FunDay

Mary-Ann Sontag June 20, 2021

Porter Buck and Obi Hunter are still doing their classes together. Thank you, Linda, for the photos. These two made me laugh.

Those two photos just sum up Life with Puppies so well — all teeth and and then, Little Angels.

I am seeing the same with Maple and Capella.

And then…

And then back at it…

Watching the two puppies reminds me of how physical dogs are, and how very much play needs to be part of their lives — and yes, dog play involves mouths.

Whether we are intentional about it or not, we are always training our dogs. Since I have specific goals for mine, their training needs to have intention and direction. And because I think their lives, including training, should be fun — as they define fun — mouths are involved. Tugging, fetching, eating, puzzle solving, chewing — all ways to involve a dog’s natural inclination to have fun with their mouths.

And that is why we just received a new supply of training tools…

…because fun needs to be part of every training session. Maple knew what to do with the new tugging thingee…

Please run off and have a super fun Sunday.

You deserve it — especially you dads out there!

Puppy Flavors

Mary-Ann Sontag June 17, 2021

Miss Moonshadow Maple Portia is staying at Camp Kaibab for a few days.

You have maybe heard of Coffee with Clark and Margie? How about Grass with Capella and Maple?

The differences between the puppies are interesting and I suspect reflective of the two litters. Early on I described the differences like this: The Moonshadows say, “OMG! YOU’RE HERE!!!!!!!!!!” and the Bright Stars say, “I have arrived.”

Maple is over-the-top thrilled for everyone and everything. Capella is quite friendly with all humans and dogs but in a more self-contained way — she is not such an externalizer as Maple.

Maple is Action.

That is not to say that Capella is not active — of course she is. But she processes internally — you can almost see the wheels turning.

Maple — like Daisy — emotes all her happy, joyful feels (and she has A LOT of them) with her body. Adorable.

Neither “flavor” is good or bad — the puppies are just different. But it does remind me that one-size-fits-all training is a bad plan. We have to first assess the puppy we have, and then train accordingly.

Maple gets cookies for not leaping on me and for staying calm, two things that Capella mastered easily because they are natural for her. Capella gets cookies for engagement and responsive actions (like recalls), two things that Maple does exceptionally well because they are natural for her.

Vive la difference!