Day 2. Friday, August 30

The pups really like being outside. They were born and confined to a small area. It has been a joy to watch them run, just for the thrill of running free. I hooked an old sock onto a rope tied to a slide on the clothesline. That has become a favorite. Up and down, back and forth, with just enough jerk and resistance to be perfect. They didn’t even mind the drizzle and wet grass while they played today. Everything in the yard had to be smelled, and tasted, and nudged. A busy day for pups. I secured the fence holes. Same feeding experiences, running from bowl to bowl.

I got on one side of the yard, Joyce on the other side, for a lesson on coming-when-called. They are smart pups and caught on right away that getting petted and “good girls” praise waited at both ends of the yard. Got that done.

We were having trouble telling them apart. We thought we could distinguish them by their ears. One pup has ears that stand a little more erect. And the other one has ears that are more pink. Who has time to study ears when the pup is about to squat and pee on the floor? So we found an old collar and put it on one pup. Still no names for them, so one became ‘Collar’ and the other one ‘No collar’.

Barking is a hard lesson. Lots of new noises are startling and scary. Shhhh, is the word they hear for that. Not much response yet. That’s a hard instinct to control. A sharp handclap to get their attention helps. Shhhh. Reassuring them the situation “is okay”. Sometimes it works. Depends on how loud and scary the noise is…garbage truck noise isn’t “okay”. Big black dog walking beside the fence isn’t okay. Motorcycle, definitely not okay. Gpa’s drill and bandsaw (making a doggy gate) hurts ears and requires yelping.