Friday, April 27, 2012

Mind Your Manners Please...

Socialization is extremely important to puppies--and not just socialization with the human world.  Learning canine good manners is critical to the safety the puppy when he is older and out-and-about meeting other dogs.  Puppies learn bite-inhibition from their littermates and from their moms.  They learn not to rush up to other dogs and get in-their-face, and they learn to interpret the body language and vocalizations of different dogs.

In this video the Browns have a morning run up-and-down the 45 ft. racetrack (i.e. the interconnected kitchen, laundry room, and bathroom), making a mess in the water dish, and encountering a number of members of the extended dog family, all of whom have a different approach to handling naughty little puppies.  Mom is extremely tolerant of their insistent demands to continue to nurse, even though she is mostly "done" in that area, and benevolently lets them pull on her ears and crowd around her. Topper (our stud dog) is very soft-natured and puts up with a lot of nonsense from them, and we encourage him to warn them appropriately when they are getting a little too "bold". Although, to be fair, Topper loves their toys more than they do and keeps running off with them! Bibi and Cosmo know that the puppies are not supposed to be out of the kitchen area, and issue pointed vocal warnings when they puppies venture out...

(Please click on the "YouTube" button to view the video in full-screen mode.)


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