The puppies are 3 1/2 months old now and have grown tremendously! Katie weights in at 26.7 lbs and Blossom our dainty one at 23.2 lbs. Both are healthy and got their big girl rabies shot this week. I had thought of waiting till later, I could wait till they were one year, but with all the vermin in the area I thought it would be best to have them safe. We do not need to have a real life "Old Yeller" on our hands as that would certainly not go well with the children.
We have started "Puppy Pre-School" with Katie and Blossom so they can learn their doggie manners. I chose this particular school because Anton and Isabella are allowed to participate and learn how to "talk" to their puppy. I tend to handle the more difficult or first lesson on something new then children take over. Both puppies are responding but there is some need for maturity to take place. Puppies have lots of energy and Goldens love everyone creating a difficult choice for them, however if food is involved it makes the choice easier at least for the first minute.
Katie is much more curious than Blossom who is more cautious. Blossom immediately notices anything out of the ordinary and must evaluate the situation before she is comfortable enough to disregard it or find it unimportant. She is especially concerned with loose items be it a tag or a piece of my hair which has come loose. Katie just finds everything to be something to play with which gets her in trouble from time to time. I suspect she will be the first one "skunked" when the situation arises.
Karl finds it funny how they respond to me as the "Alpha" queen just by me saying "uh-uh" has them stopping all action and trying to appear innocent. The reason for this is their escalating puppy play. When the two where smaller they would yelp at each other if they got too rough, now they seem to be getting louder and rougher with no yelping to stop action. I was letting them work it out until I noticed scabs on their ears and necks. Then I decided I would set the tone because they were taking it a little too far. Just like children, they are getting warnings and time outs. First is the "uh-uh", then the "hey", then if I raise my voice to "enough" they run into their kennels. Yesterday, I noticed they were rough housing without sound. This was very humorous to Karl and I as they have learned to not attract attention to their play. At one point Blossom made a low egging on noise to which Katie quietly looked at me and placed her paw on Blossoms' as if to say "quiet, she's watching us!" To Katie, the kennel is punishment because she wants to be in the middle of everything. To Blossom, the kennel is her cave and place to unwind.
Do not get concerned about them becoming aggressive, as this is normal puppy behavior. They are still exploring thier boundaries, part of their education of the world. They know humans are not to be treated the same as their other canine friends. Katie is more submissive than Blossom due to her want of all the attention. Katie will just jump in my lap and give me kisses as soon as the opportunity arises. Blossom is only more submissive than Katie around me because she is usually busy in her protectorate role. Apparently the world must be saved from tags. My hope is this behavior will transfer into protecting the children from snakes or critters when they go out exploring. Blossom is quicker to notice something even a slight movement in the grass from an insect. I think she is supplementing her food with crickets and grasshoppers. It is fun to watch her being stealthy while tracking something. This will probably become a problem for us when the ducks come in a couple of years.
The puppies have certainly added more energy into the house. Now, if I could just get them to sleep longer in the morning because these 4:15 wake ups are killing me. I put an end to the 3 am calls by ordering them to stop one morning.
It is nice to be the queen, even if it is only in the canine world!
But then again, I control their food.
