Monday, March 3, 2014

Too cold to play outside!

Let the games begin!
What do you do with your puppies when it's too cold to go out and play? My guys like to play find the kibble. I pull the gate across the living room door while I put little pieces of kibble all around the room. Some on the chair seats, some on the coffee table, the piano bench, and for Shylo some on the floor. As a mill puppy, he hasn't learned to use his nose to sniff out goodies. Although he is the tallest of the four dogs, he doesn't smell the kibble that is at nose level-he does pick it up off the floor if he sees it and the others don't get to it first. They love this game! It's a riot watching them all run around looking for the kibble treats, especially the puppy. Mandy is only 9 1/2 months old and is the smallest of the four so she really has to stretch to see the treats, but she finds them. I have brought Shylo in by himself for a couple of practice runs but he still hasn't totally gotten the idea yet.
Where's the treat?

Found some!
It actually got up into the thirties over the weekend so I decided to  try and take all four for a little walk. Up until now Shylo would only go as far as the next door neighbor's house even if the others were with him. This time he surprised me and went trotting along with the other three like he had been walking on a leash his whole life. We actually walked about half a mile! A neighbor went by in a car and he didn't panic. Wow! We continue to make astounding progress. I have been reading a lot about mill puppies and realize now that some of them never reach the point he has. He is happy to be with us, plays with us his foster brother and sisters and even with his toys. He is much more comfortable when people come to the house, even men. I'm thinking this is going pretty well!