Good Morning!

We all woke up, all of us in a super good mood and playful. It is sunny and soon to be in the 30’s. We opened the kennel windows for crisp morning clean air and it felt so good!

Last night my husband and I sat in the romper room and let the pups snuggle with us, all around us, play and then pass out. This morning they were all super snuggly again, mostly because Mama Beetz was nursing them in the wee hours of the morning.

She is giving them life lessons for sure, what is okay and what is not. She is teaching them how to be good little canines, with good canine skills, self control, and again conflict resolvers. A mamas lessons cannot be replaced by us, it is strictly a thing that mamas can offer. And again and again and again, Mama Beetz like her mother, grandmother, and great granmother is so incredibly patient and nurturing, true lovely sweet mamas with rules and life lessons to pass along.

I am asked daily about temperament of the puppies – are they shy, is there a wallflower, is there a bully? In this litter, no there is not. This litter has very little variance, and there is so much balance, and so much solid temperament. The apples don’t fall from the trees – Mama Beetz and Laddie both have stunning temperaments – biddable, balanced, stable, discerning, integrity, honesty, and kind. Part, and a large part of my breeding program is about a solid working/performance dog that is balanced.

BUT, do my puppies back away from a new noise or person, yes of course. That would be five week old puppy behavior, they have no context for new. So as the breeder I introduce new novel things on the daily within context so they have more understanding, they feel safe, and can explore with knowingness, and then I look for recovery time. Is there a startle and then they rush back out? Border collies specifically are very aware of their environment, what belongs where, and what does not, how to manage chaos, and how to bring understanding to what they don’t understand initially. If they trust their person and their environment when they are young, they build healthy good knowledge.

Puppies are puppies, new life, and they want to feel loved, safe, have full bellies, and trust those around them, this will continue into young adulthood.

And to put this into perspective, no kindergartener that is dropped off on a college campus alone, without context will be bold and unafraid, as a young human they should be afraid because they don’t have their support system, they are immature in development, they don’t have their comfort, and the knowingness around them of those that care for them. It is no different for a young puppy, they need mature beings that they can trust around them as they step into the world.

So far my puppies have been exposed to –

household noises – within reason

service men

visitors – one or two at a time, men and women and children

washer

dryer

washing dishes

shower noises

windows opening and shutting

movies

podcasts

sheet fluffing and folding

laundry folding

new objects in their romper room on the daily

Uncle Massimo

new smells

power screw driver to take apart the whelping box

new textures to walk on

safe and kind hands

safe and kind voices

being held

being pet

nails trimmed

paws washed

… and probably lots of little subtle things