Raising Litter Mates

	HOUSE-BREAKING 101 The last few days have been pretty hectic around here. I think things have started to settle down. The cats have started to come out more, although they have taken to living downstairs now. Jordan is still a little grumpy, but for the most part she is handling the new puppies quite well.
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House breaking is getting a little easier. I changed my method a little and so far it seems to be working a little better than before. Now I’m feeding them inside their individual kennels ( the kennels are for adult dogs, so there is plenty of room) and wait for them to let me know when they have to go out. Each dog is very different when it comes to elimination, and the method I was using before wasn’t working very well - I think it would have worked a lot better if there was just one puppy.

Last night we went to bed at about 10pm. The boys woke me up at 3:30am, and I carried them both out to their litter area. They did their business, they received three tiny pieces of freeze dried liver each, and they both went back into their kennel to snuggle and sleep. They slept until 8am! It was quite delightful.
At 8am, they both went out and did their thing, and once again received freeze dried liver treats for doing what they were supposed to do, and then we headed back in for some playtime and breakfast. They play with each other in a designated area until I get their breakfast ready. Once that is ready I proceed to lure them into their kennels, they eat and drink, and usually fall asleep shortly after.

When they wake up, it is usually because they have to go to the bathroom, so we carry them out, place them inside the “washroom” area and begin to tell them to “go pee” . It’s funny because they try to get out of the box, and we try so hard to keep them in there. The reward system is great, if they go to the bathroom where they are supposed to go, they get 3 tiny pieces of freeze dried liver and lots of pets and praise, if they go to the bathroom anywhere else outside they get a kibble treat, and if they make a mistake in the house they get nothing. We don’t punish them, and if we can stop them during their mistake, we simply scoop them up and promptly take them out to their designated area to finish. When they finish out there they get 2 liver treats.
We don’t treat them until they are finished peeing or pooping, I think that if we treat them while they are eliminating they won’t finish doing what they were doing, and more than likely that means they will finish in the house after we bring them in.

I have been using this method since yesterday afternoon, and it has been working well. They both had a little piddle inside today, but I think it was because we left them playing too long without a pee break.

I am quite impressed with their progress as well as ours. We are learning quite a bit from these little guys, and we are loving every moment of it. The downside is not being able to take as many pictures or videos, they constantly keep me on my toes, and as much as I try to carry the camcorder around and use it, I get so caught up in interacting with them, together and separately, that I forget to record. I will do my best to try use it more than I have been.

The weather has been cooperating since we picked them up, so we all have been enjoying the backyard. These two hellions get themselves so dirty by rolling around and tumbling down the hill that they will soon be so used to being cleaned up. I am starting to play with their paws, and ears.. sticking my hands in their mouths ( they need to learn bite inhibition) I am also trying to remember to play with their collars. So far they are liking it all.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for them, it is their first visit to our awesome veterinarian. They have already had their first set of shots, and deworming so this is basically a puppy check, and to meet all the girls at the office. It is about an hour drive, so I am curious to see how well they do in the car with me. Of course they will be in their kennel, together, so hopefully the trip won’t be too terrible.