Put the pedal to the metal and GO!

That is what it feels like with three puppies that are nearing 10 weeks of age.

They want to explore and check out everything, at three different speeds, in three different directions, with three different ways of interacting with the environment.

They are all coming into their own.

We have had slick ice in all of our yards and pastures for days now, if not a full week, so I have had to carry them into pockets of good traction to practice leash walking and exploring. We are getting a bit of snow day so maybe it will stick and give us a new surface that is safer.

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Yesterday I wanted to get them into a store, and because there are three of them it is a two person job. And because there are three of them, walking them across a parking lot, over salt at the entrance, and past people and other dogs in the store, I simply chose my battle and opted to have them in a cart, and boy oh boy was that super fun!

They had at least twenty people, mostly employees spend an amazing amount of time petting them and loving them up, and moving in a cart which is a big deal. We shopped for new harnesses because the ones I purchased for the puppy stage sucked, they could back out super easy, found some good ones. We shopped for some new interesting toys that made different noises. We went through the clothing section which made the clothing brush up against the cart and make noises. And we even had a dog bark at the puppies, and thankfully the owner apologized and walked a different direction. I think because my adult dogs bark and howl when we come home, that 100% didn’t phase them.

And then, two young children saw the cart full of puppies, their eyes got super big, and you could tell they were holding their breaths a bit with excitement, but they were so super polite and sweet. I invited them over to say hi and the one started to cry a little he was so overwhelmed. All three puppies wagged their tails and licked their little hands, it was the sweetest encounter I can remember ever. It was just pure.

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The puppies are getting up about 3-4am to go potty, and then back to bed. They are 100% not potty trained, but we are starting good habits.

They for real wake up about 7-7:30am and we go out again and they play on the front patio for a bit, potty and then eat breakfast. They have been kind of poky eaters since their litter mates went to their new homes, they’ll finish their food, just over time. This morning they slammed down their breakfast like rugby players and then had the most awesome chase game in the kennel room

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Behaviors we have started –

• sit
• stand
• down from a sit
• down from a stand
• touch
• around
• between
• perch
• come
• their names
• spin
• twirl
• paw paw
• la
• collar
• kennel up

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Mama Beetz is officially weaning them today. You’ll see it on the video below. Kind of amazing that I was able to capture what it looks like when the milk truck closes, and it is time to move on.

The two pups that will remain with me, as I found out with keeping litter mates from my last litter, is they will develop and catch on to things a bit more slowly, because their mama is still with them. This time around I am going to give them more time away from their mama than I did with the last litter.

Enjoy!