We finally had a quiet day at home and are now developing some routine. Rosanne sleeps through the night very nicely - for which I am very grateful! This morning she started whimpering around 6 am. I ignored this and went back to sleep as the whimpering was not of the intense "I need to pee right now" type of whimpering.
Yesterday morning I did pill time for the older dogs (pills wrapped in raw turkey burger) and started Rosanne on the important lifetime skill of taking pills. She got a piece of kibble wrapped in turkey burger. How fun to be doing Pill Time will all three dogs!
We then retired to my office for morning computer work. This was an especially nice time for me as I was able to get a lot of work done. The sliding glass door was open to the closed off deck. Marcus was in the office with Rosanne and me so he and Rosanne had a couple of hours together in close quarters. The baby gate was closed on the office doorway. Joey chooses not to be in the office when the baby gate is closed.
Rosanne played with her chewies, found a sticky note to play with, came and sat soliciting attention from me. She had a lot of cookies for coming towards me, lifting her head off the ground, choosing not to put feet up on me and so on. I am feeding all of her meals via on-the-fly reinforcement. Marcus, of course, got plenty of treats for maintaining calmness with Rosanne present.
After feeding the big dogs and then having a group potty break, Rosanne and I went for a ride. She immediately fell asleep in her crate in the van. We didn't go very far - just to the vet's office (River's Edge Pet Medical) to have a puppy visit to the lobby.
I love my vets and their staff. They are so good to my dogs, so supportive and caring. I couldn't ask for a better vets' office. Rosanne and I were greeted by one of the vet techs and, as it turned out, they were on lunch break. The whole office was very quiet and only one tech was available for puppy greetings. The tech played with her a bit and took her onto the scale for a weight (7.6 lbs). Rosanne was entered into the computer as a new patient. The software actually had Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen in the list of breeds! Rosanne is the first PBGV in their practice. :)Rosanne was a little less than her outgoing self at the vet's. Her nap time (which is serious business) had been interrupted and she was a bit sleepy.
She fell asleep on the way home. It's only a short drive so again her nap was interrupted. We returned to work in the office. She immediately discovered (for the first time) the open soft crate tucked in under one of the desks, crawled in and took her nap there. Whew! I was glad to learn that naps did not have to be in the van.
We had a big long play session for the first time in the big back yard. Joey was very much into fetching frisbees. He did not even care about stealing Marcus' frisbees (very unusual). Joey is a bit off since Rosanne's arrival. He's clingy to me and mostly looks quite uncertain about what he should be doing. Right now we're in the office and he's actually in here with us but standing in the middle of the space looking miserable. I have asked him to do the occasional hand-touch and verbally mark him and reinforce with at treat.
In yesterday's play session, Marcus (who is my supreme master of fetching) was not all that interested in running after his little frisbees. He preferred to stay very close to the Symbol for Treats (i.e. Rosanne) in case treats should be forthcoming. Marcus did, however, fulfill his usual role of bringing Joey's dropped Frisbee on home to me. He's the man for clean up duty!
Marcus and Rosanne had a lovely Ba Boom! session in the grass. This is a game where I call out "Ba Boom!" and drop a big handful of treats and kibble for the dogs to forage in close proximity to each other. It's a very good exercise on several levels - keeps the dogs actively engaged in natural acquisition of food, allows the dogs to learn to eat near each other, helps the young dog learn communication signals from the older dogs and helps "inocculate" against resource-guarding.
When playing group foraging, it's hugely educational for all concerned - humans and dogs. How do they decide which dog goes for which treat? It's all very subtle but it's all choreographed between the dogs. This is what makes this game so good for teaching puppies to read signals.
Joey was not interested in the Ba Boom! game. I think he's still sorting out his place in the scheme of things now. If I were to anthropomophize: perhaps he's not sure about stepping up to the puppy raising task. At this stage of Joey's puppyhood, BJ had taken over completely. And, for BJ, it was reflexive, as if he couldn't help himself, he simply HAD to make sure the puppy had proper schooling. All of that was a complete shock to me as I had never seen anything like that from BJ prior to the day I brought Joey home.
BJ was junior to two Beardie bitches (Brady and Maggie) and both of those girls had left for the Bridge only three months before. Knowing BJ's nature for the rest of his life (a very good peace-keeper, play group monitor, communicator, teacher dog), it is no surprise his talents were not revealed while Brady and Maggie were alive. It was not his place to take a leadership role. But boy! did he ever step up!
Joey being in the office with us right now (though he's still just standing next to me) is a big step for him. He occasionally reaches is nose down to sniff the puppy but that's all so far.
After the big back yard session, we all had an afternoon nap. I put Rosanne into her night-time crate and she was out like a light. Good! Now she has three ways to take a nap - in the van, in a crate or finding a crate on her own to go to sleep in.
******************************************************************
TRAINING: I did a video session of training with Rosanne - capturing downs. I sat in a chair on the deck with Rosanne's leash under my legs. She had enough leash to move around a bit. We were out on the deck and I pretended to read a book ignoring her. However, I was watching her surreptitiously. :) Each time she laid down, I clicked and set a treat down for her just far enough away so she had to get up. I set the treats down instead of tossing them because she's not yet able to track the motion of a tossed treat very well.
The downs were very far between. Sometimes she sat and rolled over into a sort-of-down in order to scratch herself. I clicked those but only after she had finished scratching and settled into the down. There were a couple of times that two downs happened relatively close together but not enough that I can yet claim she's doing downs intentionally to get a click.
It's the intentionality that I am watching for as I want her to learn that her behavior causes good things to happen. This is why I mark/treat her for all of the good things I see her do that I want repeated.
*******************************************************************************
We have worked out group potty sessions, group foraging sessions, group nap sessions. We have even worked out group TV watching. Rosanne is on my lap, Joey curled up on the floor next to the couch, Marcus at my feet. I do so love it when all of my dogs are within two or three feet of me! Later the dogs rotated a bit with Marcus up on the back of the couch, Joey at my feet and Rosanne in my lap. After I put Rosanne to bed in her night-time crate, we had adult time. Joey got to take up his usual place draped across my body as I watch TV (really as I fall asleep watching TV).
We had a lovely restful day at home with everyone learning new ways to get along and to get to know each other. Will add video clips later today.
