Tellington TTouch Training

There's been lots of excitement with the arrival of Linda Tellington-Jones! She's staying with us during a Tellington TTouch Training session at Paws4Ever in Mebane. There are people here from all over the country to learn from Linda. The Tellington TTouch Method is a gentle, respectful training method that helps people communicate with and comfort their animals. Here's Linda with Big Sandy. Big Sandy gets TTouch bodywork every day from Jenn. TTouch can really helps older dogs that have arthritis and aches and pains live a more comfortable life. TTouch is also great for puppies. It's an easy way to help puppies learn to accept gentle touches and handling exercises. It can help puppies that are chewing, teething, and need help settling themselves. Here's Linda and Jet...
Actually, we all benefit from TTouch...
And Linda is a wonderful teacher.
I helped during the training out too. Here I am doing some work in the labyrynth with Deirdre, a TTouch practitioner from Florida.
We go through the labyrynth together, and Deirdre gives me gentle signals to stop and balance after each turn.
Here we are helping a cute little dog that sometimes reacts to other dogs. I'm walking and pausing as the other dog goes by. The little dog stayed very calm...we pause and turn together...And then we walk out...Deirdre and I were pretty awesome! And I'm so glad that I got to participate in the training. I'm even happier that Jenn knows the benefits of the TTouch Method and I know it will help me have a better life with her. If you want to learn more about TTouch, check out the TTouch website.

Puppy Socialization Trips to Weaver St. and Phydeaux

Jenn has been taking our puppy Jet on field trips around town. This is for Jet's continuing socialization to people, places and things. It is very important to get puppies out into the world, meeting as many friendly people as possible and learning to be polite as well. One day, they went to Weaver Street Market. Jet waited for people to stop and give her treats for sitting.Another day, Jet when to Phydeaux, the grooviest dog store in the world. Jet really loved the staff and she got to wiggle her butt and get attention.Then Jet got to pose for a photo.You can learn more about how to socialize your puppy by reading this article by Dr. Ian Dunbar called "Socialization with People".

Upside Down Puppy

Well, it finally happened. Our puppy Jet is sleeping upside down just like me.Upside down is by far the most comfortable position for sleep. Check out my gallery of upside down sleeping photos...at 10 weeks...5 months...
9 months...2 years old...

22 pounds! How big will our puppy Jet get?

Holy moly! Our puppy Jet is now 22 pounds! That is quite a growth spurt. So how big will Jet get?

The general rule is to take the puppy's weight at 14 weeks and double it. This gives you a general idea of how big your puppy will be as a adult. Not rocket science, but a ballpark figure.

Just to give you some perspective, when I was 14 weeks old, I was around 30 lbs. My adult weight hovers around 57 pounds, give or take.

Here's a good article by Dr. Nicholas Dodman on estimating your puppy's adult size.

Junior Puppy Training Class

Do tiny puppies need a training class? Oh my gosh YES! The ideal time to start training is very soon after you bring your puppy home. Our puppy Jet started her Junior Puppy class last night. If you start training early, then you can avoid lots of issues later on. It is way easier to train a young puppy to do the behaviors you want to see from the very beginning. It gets harder later on, when the bad behaviors are habits and the puppy becomes a "teenager". Here Jet and her new friend Joey are learning to sit for attention and treats (instead of jumping up.) Good puppies! What is a positive training class? A class that uses rewards, is tons of fun, and incorporates the whole family. None of that nasty stuff or punishment. It's all about rewarding the behaviors you like and using a training method that the whole family can do, even the kids. Positive training is family friendly.
Puppy classes also offer lots of socialization experiences that are so important to build puppy's confidence about the world. They get a little time socializing with each other too. Jet liked to sniff Joey's butt.Jet really wanted to look at Joey. She thought he was very cute. But Jenn was teaching Jet to give attention to her with distractions around. When Jet looked at Jenn she got rewarded. That was really hard! But Jet was getting the hang of it. She's such a good puppy and Jenn is doing everything to encourage good habits in our new puppy. The puppy class is a great venue for practice.So, get your puppy into a positive training and socialization class ASAP.

Here's a super Dog Star Daily article on puppy classes with more info for you.

To find a positive trainer near you, check out the Association of Pet Dog Trainer website.

Jet meets Mona/Puppy Social Time with Adult Dogs

Jet got to meet my best girlfriend Mona at her house for a playdate. Puppies can learn a lot by playing with well socialized adult dogs. Mona is a great female dog because she is gentle with puppies, but won't take any crap from them. In other words, if Jet gets out of line, Mona will correct her, enough to put puppy in her place, but not scare her. That's what Big Sandy did with me when I was a puppy. Jet was a little scared at first and hid under a chair.Then she decided to come out and just sniff a bit and maybe Mona wouldn't see her.Then Jet decided to hide behind a tree. Mona wasn't fooled and wanted Jet to play with the Kong rope toy. Mona finally coaxed Jet to play.After a couple minutes, Jet decided that Mona might be pretty fun. And they started a nice game of chase...They got along so well, I'm hoping we can all play together this weekend.

Jet Housetraining Update

Another quick update on Jet's housetraining. Jenn and Eric were really on the ball with Jet's schedule, supervision and crate time. Jet hadn't had one accident in the house in about a week. Then...0pps! Jet pooped on the dining room rug last night. Suffice it to say that it was totally Jenn's fault again. She let Jet unsupervised with a full bowel. Opps. Nobody made a big deal about it. We just cleaned it up and will make sure to get Jet out to potty. All in all, my girl Jet is doing great!

Busy Social Weekend/Puppies Meeting Children

We had a very busy weekend with lots of guests here to meet and socialize with Jet. Jet had lots of socialization to people with her breeder, and Jenn and Eric want to continue to expose Jet to both children and adults. Puppies need to meet lots of people, especially during the first months of their lives, even though Jet is well on her way in learning to be a social and confident girl. Corey and Suzanne brought their daughter Vivian. She is a very nice little girl that likes to cuddle in dog beds. Jet was happy to share the bed and her toys with Vivian.
Steve, Mimi and Shane came and Jet was quite happy to get a belly rub from Mimi.Jet really liked Mimi and wanted to sit in her lap.
Shane was very gentle and calm with Jet. He knows all about how to be safe around unfamiliar dogs.

Jet's Favorite Things

Our puppy Jet is quite fascinating. I think it is safe to say that I am her absolute favorite thing. I mean, how could I not be?I spend lots of time watching her and learning what she likes. Her favorite toy is an empty plastic bottle. Those puppy teeth are really sharp and she likes to crunch the bottle with her teeth.
She also likes to play with the Kong rope toy. We play tug and I always win (at least for now). Maybe I will let her win.I guess I should play fair. She's growing fast and may catch up to me!

Jet's Housetraining Update

So here's an update on our puppy Jet's housetraining. Since Jenn and Eric have been supervising her more and rewarding her for going potty outside with special treats, she has had one accident in three days. Of course, that one mistake was totally Jenn's fault. She was cooking dinner when she should have been either watching Jet or putting her in her crate. To help with the whole process, I've been showing Jet how to go quickly down to ramp to the yard to use the potty. Then I demonstrate how to sit and wait calmly to be let back in. I am so proud of my Jet and it is obviously my influence that is making the difference.