Normal Puppy Life -- with Monsters

The Wildflowers are at an age where we can see a normal “fear period.” I don’t like that term and so I shall call this developmental stage Accelerated Cognitive Expansion (ACE).

Puppies are suddenly much more aware and concerned about their external world. Pozy has, for example, gone from leaping joyfully on every stranger to preferring to ignore them for a bit in order to decide whether they are, in fact, an ax murderer.

This is normal brain development. The puppy is now capable of a more advanced cognitive appraisal process. The expression of this may look like fear or shyness but we are better served by not putting those labels on our puppy — labels change and shape our interactions with people and puppies and are rarely useful. Instead, we just deal with the behavioral manifestations of this very normal period of Life with Puppies.

So what do we do?

Chill Out

Puppies look to us for cues. The last thing you want to do is have a meltdown when your puppy is suddenly reflecting concern about Monsters. Doing that just tells the puppy that she was right to be concerned because OMG! Look at the effect the Monster had on the human!!!!

Stay calm. Project an attitude of, “Monster? Pffft. No Big Deal” to the puppy

Socialize

The puppies need to be out and about every day and have good novel experiences. Don’t avoid the places Monsters live but…

Pay Attention to Threshold

A threshold is the point at which it is all just too much — stay well under that point with the puppy. When a puppy bites extra hard when taking a treat, refuses to take a treat, and/or is trying to get the heck outta Dodge we know we went over threshold.

Dial it back.

Stay under threshold at all times and…

Counter-Condition

Use treats and fun to help the puppy have a positive association with the Monster — from a safe and below threshold distance.

Puppy looks at the Monster — click/treat (or say YES/treat).

Puppy sniffs the Monster — click/treat (or say YES/treat).

Build up the puppy’s Monster Tolerance, always staying under threshold, until the puppy realizes everything is as cool as the human’s chill attitude.

Protect the Puppy

Do not force a puppy to interact with anyone or anything she has decided is a Monster. Do not allow anyone to grab your puppy, try to pet her if she doesn’t want to be petted, or in any way force unwanted attention.

Remember…

Nobody should have unwanted attention foisted on them — not even a puppy.

Our job is to companion our puppy through this period of Accelerated Cognitive Expansion (ACE), building confidence and trust along the way by being smart, positive, and intentional in our training.

Have a happy, monster-free day!

Chase!

Today we hear about Chase — you may recall that Chase lives with his canine father, Major, and his human family in Great Falls, Montana. Lawrence shares:

“Chase is growing fast and losing some puppy teeth.  I have been taking him on short walks with Piper and Major. 

On Mondays he has puppy class but that is over tomorrow (shorter class due to COVID).  On Tuesdays he has beginning obedience and is at the top of his class.  He is doing well with heel and is learning a little scent work.  He went with Major and I yesterday to scent practice.  Major has a scent trial on Halloween here in Great Falls. 

Chase is great with meeting new people and dogs.  He is learning to Leave it and drop it.  Sleeps a lot better now and house breaking is mostly successful, don’t want to say anything for sure or I might jinx us.”

Thank you, Lawrence — and what great photos :) Chase is lovely.

Kadi & Developmental Thoughts

Today we check in with Kadi (formerly Mariposa) — Eden sends us this report:

“Kadi is a typical 4 month old puppy. She is 38.6 lbs and about 19” at the shoulder.  House training is going well and she will either bark at the front door to go out or head out the dog doors to the back yard by herself.  Of course we would like her to head to the back yard without any prompting but there haven’t been any accidents for a few weeks. 

She generally sleeps 7 to 8 hours but she is not quite up to retirement hours of sleeping yet.  We enjoy training times and continue to work on the foundation for a variety of sports.  Our morning heeling training, which is used as a redirected activity instead of her biting at my ankles and feet, is coming along well. 

There is one more puppy kindergarten class but she is signed up for a puppy agility class next month. Tracking class is on Thursday.

This is Kadi finding the sock at the end of a 100 yd track first time in high field grass.

 We are in the honeymoon part of puppyhood; the puppy is basically housetrained, sleeping through the night, tiger shark has become mostly a kitten, and still very attentive to us.  However this is a fleeting time, as the puppy coat and teeth fall out we will be heading into the juvenile delinquent phase of puppyhood. However, I am sure Kadi will remain the perfect puppy that she is and skip right through that phase.”

Thank you, Eden! What an interesting and wonderful and fun life Kadi is having ❤️ Her heeling is just lovely.

Eden mentions some important developmental milestones that I suspect we are all seeing — I know I am. Pozy now goes to the door when she wants to go out, her puppy coat is falling out, she sleeps all night, and new teeth are arriving. She is easy right now, with very few Baby Shark moments.

BUT the changes are not just physical — there are cognitive shifts as well.

Pozy is is now continually sizing up her external world. It is like a comment box appears over her head: “What do I think about that?”

She does this with new sounds, new people, new places. It is not fear but rather she is engaged in Cognitive Appraisal, deciding what the new thing means to her and how she should react.

This is a normal developmental process.

Yesterday: Novel trail, novel people on the trail.

I am introducing something novel almost every day right now, and being thoughtful about how I support Pozy as she engages in this period of cognitive growth. I give her time to decide what she thinks AND I am actively helping her understand that “novel” is good through association with cookies and praise.

Since my goal is confidence, I never, ever force her to engage or interact — confidence happens with mastery, not force.

Have a terrific Saturday — and stay safe and well.