Teddy x Frankie

Wednesday Sept. 28 (Day 65)

Today we are posting a couple statements from Facebook from people we respect.


First: From Jane (Puppy Culture) about being "open" or "closed" for attention. Can really help with how and why you train. Beware the extinction burst!! The second is about separation anxiety, and why it is important to use your crate and/or xpen even when you are home.

I wrote this in a thread but I think it's an important topic to bring up because it's something I see people struggle with a lot - the line between honoring the manding behavior and teaching the puppies a discriminative stimulus which indicates that their opportunity for attention/reinforcement/interaction is closed.

First of all, let me get it out that what I am going to say is very GENERAL advice - I would need to actually see any particular puppy to give actual advice about a specific situation. In general, though, there will be times when it is not a particular puppy's turn for attention or interaction, and that puppy will try manding and then escalate to whining, barking, and potentially stress out a lot. What does one do in that situation? One of the core lessons I want my puppies to learn is "down time" - that is to say, there should be a discriminative stimulus for when their opportunity for attention/reinforcement is closed. I want them to learn that I will let them know when it's their turn, and their turn will come when I decide. Being 12' away and sitting with my back to the pen should be a pretty good indication that it is not the other puppies' turn, and they should learn to chillax. You may have to move further away from the pen, at first, to achieve this, but it's important that the puppies learn to remain calm when one of the others is selected for attention. Huge life skill that will be very useful in the future.

And, for those of you who are not dog trainers, 'ware the extinction burst! When you are sitting that 12' away from the pen with your back to it, you will hear whimpering, whining, and then eventually earsplitting howling and yelping. Your head will be about to burst and you will want to turn around and check and make sure that one of the puppies legs is not being sawed off (because that is what it will sound like), but do not do this. If you have not previously reinforced this yowling behavior by giving the puppy attention at that time, that peaking of noise is an indication that the puppy is about to give up. Unfortunately, if you turn around at that time, you will reinforce in the extinction burst and now you have a super durable behavior. Not what you want.

You seriously might consider having a second person actually watching the puppies to reassure you that nothing is wrong and no one is getting hurt, because it will sound that way.

A real life story regarding this - I bought a Bull Terrier puppy 18 years ago from a breeder. This puppy was awesome and I loved her and she was totally ball-obsessed. I would put her in an empty room with two tennis balls for an hour each day, and she would carry one in her mouth and bat the other one with her feet. Great exercise in the winter months, and kept her out of the older dog's hair. At the end of the session (usually about an hour, but pretty randomly more or less time), I would take the balls from her and put them in a basket on top of the refrigerator and they were now officially out of play. Yes, she whined and pawed and fussed at first, but she quickly accepted that signal that her playtime was over and she would immediately forget about the ball once it was put in the basket on top of the refrigerator. This dog had a littermate who wound up having an OCD obsession with balls and could never have them taken away from her without losing her mind. The owner of that puppy said they could not take the ball away because, "she just keeps whining and loses her mind and pants" etc. etc. So that dog wound up having a major OCD problem with balls. Far be it for me to diagnose that situation as I never met the other puppy or the other owners, but it potentially does illustrate the importance of setting boundaries and discriminative stimuli for when certain activities, interactions, or reinforcements are or are not available. Not every dog will wind up having major OCD issues if you fail in this regard, but they very likely will be unpleasant and pushy to live with in some ways. Particularly if you plan any kind of performance career (which is 98% comprised of waiting your turn in some form or another) you really, really, want them to learn to chill out until you indicate it's their turn! — with Therese Weiner and Louise Hviid Gylden.

It all seems so harmless… lavishly adoring our new puppy. I mean, we adopt dogs for this very reason—for the way they make us feel so very loved in return when we dote on them endlessly.

Unfortunately, nonstop stroking, ceaseless baby talk & praise, always having to be near, in your lap, on the couch, and in your bed, all day, every day, creates one of the more destructive and difficult-to-undo behavioral issues than all of the rest… unhealthy dependency and Separation Anxiety.

Here’s the thing… when we do this excessively with a maturing puppy, day in and day out, we actually train him to expect this level and intensity of attention, which then programs him to depend on and rely on it always being there.

So what do you think happens when it’s not? What happens when a major life change occurs? Or you have a baby that requires the attention you’ve been copiously offering the dog?

Well… What happens when the drug addict no longer has his fix?

Painful withdrawals.

And for your dog… anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and stress. All of which have to be expressed in order to self-soothe. This is where we begin see the dependency deepen, where the quick errand to the store turns into a destructive bloodbath upon return.

The seemingly harmless relational imbalance on one end spurs the extreme fallout on the other, and the dog simply falls apart—Self mutilation, excessive licking, breaking teeth on crates, shredding of crate pans, destroying the house, non-stop barking, and a dog that is entirely incapable of coping when alone.

Separation anxiety isn’t something that manifests without human help.

In order to teach a puppy/dog healthy existence and independence, you have to separate yourself out of the equation on occasion.

Life is all about balance. Excess in anything creates an equally excessive alternative.

Super easy fix… Teach your dog a healthier expectation based in a BALANCE of affectionate interaction and time away from you. USE THE CRATE even when you are home! Or, teach your dog a dependable Place Command, and balance your affectionate moments with just as such time away from your skin;)

Friday Sept. 23 (Day 60)

Friday of a busy week! First thing: We want the families to make sure they review the Puppy Supply Page regularly. We do update this a few times, especially close to go-home time as we get suggestions and find new items to share.

The puppies came through the doctor exams with flying colors! Everyone is doing well and continuing to play and learn. Today we have a few videos which illustrate their lives lately. First, crazy puppy playing. This is not constant, but happens probably during each awake/play session for a few minutes (usually just before a nap!). Second, we have a funny video of Lynn escaping the little piranhas as they play inside. Finally, we have Soufflé and an example of "watch". All of the puppies are doing this more or less right now. As we have mentioned before, this watch or focus is really important to have with your puppy, and when s/he comes home, it is the first thing you should work on, to transfer that connection from us to you.






Monday Sept. 19 (Day 56)

The puppies are EIGHT WEEKS OLD. Time goes by so quickly for us here, though it may go much by much more slowly for families waiting for their puppy to come home! This is a big week for the puppies and their evaluations, and will get us a big step towards figuring out placements. Here's a look at the week:
  • Monday the puppies have their eye exams with our canine ophthalmologist. They will also receive their first vaccination NEWS FLASH: Everyone's eyes look great!
  • Tuesday the puppies have a visit to the doctor to get a checkup.
  • Thursday the puppies visit our handler so she can give us her opinion.
  • Microchips will be inserted sometime this week. These will be registered to their new owners (with Surfari as an alternate) on pickup day.

The puppies will be spending a lot of time in the car, which should help them acclimate to driving. They continue to get exposed to all kinds of things, and clicker work continues, with final brush ups on manding. Eye contact/focus work is ongoing for the puppies right now.

Sunday Sept. 18 (Day 55)

Things are really ramping up here at Rancho Surfari! The puppies are typically spending all day outside on the patio so they can stretch their legs and enjoy the outside sights and sounds. Everyone gets a romp in the big yard each day, and the puppies also spend some time in the front yard so they can experience traffic — fast cars zooming by, big trucks, and even slow and noisy tractors and other farm equipment.


The puppies have a wading pool on the patio now, so they are able to play safely in water whenever they want. They have also been spending time in the kennel spaces, about 1000 square feet, which gives them time in dirt and grass and trees.


The puppies have been getting acclimated to so many things. Our grandson Logan, who is wonderful with puppies and dogs, spent a lot of time with them this weekend. Leaf blower. String trimmer. Noisy trash cans. Low-flying crop dusting airplanes and helicopters. Rain (finally!). Crazy adult PWDs chasing squirrels.

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Chimichurri (Lime)

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Soufflé (Pink)

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Gnocchi (Blue)

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Crispy Duck (Yellow)

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Crabcake (Brown)

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Panna Cotta (Teal)

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Curry (Gold)

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Filet (Red)

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Gordon (Purple)

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Tart (Hot Pink)

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Trifle (White)

Tuesday Sept. 13 (Day 50!)

If you haven't done so already, check out the Puppy Supplies and Links page. Today we added links to two on-line issues of the Courier (the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America's magazine), which are aimed at new owners, and are chock full of useful information.

Wednesday Sept. 7 (Day 43)

It has been hot here! Most everyone is aware of how hot is has been, and what that means for the puppies is that they need to come inside well before noon each day. Running around the kitchen is just not the same as being out on the patio! But we have been managing. The puppies are now eating crunchy kibble! This is so much easier: easier to measure what they are eating, less prep time, and we can also start to control what each puppy is eating and that they all get enough. Progress! The goal for eating is that each puppy is eating 2+ cups of kibble a day by the time they go home. Right now, they are eating 2-3 cups of dry kibble at each meal (8-12 cups a day!). We have to have plenty of water available for the puppies at all times, as we have cut goats milk out of their diet.


The puppies are LEAPING and running around a lot now. It is hard to describe how animated and athletic they are without seeing it. They love jumping up on things, leaping off, stalking and tackling each other and shaking and carrying their toys. Oh, and ankle biting has begun in earnest!


The puppies have also discovered the ball pit (kiddie pool) out on the patio. The ball pit is in an enclosed kennel on the patio so that the balls don't end up all over the place!


In order to understand what the puppies are doing each day, here is Wednesday's schedule:

  • 6:00 AM wake up/breakfast/play until 7:00 AM
  • Outside on the patio playing and sleeping from 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM. Jackie and Sonny each were able to spend some time meeting the puppies.
  • Manding practice 10:30 – 11:15 AM. Each puppy spent 5 minutes or less with this. Remember this — each training session with your puppy should only be a few minutes at a time.
  • The boys went into the minivan for a 15-20 minute car ride. We will try to get half the puppies in the car each day, sometimes all of them. The girls went on Tuesday. There was some complaining, but no one was visibly carsick. In our experience, 50% of our puppies get more or less carsick, so we are trying to mitigate that as much as possible.
  • 12:00 noon: Lunch and play in the kitchen until 1:00 PM
  • Afternoon: sleep and play in their playpen, including some time with bully sticks.
  • 6:00 – 7:00 PM: Dinner and play in the kitchen, with more time playing with Jackie.
  • 7:00 – 9:00 PM: we sit and watch TV in the living room (where the playpen is), so that they get used to people being in the room, but not necessarily paying close attention to them. The puppies are already learning to cry and bark to be let out of their playpen, and we do not want to succumb to this manipulation.
  • 11:00 – 12:30 AM: wake and play, and midnight meal in the kitchen.

Sunday Sept. 4 (Day 41)

Families often ask about how much work the puppies are. Most people assume that newborns are a lot of work, but other than being watchful and making sure the mother is handling things well, newborns are easier than five week old, coming-into-their-own, wild mob-like puppies!


So we are busy. But puppies this age are also a lot of fun! It is amazing watching each puppy become an individual with their own personalities. Enrichment/teaching/Puppy Culture is also work, but the speed at which puppies learn at this age is a constant source of wonder. They spend as much time as possible outside their sleeping pen, and they recognize that there are other fun places for them to be (kitchen or outside!), and they lobby hard for outside time.


Here are some things that happened the past couple of days:

  • We had another Zoom with families. Lots of great questions and discussion. We are so glad everyone is getting a chance to see these crazy puppies as they live their lives.
  • The puppies did their first Box Game and did really well. Most of them understood and bopped the box with their noses for a treat.
  • All the puppies had their muzzles shaved for the first time. Each puppy tolerated the electric razor well, and survived the minute or two it took to trim them up.
  • Two puppies had their butts shaved — the rest will get their heinies clipped on Labor Day.
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Friday Sept. 2 (Day 39)

One thing we would like families to know about is insurance for your puppy. We believe that insurance is a good way to help protect your puppy and mitigate costs. We do work with Trupanion, and the reason why is that they offer coverage with no waiting period. You do not even have to eventually buy a policy from Trupanion. Typically, there is a finite time from when the puppy leaves the breeder, and whenever new insurance kicks in. So this can provide peace of mind. We do encourage you all to shop around and pick whatever insurance (or not) you are happy with. The link below is a PDF from Trupanion which has the code for this litter.

Surfari VXP Offer BR1SU30719 v0722
The puppies are really getting around these days! Spending lots of time in the kitchen and on the patio outside. We are currently in the middle of 7-8 days of 100+ F temperatures, so the puppies can't stay outside much past noon (and all the dogs need to be inside after mid-afternoon!).

Mealtime outside the playpen helps keep it clean. Frankie has been playing with the puppies both inside and outside to show them the ropes: carrying toys, running through the tunnel, and zooming around.




Puppy Identification

During the puppy party this weekend, we were reminded that some puppies have apparently changed their coats! Sometimes it can be hard to tell (there are loose curlies and wavies with a lot of body), but here is our current thinking:
Lime Green (Male, CURLY coat): Chimichurri
Pink (Female, curly coat): Soufflé
Blue (Male, wavy): Gnocchi
Yellow (Female, curly): Crispy Duck
Brown (Male, wavy): Crabcake
Teal (Male, wavy): Panna Cotta
Gold (Female, CURLY): Curry
Red (Male, curly): Filet
Purple (Male, wavy): Gordon
Hot Pink (Female, wavy): Tart(let)
White (Female, CURLY): Trifle

Tuesday August 29 (Day 36 FIVE weeks old!)

The puppies are five weeks old! Time flies by so quickly! We are now beginning more formalized "training". Barrier Challenge comes first, and after that will be Box Game and manding practice. They pick these things up VERY quickly in our experience.







Outside play has begun! The patio space is very large compared to their playpen, so it takes them a little while to get used to the wide open spaces, as well as the outside noises and sights. Frankie encourages them to explore by playing — this is her first real chance to interact with the puppies socially.


Friday August 26 (Day 32)

Getting ready for puppy families this weekend! This week's milestones:
  • The puppies are now eating soaked kibble (Royal Canin Medium Puppy, which will be their food for the first year) with some warm goat's milk. Over the next week, the amount of goat milk will be reduced and we will slowly introduce crunch pieces of kibble.
  • Frankie is standing up nursing the puppies. This is both a space/access issue (the puppies are so big!), and it gives Frankie more control to choose when and how long to nurse. Soon we will start to see her growl them away from her to prevent them from nursing on-demand.
  • Potty training continues. The puppies are very good about pooping in the potty area, but peeing is harder for them.
  • Outside acclimation has begun. By this time next week, the puppies should be spending much of their day outside.

Friday Aug. 19 (Day 25).

Big news in the whelping box: the puppies are not only lapping goat milk, they are loving goat milk + oatmeal cereal! This begins a transition from liquid to solid food, and the higher calorie content will both speed their weight gain and development, and start to take some pressure off of Frankie. Here are some other things happening with the puppies now:
  • Their awareness of each other continues and they are starting to mouth and play with each other
  • Vocalizations are changing from simply crying or fussing to growling, barking and other PWD-like noises
  • Their play time is limited to about 10-15 minutes before they need to sleep it off. at least 4 or 6 to 1 sleep to play time.
  • We have begun to put toys and obstacles (sometimes they are the same thing!) in the whelping box to introduce them to new objects.
  • We are playing music for them — mostly classical during down times.

Wednesday Aug. 17 (Day 23)

Breaking News! The puppies are lapping milk! Video soon.

It is amazing how quickly visible development happens at this age! In less than a week, the puppies have gone from sightless, wiggly lumps to seeing, hearing, interacting individuals with their own personalities starting to develop.


Here is Emmie blowing off some steam. To people who do not know Water Dogs, this behavior can be a bit unusual! Rest assured that this is an everyday occurrence with many PWDs.

Monday Aug. 15 (Day 21)

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The puppies are three weeks old! Time flies so quickly! The puppies celebrated by learning how to motor around the whelping box and opening their ears. Many of the puppies can hear now — we test this by dropping things in the whelping room and seeing if they have a startle response.

Some of the puppies have become very vocal. Just like people, every puppy is different. Some are motor mouths, while other are mostly quiet. Most of our adult PWDs vocalize in some way. Emmie greets people with a loud "rowr-ROWR" which sounds like a growl at first. Abbie likes to "woo-woo" a bit. Jackie and Frankie vocalize differently. It will be fun to see how these puppies express themselves.

They have already had their nails Dremel'd to help keep Frankie from getting scratched up. Soon we will let them see goat milk in a dish, which should be exciting!

Thursday Aug. 11 (Day 17)

In this video you can see how quickly the puppies are developing. Though they vary a little bit in their development, two or three of them are getting a few steps down before they topple. And they are already lifting their heads up to try and nurse Frankie as she stands over them. The puppies are beginning to pee and poop on their own — they will naturally walk away from where they sleep to do this, but they are still a long way away from going in a certain spot. They are beginning to notice each other, though it's too early to see playing. Next their ears will start opening and we will look for a startle response to mark this.

Tuesday Aug. 9 (Day 15)

Week 2 Portraits! All of the puppies eyes are open, though they can not see very well right now. They are starting to hobble around, and are mobile enough that Frankie needs to be quick and careful when she lays down to nurse them. Weights range from 25 to 42 ounces.
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Chimichurri (Lime)

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Soufflé (Pink)

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Gnocchi (Blue)

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Crispy Duck (Yellow)

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Crabcake (Brown)

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Panna Cotta (Teal)

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Curry (Gold)

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Filet (Red)

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Gordon (Purple)

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Tart (Hot Pink)

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Trifle (White)

Sunday August 7 (Day 13)

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The puppies are really growing now! All the puppies have (at least) doubled their birth weight, ranging from 21 to 36(!) ounces. Their eyes will begin opening any time now, which will really widen their experiences and make them seem much closer to being little dogs.

Of course we have other dogs to give attention to. They all get daily fetch sessions, and for the younger puppies (Sonny and Jackie), training. Jackie has been going to agility classes, and Sonny is learning how to be a good boy!
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Monday Aug 1 (Day 7)

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Tart, Crabcake, Filet, Panna Cotta, Soufflé, Curry, Trifle, Chimichurri, Crispy Duck, Gnocchi, Gordon.

Sunday July 31 (Day 6)

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The puppies are almost a week old. Time flies quickly! At this age, the puppies typically gain 1-2 ounces a day, or about 5% in 12 hours. Weights range from 10 oz to a pound.

All of the puppies are taking a bottle, also. This is good as we can supplement to take some of the load off Frankie. She is eating about 5 lbs of chicken and one batch of Mother's Pudding a day, already. She is also eating some kibble.

The puppies are able to scoot around the whelping box and can travel short distances to make their way to their mother. One or two of the puppies have already climbed up and over Frankie! Though they cannot see or hear, they are able to detect and find Frankie by her smell and by sensing her body heat.

We are posting photos and videos to Instagram (@surfaridogs). Hope to see you there!

Thursday July 28 (Day 3)

Frankie and the puppies are doing great! We have been keeping close watch on the puppies as Frankie gets used to taking care of them. We are also monitoring their weights closely. Puppies usually lose a bit of weight after birth, and we want them to gain that back by the end of the second full day. Every one of the puppies are above their birth weights now, which makes us happy.

In the next few days, Frankie's milk will start coming in, and this physiological change can make her a bit restless. Once she starts producing milk, the puppies' weights will really start taking off!

On Friday, we will begin ENS (Puppy Culture) with them. If you are following along with Puppy Culture you are able to learn more about this step there.

Puppy Identification

With an entire litter of black-black puppies, it can be hard to tell them apart! We use collar colors as well as theme names to identify the puppies. We are using Master Chef as the theme for this litter.
Lime Green (Male, wavy coat): Chimichurri
Pink (Female, curly coat): Soufflé
Blue (Male, wavy): Gnocchi
Yellow (Female, curly): Crispy Duck
Brown (Male, wavy): Crabcake
Teal (Male, wavy): Panna Cotta
Gold (Female, wavy): Curry
Red (Male, curly): Filet
(no collar) (Male, wavy): Gordon
Hot Pink (Female, wavy): Tart(let)
White (Female, wavy): Trifle
Frankie (BOSS GCHS Surfari's Frankly My Dear CGC RN ) x Teddy (CH Surfari's Goin' Rogue)

Here is Teddy's OFA report.
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Frankie x Teddy puppies have arrived! 6 boys and 5 girls. The puppies are mostly black, with a few curlies mixed in with mostly wavies.

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Here is Frankie's x-ray. The doctor saw 11 puppies. Can you see them all?