Week 1. Blog
This time last week we were on route to Shropshire to meet up with Lee Cooper trainer and breeder at Breckmarsh Gundogs And of course our new edition Breckmarsh Lainey otherwise known as Sorrel. She brings our team at Seadogs training back up to six.
Having picked her up we made a start on the journey back to Suffolk. we could monitor her the whole way through the cameras and check the temperature. We stopped a few times on the way home, she was a little sick about an hour into the journey. this was easy enough to clean up as Sorrel travelled in a pet carrier within our Animal Transit Box system in the truck. this was of course down to our pre planning and readiness for this eventuality. Julie had already organised a puppy bag for our new puppy. This contained everything we would need.
The rucksack contains puppy pads, bin bags, gloves, poo bags disinfectant wipes, bath wipes and paper towels.
Sorrel was then clean for the remainder of her journey home.
Once we got home which was at a reasonable time, this gave us some time to spend with Sorrel in the garden. As part of our preparation we had already set up our puppy pen in the garden so we instantly had a safe place for sorrel to go. Which also allowed us to bring our other dogs in from the truck. pens are a great tool to keep dogs safe in the garden, we can ensure she doesn’t do steps, jump or fall off walls or furniture or eat something she shouldn’t! she is also learning to watch the other dogs, which she does happily learning not everything is about her.
Sorrel will spend the first few months in the house, where we can play, bond and supervise her in the early days.
Crate training is an important part of her early training, it will make toilet training easier and will ensure that she gets to switch off and get the sleep she needs as a young puppy. Puppies should be asleep for 18 – 20 hours per day.
We use a small crate which is cosy and safe. She is able to be fed in there and we can leave some toys in there to entertain her and create a positive environment for her. please note The toys are not left in there overnight or unsupervised.
For her first night we used our late Molly’s comfort bear which has a beating heart that she settled down with straight away. we also played calming dog music. She had also had some reiki healing from julie. Overall there has been little noise from Sorrel and she has been very clean since joining us. No accidents this first week. She has been sleeping through to 6:30am.
Over the weekend Sorrel came up to our training centre, meeting with a few friends and clients. Whilst we were happy to let some people meet her we asked them to sanitise their hands before handling her. As she hadn’t been to our vets yet. And also we didn’t want to overwhelm her. We also use pet disinfectant wipes on her to keep her safe.
There is also the issue that we want her to bond with us and no requirement for her to socialise with everyone!!
She is a happy playful puppy and tells us when she gets tired as she is a little piranha!
This week has also seen her be introduced to the clicker and placeboards. We have charged the clicker and she can do sit-stand-down. We were asked by a client when we would start training her, we told them as soon as we pick her up. Learning to travel. Staying in the truck while we work. Learning manners at doors, she is already waiting nicely for the crate, pen and dog box door to be opened and coming when invited. When we are carrying her we can still condition this, waiting at the door and saying her name as we go through it.
She has also been in the treatment room and on the grooming table where she had a little brush, comb, listened to the noise of the clippers. Had her ears and teeth etc checked.
she also had her first vet check and vaccinations, where we are pleased to report she is a healthy puppy and all went well
we have been using mealtimes to train conditioning her name, recall, sit and simple line out drills. little and often
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