterday. Today, it is time for the next step on our game board: recalling away from the liver distraction on a long line!
I had hoped I’d get away with Chai not knowing it was a set-up, but she did, resulting in a funny video: after my release, she went straight to the tripod (that wasn’t hidden this time) and looked for the distraction there before finding it under the trash cans (where I had put it because she keeps finding food around there in off-leash park contexts). Her long line toppled my tripod, but the phone kept recording and I picked it back up just in time to show you Chai actually finding and enjoying her liver. Achievement unlocked!
… and here’s our progress on the board:
Jumping back into the ocean where an easy taco recall awaits to recharge for the swim!
October 27, 2023: the little Border Collie keeps moving towards the treasure!
After yesterday’s easy taco recall at the Urban Enrichment Jungle, we did the tether (front-clip alternative to back tie) session in park #3 today. Chai nailed it once again! She knew it was a set-up. In the video below, you can see her check in with me twice – knowing there is a distraction has become a cue for her to ask me to call her! I wanted to let her get closer today and didn’t call in either of these instances. When I finally called, I got a turn on a dime. And then an amusing search for the distraction Chai knew was there … it just wasn’t where she thought (right by the tripod).
Plan for the next session
For our most difficult and final recall session – off leash in location #3 – I will call Chai earlier again – the first time she looks at me or at the latest when she’s at the spot she looked back the second time today. I’ll also place the camera right with the distraction next time. Chai knows these are set-ups, so why not give away the location. If we still get a single-rep success … we get to open the treasure chest!!
But first things first: let’s not forget that the very next formal recall needs to be an easy taco one. We need to charge back up for that last big challenge of the Tacos & Border Collies game!
Tacos & Border Collies: the game I didn’t know I needed but clearly did!
I better not get too cocky just because we can already see the shore! If Chai doesn’t nail a recall, her avatar will have to go back to the free taco behind the closest LL field behind and work back up from there!
October 29, 2023: wooohooooooo!
After yesterday’s easy taco recall at Los Dinamos, today, we DID it! Easy, says Chai: recalling away from a slice of dehydrated liver – a difficult distraction – at our third location is a walk in the park! She got a taco de canasta de chicharrón and an immediate “Okay” release to go find her distraction as a double-reinforcer.
I bought a second extra taco – I’ve decided that the key to the treasure chest is one last easy taco recall. Then, finally, we get my BIG reward: giving Chai off-leash freedom in the streets. I haven’t opened the treasure chest, but I know that off-leash street freedom is what’s in there!
Off-leash freedom in an urban area
If I hadn’t needed off-leash freedom as a motivator to keep me working on the formal recall, I’d have let Chai off leash on the sidewalks several months ago already. But a while ago, I said my criteria for off-leash freedom included finishing my distraction recall protocol – thinking I’d get there much faster!
When I didn’t get there as fast as expected AND decided to make my distraction recall training goal harder (not just kibble, but also liver), I also decided to wait on the off-leash freedom: I wanted something to keep me working through the protocol!
It would have been easy to allow Chai that kind of freedom sooner: she is a friendly/shy-in-the-face-of-startles dog in an off-leash world where not having a great recall on your off leash dog is culturally okay.
But no: I wanted to show my students that I could modify my protocol to teach Chai to come when called away from a VERY difficult distraction – not just kibble – with positive reinforcement. And today, I did: I met my goal!
One more easy taco recall to unlock the treasure chest, and Chai is FINALLY going to go on REAL off-leash city walks!Go puppy! Go me! Here’s to the power of the taco!
Distraction recall, iteration 6L2: 1/2.0/3.C: 6th training plan adaptation, 2nd location (L2), levels 1 (holding on to long line), 2.0 (back tie) and 3 (off leash) with distraction C (liver; difficult).
October 18, 2023: on to our second location!
New location – new post! Yesterday, Chai got an easy taco recall at the Urban Enrichment Jungle: I called her when she was already looking at me, tongue-clicked as she came running and ran away to make it more fun. She got a taco de canasta and lots of praise when catching up with me!
Today, recharged and ready for the next step in our game, we found ourselves a new location – the second one I want to proof the difficult distraction in. In this first round, Chai does not know it’s a set-up. The tripod is hidden in a hedge and I sneakily placed the liver slice when she was ahead of me; then caught up with her, long-lined her and meandered back towards the distraction. I wanted a spot that wouldn’t need a visual target this time, so we played on mowed grass. You can see Chai find the distraction by means of following her nose after recalling. I suspect it was the smell of the distraction that prompted her to check in when she did (which I used as a start button; calling her earlier than I had planned on).
(She knew to take the gap in the hedge on her way up the hill because that’s where we had come down as well.)
Difficult distraction – long line – location #3: success!
October 20, 2023: tether success (and SQUIRREL success!)
Yesterday, Chai got an easy taco recall at Urban Enrichment Jungle (no video). Today, we tackled our next distraction stage!
After our tether success – I would call it a back tie but it is actually a front tie because Chai is wearing her front-attachment harness! – we looped through the park off leash. As we were nearing the exit, I called her back informally and she didn’t come – I didn’t see the distraction that held her interest, and for some reason, my formal recall came out of my mouth. Chai turned on a dime and shot back to me; I saw she was turning away from A SQUIRREL! and emptied out the kibble left in my treat pouch for her (since I was all out of tacos) and then cued “Birds!” (the release to chase critters) and went looking for the squirrel together with her. It took us 30 seconds, but we found it and Chai had a good chase.
I wasn’t planning on using her formal recall in this kind of situation and without a taco reinforcer – but she rocked it! However, I will definitely do an easy taco recall next! Recharge, recharge, recharge!
October 21, 2023: easy taco recall in a new location
I bought tacos de pechuga de pollo con frijol y nopales at a subway stop and played at a park nearby that we’ve never been to – not the very best of ideas, it turned out, since Chai’s inital reaction told me that the meat may still have been hot when she took her reward.
I decided to make up for the potentially hot taco with another easy taco recall tomorrow before going back to our last distraction stage at location 2/3: off leash, unprotected liver!
October 22, 2021: another easy taco recall
I did another easy taco recall in the house – just calling Chai from the couch to the kitchen and surprising her with a delicious, chicken-breast-stuffed taco (no video). NOW we are ready to tackle our next challenge!
October 23, 2023: we DID it! Chai just nailed an off-leash liver recall at location 2/3!
Look how far ahead this puts us in the Tacos & Border Collies game! We’ve ventured across island #2!
Despite our detour (2 easy taco recalls before today’s off leash one), we are well on our way towards the treasure!
Our next recall will be an easy taco one – time to recharge at the shore before jumping into the ocean again! – and then we’ll tackle our third real-world location in the next post in this series!
Distraction recall, iteration 6L1: 1/2.0/3.C: 6th training plan adaptation, 1st location (L1), levels 1 (holding on to long line), 2.0 (back tie) and 3 (off leash) with distraction C (liver; difficult).
We’re ready to face down our nemesis – the most difficult food distraction – or so I hope! First things first though: our next session will be an easy taco recall, no distractions. We need to keep that response sharp and fun! And then … we’ll gamify!
Tacos and Border Collies, the game
Then, I will play with liver in 3 locations. I made a game board (thank you, Canva) to hopefully not skip any steps. From experience, I know that if I accidentally skip a step, Chai will outsmart me! Here’s our board: all of the steps below and we will have reached our distraction recall goal.
This is how we (plan to) beat our nemesis – the most difficult food distraction! The little Border Collie and I will hike and swim from island to island until we reach the treasure chest: it contains off-leash privileges out in the streets of Mexico City! Because hiking and swimming is hard on the body and mind, Chai needs to recharge with an easy taco recall after each distraction she masters!
October 11, 2023: rising to the first challenge on our the path!
Yesterday, we did an easy taco recall at Dead Poultry Park. Today, we went to location #1 for our third and most difficult distraction – liver – and had a successful recall on a long line!! Go Chai!!
On the path to recall success!
October 14, 2023: back tie success!
After another easy taco recall the other day, Game nailed her back tie recall in location #1/3 today! Go puppy!!!
October 16, 2023: off leash SUCCESS!
Yesterday, we went to Chapultepec and I brought my last taco de birria … unfortunately, I forgot all about it because I was there with friends. So instead of getting an easy taco recall out and about, Chai got an even easier one back home in the living room.
And today, we finally did it: our first off-leash recall success away from the most difficult distraction – liver – in our first of three real-world locations!
Go Chai, master of swimming across oceans! Tomorrow, you’ll get to recharge again:
The title of this iteration is 6L3: 1/2.0/3.B: 6th training plan adaptation, 3rd location (L3), levels 1 (holding on to long line), 2.0 (back tie) and 3 (off leash) with distraction B (kibble). Slow and steady wins the race!
The day before yesterday, Chai had an easy taco recall at the Urban Enrichment Jungle. Today, we are back to the first distraction session in our third location: Kiba’s Park!
October 5, 2023: first session in location 3
We’ll start out with holding the long line in my hands. I’ve got a taco de canasta con chicharrón ready and will release Chai to the intermediate distraction (kibble) by dropping the long line after a successful recall. Let’s see how things go today!
Success!
Our next recall will be an easy taco one, followed by one with the distraction in the exact same location at Kiba’s Park … and a backtie! Slowly and steadily, we are getting closer to our highest value distraction!
October 7, 2023: back-tie success!
After yesterday’s easy taco recall at Toy Play Plaza (no video), today, it was time for the back-tie distraction recall! Chai knew this was a set-up but she didn’t know exactly where it was:
You can’t see the back tie – but it stayed loose! Go puppy!
I should do the easy taco recall tomorrow in the same space since there will be no empty target session this time! And then … off leash!
October 9, 2023: intermediate distraction off leash in location 3/3 – success!!!
Chai got an easy taco recall at the Dead Poultry Park yesterday, and today, I picked up 3 freshly made tacos de canasta de chicharrón and we tackled our last stop in the intermediate distraction recall stage: off leash, unprotected intermediate distraction (kibble), location 3 with the first taco. She did it!!! Another easy taco recall next, and then we’ll be ready to start with – drumroll – DIFFICULT distractions!
