Frankie x Smolder
Frankie (BOSS GCHS Surfari's Frankly My Dear CGC RN ) x Smolder (MBISS GCHG Marshview Great Ballz Of Fire RA MX MXB MXJ MJS NF T2B CA BCAT RATO CGC WWD SROM)

Here is Smolder's OFA report.
Stacks Image 15

Sunday Dec. 20, 2020

Many things will be happening this week, most importantly we will begin shaping the puppy's behaviors with the clicker. This is very challenging, but very exciting and rewarding. The things we will be doing with the puppies are in Puppy Culture Chapters 7, 8, and 9.
  • Power up clicker
  • Box Games
  • Manding
Other things we will be doing including giving and taking things they really like (raw meaty bones) to make sure they don't resource guard, and possibly some outdoor time if it is warm enough. These puppies seem very treat motivated as a group, which makes things much easier!

Monday Dec. 21, 2020

Today the puppies took treats (grilled chicken pieces, yum!); this is the "Take a Treat" task from Puppy Culture. The puppies need to learn how to take treats from hand, which is non-trivial for a four-week-old! All the puppies took the treats directly, though some were more vigorous than others!

Tuesday Dec. 22, 2020

Stacks Image 26
This is a picture of what Frankie is currently eating every 24 hours. 6-7 chicken breasts, one large batch of cooked pudding (made with goat milk, 4 egg yolks, and extra sugar), and "one eggplant". This is a unit of measure we use around here, and one eggplant holds a bit more than one cup of Frankie's kibble (a typical meal). This is how she likes eat her kibble. Frankie does not drink Diet Coke; the can is just there for a size reference.

Right now is the hardest time on Frankie, before the puppies are fully weaned, but large and active enough to need a lot of calories themselves. She is spending less time nursing them — only four times a day now — but her milk runs out quickly as the puppies are able to draw it out of her strongly.

Today the puppies received more CER training — basically little annoyances such as being woken, picked up, scratched, or tails and feet handled are rewarded with treats. This will shape their emotional responses towards positive feelings instead of bad ones.

Friday Dec. 25, 2020

Merry Christmas! Just another day in puppy land. Today we have some video of the puppies eating their lunch and playing.

Sunday Dec. 27, 2020

Stacks Image 38
We had a number of changes and milestones this weekend. First, the puppies have been eating soaked kibble, and we have been using Royal Canin puppy kibble, which they really seem to like. They have been gobbling up the kibble after it has been soaked for a few hours. The amount of goat milk they have been drinking has gone down in comparison. This is really good as the kibble is filling and Frankie is not having to nurse as much. Soon we will add in some dry kibble so they can learn how to crunch it up.

We also expanded the pen to it's full 6x8 foot size. The puppies are pooping near 100% in the potty area, and their peeing is mostly on target. Great-grandma Missy, Grandma Avery and aunt Emmie are all allowed loose in the room with the puppies now.

Once a day we let the puppies into a large side room to play and run around (see video below). They are also proceeding with the "communication trinity" from Puppy Culture, and should learn to sit to ask for what they want (manding) in the next few days.

Soon we will begin going over supplies and other things you will need for your puppy once she comes home.

Tuesday Dec. 29, 2020

Today the puppies went outside for the first time! It is a sunny day, in the mid-50s here, and the puppies really seemed to enjoy the fresh air. See the videos below.

To start preparing for when the puppies go home, let's talk collars and control. Each puppy will go home with their own White Pine collar, which should last them until they are about a year old. Many of the girls will be able to use this collar for life. The boys will almost certainly need a larger one at some point. We only keep collars on our dogs when they are outside the house or yard, and they never wear a collar when they are playing with other dogs. There is the possibility of the dogs tieing each other up by the mouth when playing, and it can cause horrible injuries.

When you are training your puppy, we recommend a Halti or Gentle Leader muzzle/mouth collar. You can find descriptions on the Puppy Supplies page. We do NOT recommend any sort of harness. A harness just allows the puppy or dog to use their entire weight against you. If the puppy is patiently and properly trained to walk on a lead, you should not need a harness.

You should also be scheduling your puppy kindergarten class, starting after January 24th. This is absolutely essential, and we will want to get confirmation of this before the puppy goes home.



Almost forgot! Here are each of the puppies doing the box game, as in Puppy Culture.

Dec. 31, 2020

Happy New Year! Visits coming this weekend! We are excited to meet all the families and have you meet the puppies. Today we thought we would show you the space the puppies are living in, inside, as you will not get to see it due to COVID-19. In addition, we demonstrate nail grinding. The puppies have had their nails ground using a cordless Dremel since they were a week old, and they are very accustomed to it. It is a very good idea to continue on with this from the moment they arrive home with you. If you keep this up, they will continue to tolerate it and even look forward to the treats you give to them while you take care of their nails.

We also briefly describe the Artero brushes that we like to use.

Jan. 5, 2021

Stacks Image 58
Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a nice visit with the puppies this past weekend. Everyone had lots of questions and comments, which is wonderful. We will continue to get many of the questions answered here so that everyone can get help. Don't forget about the puppy supply list!

Developmentally, the puppies continue to work on manding, transitioning to "watch me" eye contact in order to get a treat. Manding is an ongoing reward whenever we see it happening during play or pen time. We are also starting to get the puppies on the grooming table for short times so they get used to being elevated and handled. This will progress to holding still or "stacking" while on the table. We can not emphasize enough how much of a basis for further training this provides. Once your puppy comes home, it will be a bit of a chore to pick up the clicker training, but we think you will find it very easy and rewarding. They are SO SMART, and you will find out all kinds of things to teach them using the clicker!

Each meal is now 4+ cups of kibble, and we are soaking it for shorter periods of time, and adding in some dry kibble. Frankie is nursing the puppies only once a day (or less!) now, and is growling the puppies off of her when they try. Currently, the puppies are eating four times a day (6:00 AM, noon, 6:00 PM and midnight), but by the time they go home, this will be reduced to 6:00 AM, noon, and 6:00 PM, and they will be transitioned 100% to dry kibble.

Jan. 12, 2021

Stacks Image 63
We apologize for the light reporting recently. Mike has been feeling a bit under the weather.

Food update: The puppies are eating 7+ cups of kibble per meal (3x a day), plus 1 1/2 oz hamburger for their snack before bed (9 or 10). That's a lot of kibble!
The puppies are getting lots of space to run around right now, with one or two visits to our grooming room (10x20) and once a day outside. We are also letting 1 or 2 run around the kitchen and other areas on their own so they can get used to other spaces. They have had experience with the Roomba robot while they are playing in the groom room, and they are all used to it.

We had a question about leads this week: "slip lead or clip lead?" Our answer is both! We never have collars on our crew unless we leave the house. Even with a collar on, if you are just moving a dog from here to there in the house, a slip or kennel lead is very convenient. The Mendota leads are great, but we have a number of inexpensive kennel leads scattered around our house.

This week, the puppies will receive their first vaccination. They will also go see our wonderful vet, Dr. Metzler at Orangevale Vet Hospital for a clinical exam. On Saturday, some of our friends will come over to evaluate each puppy's conformation. Clicker training continues with emphasis on "focus" and manding.

Jan. 13 2021

Just a short note today with this video. We want to emphasize how important it will be to reinforce this manding and "focus" behavior when your puppy comes home. You should be prepared with yummy treats, and ONLY give your puppy treats when they sit and/or lock eyes with you. Use your clicker! This behavior forms the basis of all communication between you and your puppy going forward, and sets the tone of the relationship.

What is really working for us now are little balls of Baby Bel cheese. The red package are the best as they are soft even when refrigerated. You can use the other kinds, but they probably need to be room temperature. That being said, Mike ran out of cheese balls before this video, so he used syringes full of yogurt. (Yogurt-filled syringes work great whenever you want to get your puppy on a table and brush or handle him or her.)

Jan. 17 2021

Stacks Image 74
The puppies have had a busy few days! On Friday the puppies visited Dr. Metzler at Orangevale Vet Clinic for a checkup and evaluation. The drive is about an hour, and though a few of the puppies were car sick, they did not do too badly. Dr. Metzler says everyone is healthy with good scissor bites and nice heartbeats. All the boys have "two in the bag", which is always nice to see. After spending about 90 minutes at Orangevale, the puppies had a quiet ride home — everyone slept!

On Saturday, some of our friends came over to help us evaluate the puppies for conformation. It was a beautiful day here at Rancho Surfari, 72 F and sunny. On days like these, the puppies can stay outside on the patio for hours, playing, then sleeping, then playing some more. The puppies go on the table and everyone puts their hands on them and there is lots of discussion and commentary. Overall, everyone thought it is a very nice litter, very consistent and sound. These discussions help Mike and Lynn decide on which puppies will become show dogs and have puppies in the future.

On Sunday, more pictures! Both on the table (again to help us see structure), and portraits. The portraits will be posted to the gallery as soon as possible. They are beautiful puppies!