Super Puppies – 8 weeks old and all grown up!

Proud Momma and her 8 week old brood

What a week plus with the Super Puppies! So many new adventures and accomplishments for the trio who are now ready to officially partner as psychiatric or autism service pups in training (email [email protected] and put PUPPIES in subject heading). Improving on their house training, crate training, basic manners, socialization and finally some outings this week!

First vet visit awaiting poking and prodding.

First up — 8 week check up on December 13th. Hard to believe this little trio have gone from roughly +/- 1 pound at birth to a nearly staggering 13.9 lbs. for Shamrock at his first checkup (sisters Tribble and Pixie are both 11.9 lbs. at this check up). They are sturdy, healthy, active, smart, funny, loving, affectionate and confident. The trip to the vet was in a crate together in a car — their first ride. When we arrived (big shout out of thanks to soon to be puppy raiser Chris for his assistance) all 3 just shut down in a heap, making their check up mellow and easy. Dr. Nam, the veterinarian at Shaker Square Animal Hospital, got down on the floor with the trio to administer checks of ears, eyes, hearts, lungs and joints as well as first round of immunizations and worming. 

 

The Cabana.

Friday they got to play with the older dogs and puppies and showed true grit in their fearlessness of mixing in and playing with a wide variety of other dogs. They also learned how to “go to the cabana”, a cue all DIP dogs learn in order to manage multiple dogs during transitions. Since birth these puppies have shown me a precociousness — born of good breeding, excellent prenatal care, lots of hands on attention, opportunity to balance rest with stimulation, freedom with restrictions and action and inactions.

When they were about a month old, I began to plot a Super Puppy Super Outing for the trio to celebrate a coming of age for next steps in the training process. I needed to confirm my diagnosis that these were in fact Uber Pups outside of their to date narrow world of my home and yard.

 

Tribble
Pixie
Shamrock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…So after some gentle finagling with studio owners over a few week time (I have a daily yoga practice) and an action plan with a date, we created a unique puppy socialization experience for a good cause. On Saturday, Dec. 15th, carefully choreographing their morning routine (including their first shampoo and conditioner baths!) to make sure they’d be awake and perky and clean, we headed off — the three pups and their 6 month old 1/2 sister Summer —  to do Puppy Yoga at my yoga studio. And once again they exceeded my expectations. They were practically magical. Each and every yogi was visited, cuddled and attended by at least one puppy if not all 4 during the hour long class. And we were able to raise funds for The V.A for veterans using service dogs, a cause close to my heart.

Here’s a brief excerpt:

Puppy Yoga from Rachel Friedman on Vimeo.

And now I’m ready to let these pups go — to new partners and/or into puppy raising homes by year’s end if not sooner. I’ll still have my hand in this brood but I feel the end of the triumvirate is coming to a close. While I’ll be happy to have more time — raising puppies right is time consuming, hard work and requires commitment — just like raising/training for service dog work. If you or someone you know is ready for the transformation and work involved, email [email protected], put PUPPIES in heading, and let us know why one of these fantastic pups could be your right make and model.