There's a lot of excitement when bringing a new puppy home, but probably no one is excited to begin house training. Whether you're a veteran or a newbie at teaching a puppy the appropriate place to go, in a few weeks you'll be wishing for just a two minute span where you could communicate in English with your puppy and explain, "Look, just go to the door and bark once when you need to go. Then do your business outside. That's all you have to do!" I thought it might be helpful to give you a glimpse into what we do to get your puppy ready for house training. We use the Misty Method. The idea of the Misty Method is to teach puppies there is a place to sleep, a place to play/eat, and place to do your business. We set up their area in three sections: a sleeping area, a play/eat area, and a potty area. For the first 2 weeks of life, they only need a sleeping area because Jolly takes care of their toileting needs. (I won't go into detail on just how she does that; you can google that, if you're curious.) Around 2-3 weeks when they become mobile, we open up their area to give them the three places I mentioned. It is amazing how they naturally don't want to go where they eat and sleep. They also like to go away from the group to their business. Now, they don't get it right every time. Sometimes when they are eating, one will want to get away from the group & heads into the sleeping area. But, a lot of them get it where it needs to be on the newspaper. (We are going through so much newspaper, we're asking relatives to save old ones for us!) To help them learn to go on the newspaper, we layer fresh newspaper over the business to allow a clean area for the puppies, but yet leaving the scent of the potty area. We also try to catch them after they eat because they often need to eliminate right after they eat.
An example of the Misty Method at work...I was taking photos of their pen for this post. Sadie & Nikki were both sleeping, but awakened by the camera flash and noise. Without any help from me, they both toddled from the play area into the toilet area to their business. Good girls! With the Misty Method, we are giving your puppy the concept of not soiling their sleep and play area. When you take the puppy home, they will have the concept, but they will need to learn to apply it in their new surroundings. My next post will give you some ideas on how to begin house training once they are with your family. Thanks for stopping by!
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For the puppies weekly update photos, I took them outside on the grass for the first time! It gave some really cute pictures, which I posted under the individual puppies. My favorite was Ramona's shot below. Then Jolly came to check up on what I was doing to her puppy.
Just a reminder, July 11 the puppies will be 5 weeks old, which is when we allow handling of the puppies. We have kept our day open on July 11 if you wish to schedule a time to stop by and cuddle your new little puppy. If July 11 does not work for you, feel free to contact us for another time. I also posted a 4 week weight for all the puppies on their individual pages. We only have one puppy left - Digger, the largest in the litter. Hello to our new puppy families & anyone else who chooses to stop by! We thought you might enjoy some glimpses into your puppy's life over the next few weeks before you bring your furry bundle of joy home.
The puppies are 4 weeks old today! They all sport new collars now. Your receipt notes the collar color of your puppy. We began the weaning process at 3 weeks by giving the puppies some fresh goat milk from our homestead. (I want to be clear; we don't raise our puppies on goat milk. They are raised on Jolly's milk, but around 3-4 weeks they need to begin the weaning process. Some breeders choose to use puppy milk replacer, goat milk, or water to soften their food. We choose goat milk because it is easy on their digestive systems and readily available at our homestead.) The first few days, we dipped their noses in the milk until they learned to lap. Then we began to add Purina puppy chow to the milk. Today, for the first time, several of them actually ate softened pieces of food. They still nurse from Jolly when she chooses to be in the puppy area with them. However, she spends more and more time relaxing on her own bed instead of with the puppies, which is completely normal and expected for this stage of development. She still keeps them nice and clean. The puppies received their first dose of dewormer today as well. The puppies ended the fourth of July by having play time in the kitchen with the Russell munchkins. |
AuthorVanessa from Russell Homestead. Follower of the Lord Jesus, wife of my knight in shining armor, mother of 5 wonderful children, and joint-keeper of the Russell homestead. Thanks for stopping by! Archives
March 2023
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Vanessa Russell
Independent Field Representative ID#20249934. |