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!

Resource guarding prevention

Puppy popsicles aka frozen chicken feet: take away, better food, return!

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 temporary home.

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.