The Socialization Continues

"Do NOT touch my cast", says Watson.

Sure wish I was home during the day so the pups could spend more time outdoors.   They love playing on the deck in the evenings, and are quite intrigued by snow.  Am sure they will be less impressed by the rain we are expecting today, and the cold weather that moves in this weekend!

Although their pen is quite large, the pups really need to get out and run.  Morning and evening they have the run of the basement for an hour, and have such a great time wrestling.  The crinkly cat tunnel is a great favorite for games of hide and pounce.  Because everything must be explored and played with, I continue to find things in need of puppy proofing.

This is a time when the pups should be having new adventures and experiences, something a lot easier to do in the summer.  They've been coming up in pairs and individually to explore the rest of the house including the bedrooms, and everyone had fun helping me put away the Christmas decorations and clean up the guest room.  There are a couple of toys upstairs only used when pups come up to visit, and they've gotten a real workout.  Individual attention is very important to pups as they transition from being part of a litter, to being individual dogs who live with humans, and it's important that littermates don't stay together for too long and become too dependent on one another.   Max and Melitta will take turns going to camp with Jess and Don, learning to be only pups.  Various friends have offered to take pups for "camping" if weather is a problem and it is too cold to ship them to their new owners.

Last night when I had all the pups loose in the basement, I introduced them to the doggy treadmill.  Sure wish I'd had my camera with me!  I turned it on very low so it hummed and moved very very slowly.  Each pup got lifted up on the machine at first and before long the others were jumping up to enjoy the ride.  Some caught on to walking up the slope of the treadmill, while others went down the slope, or wrestled on the deck, but everyone seemed to enjoy it.  We'll play on the treadmill a bit every evening, and I'll teach them all to walk on it.  Very slowly of course, and only for a few seconds, but it's a great learning opportunity, as well as a confidence builder - AND I'll try to get some pictures.  Too cute!