Off To Camp

I love this picture!  The only thing that would make it better would be having Rob in it too, but Rob had already passed on when Argus joined us - in fact 12-year-old Watson was born the same week that his great grandfather Rob passed.  Funny how certain dogs are forever in your thoughts. . .   I still miss Rob and think of him often.

This picture shows "Watson" Ch. Paisley Pragmatic, "Josie" Ch. Hapi Dal Paisleys Preference (L), "Argus" GCh. Paisley NspirD By Broadway (L), and "Coral" Ch. Paisley Snowood Family Ties (L), all Rob descendants.

Fernly did well at Puppy Class last night.  Even managed to do two recalls to ME, despite all the far more exciting things going on around her.  I won't take that for granted though, as she's pretty scatter-brained right now!  Sits and downs were very good - amazing what pups will do for tasty tidbits.  Stays come next, and we'll be working a lot on leash walking in class next week.  Gotta practice that every evening.

Puppy playtime was not as fun as it should have been.  Two dogs in our class apparently don't play well with others, and in both cases Fern was the target.  When they were wrestling as puppies do, each of them started showing their teeth and snarling, and not in a playful manner.  NOT appropriate behavior for 3-4 month pups.  In each case one of the instructors quickly stepped in, but I was not happy about having Fern in that position.  It's important to me that my dogs are comfortable playing with other dogs, and I don't want Fern having bad experiences.  If that happens again next week, I will opt out of the playtime.  Just not worth it.

It would be interesting to find out when those pups were separated from their litter mates.  Am guessing in both cases that it was far too early, and the pups did not have a chance to develop appropriate "social skills" with their litter mates, and their dam or other adult dogs.

Fern goes camping this weekend with my daughter Jess, her partner Don, Dal "Meribel" and senior Shepherd "Simmie".  Not a camp actually, but we call it "camping" and it's an important thing for puppies to do, especially puppies that stay with their breeder rather than going to new homes.  Fern is friendly and outgoing, but this will help her confidence level even more as she adapts to a totally new situation.  Hopefully Meribel does NOT teach Fern to dig holes, as Fern already has enough "hobbies", but oh well.  Hope Jess and Don and Simmie survive the non-stop wrestling and running that are inevitable with two young Dals!

Today I need to finish up a new puppy brochure and send it out to a number of people who have inquired about pups.  I've tried to make it both interesting and informative, and have included a lot of pictures.