Max, day 4

He has settled in nicely. Really a very calm, relaxed little guy. Kind of nice. ; > We train with 1 or 2 meals/day. He seems to be getting his name, we've added "Come" now, so he's getting a "Max, come!" for the kibbles.  I am using a command only because I am 99% sure of getting the behavior, when he is sitting right in front of me and knows his food bowl is behind me.

I have also introduced the clicker to him yesterday. He is learning a sit. We also do this during meals. So, if I don't call him to me, he is learning to sit, by default. I have no used a command with it yet. He is getting that click means treat though.

He hasn't had an accident while lose in the house yet. I've been pretty good about keeping an eye on him, when he is not crated or tethered to me. (right now I am sitting at the desk and he came over and hopped in my lap for a nap, WHAT a cuddler!) This means, of course, that I will start to get over confident and lazy, and he will, sooner or later have a housebreaking lapse. : ) NOT that I am calling him housebroken, by any means. At this stage, I am good at getting him out at the right times. He's not yet figured out to indicate he needs out, I expect that will come soon.

Max! (AKA, the PPod puppy formerly known as "Drummer")

He's baaack! Yesterday I met Carol and picked up Drummer. He's a wonderful little pup, who will be going to the Chicago area in a few weeks to be a loved pet to the mother of a friend. In the meantime, he's here to hang out withe the gang and me for awhile. We're hoping to have the housebreaking thing n hand before he leaves and teaching him his new name. Maybe a few fun things along the way as well!

I didn't get home till evening with him yesterday, had to potty, feed and then be gone for several hours. So not much happening, but I did snap some pics. He was pretty good in his crate last night. I spent the night on the sofa, to be next to his crate. I don't like totally isolating new babies at night. He fussed for awhile, then settled down.

This morning we had our first "Your name is 'Max' now " lesson. I fed him his breakfast kibble by kibble, while using his new name, pretty much the Deb Jones "In your face recall" game. "Max", pop a kibble to him, "Max", pop a kibble to him, all while sitting right in front of him) I'm fairly certain he didn't quite get it yet, but it will come. : ) We will add asking for polite behaviors "sit" and "down"  to get his food in the coming days.

He is already going UP my open backed basement stairs on his own! Not quite brave enough to come down more than a step or two, and I'm okay with that for now actually!

Right now I need to get to work though, so he's eaten, been outside to potty, played, and is now tethered to me at my desk with an ample supply of toys. He was NOT very happy about it at first, but after a little rodeo bucking, realized it was no use.

He is currently taking the leg off of a stuffed squirrel, that was already pretty beaten up. It is actually a toy that I got when Havoc was a pup, over 9 years ago. It has been suitable only for babies for a very long time, since it WAS already raggedy.

Well, need to take advantage of puppy quiet play time to work, then back outside with him, play, then pop him in his kennel for a nap.

More socializing

Yesterday Fada was scheduled to get back to work on her nursing home visits. She goes once/week with my brother in law (Mark). He is the Activities Director at a nearby facility. She had been off since November for her maternity leave. : )  Normally Mark comes by and picks her up after lunch, she works the afternoon and he returns her in the evening. We decided to take the pups yesterday, so I went down with Fada & family. Left her in the car and took pups in first. They were wonderful! The residents thought they were adorable, the staff was fascinated, they were quite the hit! We did not visit all residents, of course, and when the babies appeared to be tiring I took them back to the car and left Fada for her afternoon. She was tired but happy when she came home in the evening,and apparently "her" residents were pleased to see her back.

We will be at the USDAA agility trial in Dexter, MI this weekend. Come say "Hi"! Miss neat (BC Momma) is entered. Wish us luck! She is in ALL Masters classes EXCEPT Standard. So, we are playing Masters games on Saturday and the orly class Sunday she can enter is Advanced Stranded so hopefully will qualify, finish her AAD and be ALL in Masters!

Hoping Piper and Drummer handle the weekend as well as last weekend and are as easy at the trial site and in the hotel.

more on our week

I can't believe how much the little devils have changed. Drummer has grown legs and lost body fuzz, so he's looking totally geeky right now. Piper has really come together this week (doesn't mean she won't be a geek NEXT week, of course!). She really looks like a miniature dog right now, not a puppy. We measured them at the trial. Piper is 6 1/4" at the withers and 3 lb 2.5 oz. Drummer is 7 1/4" and 3 lbs 3.5 oz. 

They are also showing flashes of what may well be their adult personalities. Piper is very bold, doesn't stop to think. Drummer is a little mellower, more cuddly. Both are very bright. Friday night Lianne was entered in the evening trial. We didn't get to the hotel until 9 or so. Piper and Drummer had already had dinner,  Fine (BC baby, formerly "Prancer") was with us and had not. Lianne put her in her crate with her dinner. Piper's crate was next to Fine's. Piper kept looking at Fine eating. Had her nose to the crate door. Then all of the sudden she ran into her own crate and looked at me. Pods get fed in their crates, so she apparently thought if she got in, she would get more dinner. : )

When I raise puppies, I like to give them a lot of different experiences. I take them new places, and at him, introduce them to new items and footings when possible. These guys have gotten the varied footing thing, that's for sure! Outside on snow and ice has been QUITE the experience! And now that it is melting, they like climbing the "hills", and sometimes they fall through. They are handling it well. : ) Also make sure to check out our latest You Tube with the balance board from today!

New video

On You Tube

Drummer ( 9 1/2 wks)

"Dont even THINK you're taking this from me!"

Busy week for puppies!

Started off with a visit to the vet on Monday, down to the BRAG building to watch classes on Tuesday, company on Thursday and their first agility trial Fri/Sat!

They are adjusting nicely to all of the new things in life. Drummer is not enjoying the sleeping in separate crates much more yet. Piper wishes he would shut up so she can sleep.

At the trial this weekend they met LOTS of people and dogs and had a ball! Very excited to see several (5) of their BC "littermates" at the trial. Did a great job of walking on leash to potty outside. NO accidents in the pen at the trial or at the hotel.

Don't forget to look at the Picasa site for more photos, and to also check out the SuperNatural blog to catch up with the Border Collie babies!

Computer scoring. So easy a puppy can do it!

Piper at the Penn Ohio trial

"Are you sure these are these Border Collies? They aren't the right color!"

Puppies Big Adventure!

We went to see Dr Joanne yesterday, and get our shots and a check up. Everyone in the office thought we were adorable and cuddled us. Other than the ouchy part, we had fun!

We don't get to sleep in the same crate together at night anymore. We are learning to be on our own a little bit. It's not as fun. : (

The cold white stuff outside is changing. It's hard and crunchy now, and there is this green and brown stuff in the yard too. We're not sure what *that* is, but we like to eat it, then run back to the white to potty. Sometimes water falls on our heads while we're outside. We don't like that very much. We can climb the porch steps now, so we do our business then run back up to the porch when that happens.

Piper - 8 wks

More Ganadeiro

Piper - 8 weeks

Drummer - 8 weeks

Drummer Piper - 8 weeks

He has a leaf. She wants it. : )

Ganadeiro de Viamonte

(Piper and Drummer's Daddy)

As a puppy

And as an adult

That "potty" thing

Actually going pretty well, all things considered. Both seem to "get" that outside is for peeing and pooping. Don't quite have the correlation yet that peeing and pooping is NOT for inside. But it will come!

Sleeping all night in their crate and starting tonight in two separate crates. They have been crated on their own a few times today already.

Drummer

Piper

Piper - 7 1/2 wks