I love having related dogs. The ones who are here now bring with them the ones who are gone.
Like an echo.
Cooper is from our G Litter. He lived a well-loved life with the Graffunders. This was one of his signature moves…
Lupine from the Wildflowers now lives with the Graffunders. She is Cooper’s great-great-niece.
Well played, Team Echo.
The Wildflowers are at an age where we can see a normal “fear period.” I don’t like that term and so I shall call this developmental stage Accelerated Cognitive Expansion (ACE).
Puppies are suddenly much more aware and concerned about their external world. Pozy has, for example, gone from leaping joyfully on every stranger to preferring to ignore them for a bit in order to decide whether they are, in fact, an ax murderer.
This is normal brain development. The puppy is now capable of a more advanced cognitive appraisal process. The expression of this may look like fear or shyness but we are better served by not putting those labels on our puppy — labels change and shape our interactions with people and puppies and are rarely useful. Instead, we just deal with the behavioral manifestations of this very normal period of Life with Puppies.
So what do we do?
Chill Out
Puppies look to us for cues. The last thing you want to do is have a meltdown when your puppy is suddenly reflecting concern about Monsters. Doing that just tells the puppy that she was right to be concerned because OMG! Look at the effect the Monster had on the human!!!!
Stay calm. Project an attitude of, “Monster? Pffft. No Big Deal” to the puppy
Socialize
The puppies need to be out and about every day and have good novel experiences. Don’t avoid the places Monsters live but…
Pay Attention to Threshold
A threshold is the point at which it is all just too much — stay well under that point with the puppy. When a puppy bites extra hard when taking a treat, refuses to take a treat, and/or is trying to get the heck outta Dodge we know we went over threshold.
Dial it back.
Stay under threshold at all times and…
Counter-Condition
Use treats and fun to help the puppy have a positive association with the Monster — from a safe and below threshold distance.
Puppy looks at the Monster — click/treat (or say YES/treat).
Puppy sniffs the Monster — click/treat (or say YES/treat).
Build up the puppy’s Monster Tolerance, always staying under threshold, until the puppy realizes everything is as cool as the human’s chill attitude.
Protect the Puppy
Do not force a puppy to interact with anyone or anything she has decided is a Monster. Do not allow anyone to grab your puppy, try to pet her if she doesn’t want to be petted, or in any way force unwanted attention.
Remember…
Nobody should have unwanted attention foisted on them — not even a puppy.
Our job is to companion our puppy through this period of Accelerated Cognitive Expansion (ACE), building confidence and trust along the way by being smart, positive, and intentional in our training.
Have a happy, monster-free day!
Today we hear about Chase — you may recall that Chase lives with his canine father, Major, and his human family in Great Falls, Montana. Lawrence shares:
“Chase is growing fast and losing some puppy teeth. I have been taking him on short walks with Piper and Major.
On Mondays he has puppy class but that is over tomorrow (shorter class due to COVID). On Tuesdays he has beginning obedience and is at the top of his class. He is doing well with heel and is learning a little scent work. He went with Major and I yesterday to scent practice. Major has a scent trial on Halloween here in Great Falls.
Chase is great with meeting new people and dogs. He is learning to Leave it and drop it. Sleeps a lot better now and house breaking is mostly successful, don’t want to say anything for sure or I might jinx us.”
Thank you, Lawrence — and what great photos :) Chase is lovely.