Today I picked up my new puppy Jacque Blu - or just Jack to me. I stressed and worried the entire morning and she arrived promptly at 1PM. She was so small, smaller than I expected. She was born on July 8th and today she is nine weeks old.
I have forgotten all of my tips and tricks for border collie puppy rearing. I grabbed my handy book Building Blocks for Performance, by Bonnie Anderson. I used this book with my last pup (she is 3 1/2 years old now) and it really helped.
I hadn't planned on getting this puppy, or any puppy until next spring. But while I was watching posts of the border collie groups I saw this one come up for sale. When I saw her I knew she needed to come live with us. It was her one blue eye that stole my heart. So, now she is home, finally asleep. It time to wake her up and take her outside. I'm hoping that she figures out what 'outside' means. Right now she just wants to sit on my feet.
First lesson today, just cuddle and re-direct when she starts chewing on something she isn't supposed to. I did play a little fetch down the hallway and she retrieved it! Very smart little girl. She likes to tug, which is good for rewards. Food isn't her thing yet. Her breeder said he had been supplementing the pups on puppy milk and wetting down their kibble. So I will play around with the food and see what she likes. I decided to feed Wellness puppy for the first six months, then we will move over to a more adult food. I've got friends in the business (working border collies) that don't like to give puppy food for to long because they grown to big to fast. I'm with them on this.
Second lesson today was tug, fetch and retrieve the toy. She did outstanding.
Jack fetching the toy
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