A Puppy's Hood in Puerto Rico

Finding her place in the pack as it mobilizes, eight week old Darla avoids Chi-Ping who snapped at her earlier for giving play bows. Chi takes her crabby old lady role seriously enough to discourage pups from over stepping a Chi boundary.  Darla brings up the rear, giving Lucky a lick on the corner of the mouth as she walks past, towards Robert Redford to give him a corner mouth lick, and then she gets along Lucky’s right side to take her position. The crew tiptoes to the edge of the plateau to look over the side at our neighbor trimming his tree with a machete.

Blondie, the only dog not upset over this turn of events, stands nearby. The man trims his tree paying no notice to the dogs sizing him up only twenty feet away. Robert Redford decides it’s not worthy of his attention, returning to the porch. Lucky watches longer, but comes to the same conclusion. After they leave, Darla peeks over the edge to see what the fuss was about. The man returns her gaze, so pell-mell she catches the boys. Chi vanished a second after she saw it was the neighbor.

In the late afternoon the dogs hunt mostly lizards in the tall grass. With keen forward ears they zero in on prey. This time of day most rats are in their dens. I hope they’re not after the neighbor’s chickens. They got another one yesterday. Darla bounds straight up the side of the hill to come sliding down. Soon she’ll run the ridges like the boys.

A disturbance on the road commands attention, so one by one they leap the single step, running across the carport to investigate. Darla didn’t make it first try so she backed up a foot for a running start and on to join the guard dogs.

Learning canine behavior, the rules of the road for her world is important. A dog not knowing how to get along with other dogs is as dysfunctional a person not knowing how to get along with other people. Gees, maybe, that’s not a good choice, but you understand that having a good foundation in your own culture helps you understand the rules of somebody else’s road.  

Lucky teases Darla with a toy, shaking it in her face and then running around the house with her in hot pursuit, if a tad late. Everything is going well in her puppy life now; I hate to think of finding the forever home she needs. I can’t keep her, Robert Redford and Lucky need homes. This isn't good for them long term.

I pray for wonderful people to adopt these amazing animals. 

Puppy Behavior Eight Week Maturation Point

Darla entered her first fear period today, her normally up, wagging tail in a position seldom, if ever seen on her before, neutral. My little girl must be about right weeks old for this stage of development. About three weeks ago I found her in a bucket along the side of the road.

Today she no longer bounds straight up to me, but approaches obliquely, making an arc in her travel to approach me from the side. Her wide eyed puppy innocence is gone. As she nibbled out the bowl, I walked by and she circled with a piece of kibble in her mouth, which is reminiscent of Chi-Ping’s behavior with me, when she first came. She also exhibits watchfulness of the surroundings that I’ve just seen her do in the last couple of days. Our group has remained stable, nothing outward has happened to influence her behavior.

Witnessing puppies enter this maturation phase before was probably more chaotic with people and dogs, me being busy, and most of all other puppies. What surprises me the most is the suddenness of the shift; yesterday she was the quintessential idiot puppy, today she’s caution girl.

Protect her from big scares during this time was my first thought. Today is Three Kings Day in Puerto Rico, which means parandas or parades and here it came right down our road, loud, pulsating, horns blaring, whistles blowing loud, loud. I went to the door in time to see Darla running to the back side of the house to get away. I called her to the door which meant she had to come back towards her fear. To my surprise she scurried into her safe house, where she calmed and stood at the door. Gone are her puppy forward ears, unless focused, she’s pretty much carried them to the side. This is a change for her.

Like you, I love watching dog behavior. I’d love to hear your stories and comments on this maturation point.  

Puppy In a Bucket

Welcome to week six of your life, Darla. You still look to suckle and cuddle like a younger puppy with your still blue eyes. You’ve grown almost two inches in a week’s time. Your black and tan coat shines, except for the skin condition. Lucky had the same thing, little bald circles. I don’t remember what we did for it, but he has a shiny black coat today.  

Sorry, I won’t be getting you to the vet anytime soon; being broke until the end of the month when I can buy groceries again.

The bowed rear legs you came with, now move efficiently straight. I love a pretty trot. Those first few nights you howled and screamed and cried; how mournful.  You learned to comfort yourself, to calm down, but confinement panics you. Crate training will have to come later. Frustrated, too short to get up a single step, you screamed bloody murder. The first time I thought one of the boys hurt you, but no, you wanted back on the carport, so we walked to the ramp, you scampered back on the carport. We did that three times that morning. The fourth time I stayed on the carport, you looked at me, when I took a step towards the ramp you ran around all by yourself. I’d say that makes you very smart.

You bounce at Smoki, inviting him to play. He hisses at you to tell you old cats don’t play, but clearly you don’t get it. He’s trained many a dog in his day, I’ve no doubt you’ll learn to see things his way.

My little Darla, I’m so sorry I can’t do more for you, curious girl, sniffing my rooms, learning every inch. I’ll give you another bath; see what I can do about your skin condition. Your coat has a little luster. The kidney and liver veggie blends are nourishing you well. We’ll have to wait until next month for more; I burned out the blender motor on the kidney or maybe it was the carrot.

If you see and apparition on the porch or in the house for I believe dogs are especially tuned in to spirits, if it’s my Kirt, you’ll know him as a loving spirit; wag your tail really hard for me. He knows I miss him and I love him; you don’t have to tell him a thing, but he’ll love your little tail flying.

Darla, you grow into the best puppy you know how to be; with God’s help we’ll find you a good forever home.  

I'm Officially Upset by Chi-Ping

Officially upset, depressed, really put out, curled up in a ball at mom’s side, desperate for relief; I sighed. The puppy we found in the middle of the road follows me everywhere wanting to suckle. Blondie put a stop to her action, but mom raised her voice to Blondie, who has been skulking around ever since. Robert Redford and Lucky tired of her quickly; they can’t get away fast enough from the puppy, mom now calls Darla. Being suckled by a small critter with needle teeth didn't turn out to be as much fun as the boys thought it would. If a bitch could smirk, you’d enjoy my face as I remember them learning just this; aside from small satisfaction, I've had nothing but aggravation.

Mom’s friend Marcie, brought Snoopy and Hattie the day after Darla showed up in a bucket. Snoopy is my size and likes to chase me, I get so tired of it. Hattie, the Salinderas Beach puppy won the lottery, when mom and Marcie took a walk on the beach without a single dog, and there she was. A stray dog prays for someone to love, who will love me, too. Blondie and I know we’re lottery winners; mom is one crazy prize, especially when she brings home puppies. She promised there would be no more than, well, five, but Lola’s gone and I don’t want to replace her with this whining, complaining rat, who can tumble down a stair, but not up, so she screams bloody murder, until mom walks around to the carport ramp with her. This is not a dog; this is a baby and a brat, at that.

Defending our turf is job enough, without having company, even if Snoopy thinks I’m wonderful. If you have something good, somebody else wants it. There’s only so much room in a bed; Smoki takes my spots, we don’t need competition. Earlier this week we fought off an interloper for hours. I've never seen anything fight Blondie so hard, the boys and I nipped the behind of the fierce devil to give Blondie better advantage.

Mom called, the boys came leaving me and Blondie in the woods battling the beast. With Robert Redford and Lucky in the house mom worked her way through the weeds, calling as she came. We didn't want her to get hurt so we ran to her. Our adversary would not pursue.

You’d think that my life was an adventure, but its pure challenge, I tell you. Late this morning I was on the easy chair listening to bachata, really into the music when the scent of the vagrant who fought us to a standoff wafted in the window. My hair stood on end, me, I froze to the spot.

This ugly white bitch with her big egg head stood in our yard looking in through my front door. Her tail stood mid way between straight out and straight up, she wasn't spoiling for a fight, but with these bull breeds you never know. Snoopy’s nose was glued to her behind, well, easy come; easy go.

Asleep on the front porch, Blondie must have been dreaming about the bitch, who didn't seem ready to go anywhere. Mom woke Blondie and guided her into the house before she completely woke up. The Bull Terrier wandered about and then laid down under our SUV, while Blondie fumed with her head shaking and bubbles frothing from her mouth.

Who can blame me for being upset? 

Frankie, Fearful Sato Puppy

A twelve week pointer, maybe pit mix, is coming to visit because he is an under socialized, scared baby boy that will poop and pee all over, when you come too near. Pick him up at your own risk. He bites as hard as he can, or so said the lady with the bruises.


Frankie had a nice young man named, Domenic, give him some quality time when Frankie was in the imprint stage, so this isn’t Frankie’s first kiss. Or bite for that matter.

I did some ttouch on Frankie the first day I met him with grand results; thank you Linda and Robin, my teacher. After Ttouch, Frankie began coming out of Domenic’s room where he was hiding. I never tire of seeing what those little ttouch circles produce. Linda Tellington Jones’ work is inspired.

Little Frankie’s eyes bulge out of his head with an overwhelmed expression. Bonita, who had seen her siblings stomped to death, had a similar look. In spite of loving contact during the imprint stage this puppy is overwhelmed and fearful, so it’s either circuitry or the poor baby was part of something he couldn’t handle. I won’t even try to imagine.

I have six weeks to work with him before I head to Trinidad for the 2013 Caribbean Animal Welfare Conference. If everything comes together Frankie can go to a forever home then, if not we’ll adapt to that reality.

Our girls, Blondie and Chi-Ping are blossoming in every way possible. My smart “Sato” girls are doing mostly what they want with coming in & out of the house. These confident girls don’t even wake if we drop something near them. If I don’t have treats on me, it’s mixed and variable if they’ll do what I ask. Confidence, not obedience has been my goal, since adopting them. I’ve thrown a big world at these two country dogs.

Dominance or more food will NOT be used in the next phase of deepening the relationship with my girls. I’m going to use what women have used since the drawn of time, jealousy. Yes, I know our scientists say that animals aren’t jealous; they just protect resources. I say that’s wrong envy and jealousy began in the lower species. It’s not a higher trait. Using my theory my girls will be so focused on me by the time Frankie goes.

Oh, heaven, I feel so trashy saying manipulation is the higher trait. Each dog is a learning experience, so I invite you to follow along and comment. Regards, Tricia

Predatory Drift

On the subject of predatory drift; can we agree that dog drifting over the line has a hair trigger compared to the dog that can engage in stimulating or competitive play without losing it.



Some breeds come by a lower threshold of stimulation genetically. Hmm, pits come immediately to mind.


My experience is that in many cases; the drifter has been trained with coercive techniques.


The other important factor in my opinion is young dogs need to develop social skills beyond the litter box. A litter bully needs to learn consequences to uncontrolled behavior. If a puppy like this has no further contact with others from leaving the litter mates it beat up until adulthood that dog has not learned the social pressure of self control. Does that make sense?


In street dogs I’ve seen groups of males interlope another dog’s spot. I could see the rage in the face of the dog whose space was invaded. The boys swarm around and may jostle the home dog. Home dog wisely tolerates the intrusion. Watching these dogs has taught me how naïve our dogs are when it comes to social skills or dog language.


Canine social skills are impaired by isolation during maturation.


Finally, we introduce dogs one on one. Two dogs without the skills acquired in adolescence are better when they get to know each other without one of them having his buds to back him up. A month later the new dog is friends with these dogs. The first dog jostles new dog, who can now respond without the dogs backing up the other dog, so now you get the one on one. It’s fast and it can be ugly.


Predatory drift is not a mystery. I believe it follows these threads. What do you think?

What's Breed Got To Do With It?

Yesterday I did a behavior consult for a lady with a five month old German Sheppard Dog female puppy. The lady had taken her to another place for training where the puppy was labeled aggressive. She said that she was told to take her puppy to the far end of a store parking lot. There she was to reward the dog with treats when the pup focused on the her instead of barking at the activity by the door. She and her dog could return to class when the pup could focus on her reliably.

Ok, fine; that could take a long time without help and guidance. Dogs need to experience something when they are young if they are to be comfortable with it when they are older. A puppy that does not play with other dogs will not be as comfortable with other dogs when grown; unless great steps are taken to re-write write over that dog’s program.


This is actually a very lovely puppy, who is just being what she was bred to be. The GSD believes in intellectual superiority, theirs! I love the way first night students arrive with their GSD puppy or adult. A GSD announces, “GSD in the house.” Whether pup or adult it doesn’t matter. Unless trained they bark to inform.


Once you convince a GSD that you actually are smarter than they are, they can’t please you enough. All that attention is so flattering. I love working with them.


The dear lady was worried that her pup would never be able to play with other dogs. I allowed the young Shep, to sniff Klondyke, a ten year old Siberian Husky that has been coming to Carrvilla day care since he was six months of age. When I released her in the yard with the handsome old guy, Klondyke harrumphed her. To anthropomorphize, she looked like a little girl being corrected by grandpa. We watched her eyes as she learned manners from the wise old dog.


Next we did a leadership class. This taught her: A) she is not the leader; I am. B) Pay attention or one of us will get lost. This, as always, was so much fun. Humans always love to be the leader. When we are good leaders, the dog does not object. Who doesn’t love all that attention?


As my client enjoyed her dog’s attention, I decided it wasn’t enough to prove that she had just an untrained puppy, not a monster. I needed to show her that her puppy could get along with other females. Loose in the yard next to Carrvilla regular Roxie, the baby GSD yapped briefly. Perhaps she realized she wasn’t getting a reaction to her bluster. She then stood there just looking at the three year old lab. At this time I opened the gate allowing Roxie entry into the pup’s yard. The young dog’s ears went out to the side in a relaxed (non alert) position.


Puppies frequently become over exuberant, which seems to require them to sniff the older girl’s rear a tad too vigorously. You know what happens next: growl, possibly snap. The puppy girl backed off with Roxie’s growl. No snap required, yeah. This smart puppy learned to respect an older girl in one easy lesson.


That doesn’t mean she won’t get pushy with a younger or vulnerable pup. Youngsters who have been terrorized will frequently become k9 terrorists of the weak. If she gets the right experiences with good dogs, she can become a great day care dog.


The moral of the story is to be aware of breed tendencies before adjudicating a puppy aggressive. If this lady had squandered the dog’s puppyhood keeping her away from other dogs, adult inappropriate behavior is more likely to end in a fight.


This is a great puppy who learned a lot in an hour. I completely fell in love with her. Thanks for bringing her.

Bonita, The Adolescent

Good morning! That's the game or ritual that became the means for me to get Bonita to let me touch her.


Who would have thought that the pink pawed miserable little creature we met in January could blossom into a lovely yearling/adolescent. Isn’t she pretty! I gave her the name with the hope she would grow into it, that was my wish for her.

Competition for resources caused her mother to be so harsh with her that when we started feeding her she would not touch food that was next to her mouth for fear of her mother’s wrath. She was dying.

The suffering pup in this photo has been fed for two weeks.

Blondie still is not good about sharing, but she has improved. They get a kibble now, so perhaps it’s not worth a fight like they would for the raw food diet they were getting.

Bonita and her mom, Blondie have become the home team; they work well together. Bonita often takes the lead in defending the turf. I can hear the excitement in her bark when she leads the charge successfully after which she struts around like a jock that scored the winning touchdown.

Last March when Bonita was going back to life, she decided to sample our ottoman, which Storm and sometimes Blondie sleep on at night. This was a big bold move for her. She fell asleep on an ottoman.

Now you know what happened; she fell off! I hear thud followed by a scared to death, yipe, yipe, yipe, then a tough but scared little dog, ruff, ruff, ruff for almost an hour. Really and truly I had to laugh, but I felt so sorry for her on her first venture into boldness. God, there’s a metaphor for life.

Yesterday Bonita had a real teenage/adolescent moment with Lance. She went all girly on him. She forgot all about home team, sat up on the porch and watched like a little sweetie.

Lance ever the hero, let’s Snow White get dominated by big bad Blondie, while he wizes ceremoniously staring at the lovely Bonita. Our girl is all grown up, Pa, git your shot gun!

Socializing Puppies With People

Raising the perfect dog takes planning. 
The early weeks with a new puppy are consumed with socialization to this big world. If we want our dog to be comfortable with something, the pup must meet it.
Meet & greets with children of as many age groups as possible are important. When we go to the park with a puppy, it becomes a child magnet. The important part is supervising the activity. A child, who is afraid of dogs may put their hand out to pet the puppy only to pull it back triggering the pup to try to grab the child's hand in its mouth. After a few times of that you end up with a pup that grabs kids hands. This is important to my dog's future, so when I come across a child who is afraid; I think it is better to move on with my puppy.
It's a valuable lesson for puppies to learn to run with children, so they don't chase them later. This means running with one child and groups of kids.
Dogs need to be comfortable around people in wheel chairs or who walk with canes. Now is the time for meet & greets. I find that if we take the pup to the bicycle path, exposure to people on bikes covers the wheel chair situation rather well.
Our puppies go to greet people in the parking lots of super markets. The more types of people a puppy meets, the better. I don't want my dog to bark at men in hats because my puppy never met any. We don't smoke, so I've seen my dogs curl their lips when a smoker reaches out to pet them. Try explaining to someone that the dog wasn't growling at them, but just didn't like the smell of their hand.
Summer outdoor concerts, sports events, fourth of July fireworks are great places to go to get a puppy to learn that it can handle this great big world.
We like our dogs to be able to go with us as many places as they are allowed.
Well socialized puppies make well behaved dogs.

Early Learning K9 Style

For a good beginning the litter should be together with mom or a surrogate for a minimum of seven weeks. Around five weeks when the litter is eating well, I would remove mom. There is no need for the pups to continue to nurse.


The best surrogate we ever had was a male Rottweiler named Spunky. He would even get into the whelping box when the moms were out to potty. He stimulated the neonates. Spunky was the best Mr. Mom.

Spunky was a fun dog who would offer a fire hydrant a play bow. Over his life time Spunky was surrogate for our litters as well as clients. Rottweiler, Bullmastiff and Giant Schnauzer puppies raised by Spunky all gave lots of play bows. Coincidence???

The Puerto Rican island puppies that make it are very street smart. They learn early who their friends are and the hostilities of their world. The learning curve here is very steep or they don't make it.

After weaning, in the independent feeding stage is where we start to see the differences between our pets and the satos/island dogs.

At four to five weeks the litter will stay where mom tells them. A few weeks back a pretty spaniel cross approached me in the parking lot of our local bakery. Her litter waited in a nearby field as she returned with a crust of bread.

I have never seen a pet dog control her puppies that well. They don't have to, my girls knew it.

While the satos are learning about the three resources, our pets are learning how to play. The dogs here play with each other; our dogs have toys.

Our puppies grew up in an enriched environment. Our puppies had a 15 x 60 foot play yard with an old tractor tire 1/2 buried on its side. The center was filled with sand. Another tire on rim was 1/3 buried so they could go under and around. My husband made a low swinging bridge and a little rocker board. There was a little platform a few inches above the ground.

Post weaning, dogs require a lot of experiences. The Puerto Rican island dogs have their world in their face every day. Our dogs rely on us to introduce them to their world.

Canine Temperament Develops Early

Mothering in the whelping box begins the shaping puppy behavior. Mom sets the tone.


Once the eyes open around three weeks, the squeaky little barks and the mouth duels begin. Puppies learn to control the force of their bites gradually during the litter phase and beyond.


During the litter phase it is so cute to watch pups learn. One puppy will be on top, just feeling so full of himself that he bites the puppy on the bottom too hard. The puppy on the bottom then becomes fierce, telling the offender off.


The rule of keeping litters together for seven weeks while the nervous system myelinizes is the minimum acceptable time. The myelin sheath is the outer covering of the nervous system until this grows the puppy isn't "firing on all cylinders".


Some breeders take the mother away as soon as the pups can be weaned. A Bull Terrier breeder I know took the mother away because she was afraid the mother would harm the puppies. She was with the pups just long enough to feed. The breeder cleaned and stimulated the neonates; the mom was muzzled when she fed her brood.


The breeder kept a beautiful bitch out of the litter. She had that gorgeous turn of head that B.T. people love. She also happened to be the dominate puppy in the litter. By six months she was dominating the other dogs in the breeder's house. Her dam wasn't as dominant as the breeder thought and soon submitted to her daughter.


At ten months the breeder brought the bitch to me for social rehabilitation because she behaved aggressively at dog shows. This poor animal had not learned that she could submit and nothing bad would happen to her.


Had the breeder put her with a dog she trusted to correct the litter, this would have all been avoided.


The purpose of childhood is to have an opportunity to learn how to be a successful adult.


Puppies learn a lot together, but they need an adult to guide them.

Barb & Bonita

My friend, Barb, is visiting us with her husband, Keith. When I returned from grocery shopping, I retreated to me room for a bit. Unaware of her audience, the lovely lady with the big heart was seducing shy Bonita. "Come on pretty girl, you can do it", she cooed in a voice that would be at the top of my list for non threatening.
So far Bonita will only allow me to touch her muzzle with my finger of the same hand that is feeding her. Socializing this puppy at this juncture is more than a tad difficult. I am the first human to touch her other than to kick at her. Any touching is purely a trade of you can touch only so much in a minimal way so she focuses more on the food. Any infraction changes the whole dynamic..
We're working with her on two platforms. 1st Is a straight trade, food for touch. 2nd Is social stimulus. She wants to be near us. The other dogs hang around for attention, play and grooming. Frequently I do do soft tissues on Blondie and Storm. She watches and I imagine, she wonders. As close as she gets, I believe that when she gets her courage up she will ask for it. I'll keep you posted because I don't see it any time soon.
The social platform I'm working on with her tells me more about her. The food thing is just so basic. When a dog you have no control over trusts you enough to do something to them that feels different and maybe momentarily somewhat uncomfortable, that's a decision the dog is making.
As of now I have never used any restraint on any of the street dogs. In a couple of months we will be taking Blondie and Bonita to be spayed, so it will be leashes for two.