Over the last 4 weeks I've been making little mental notes as to who is showing strengths and weaknesses and if the pups mature out of their weaknesses or if the weakness keeps raising it's head in other places. As it stands, if I had to make my picks today, here is the order and why:
Ricky Junior, he's my number one pick. This little guy has been the most outgoing pup of the bunch, but not brash. He is a thinker, when given a correction you can see the wheels turn, "hmm, what caused that?"
Today as I was coming up from the barns I realized that we had an escape, actually 4. Junior was one of the four, once he spotted me he started out right for me and proceeded to follow me around the house as I located a new brick to cover the escape route. This was his first time loose in the yard, he took it in stride.
My number 2 pick is this little female, she was the slowest to mature, almost acting a bit premature, but once she caught up there has been no looking back. She is bold and almost brash and fearless.
It will be interesting to see if she holds onto her number 2 position, I'm a touch concerned as to how trainable she is. She takes a correction well, but I've not been able to tell if she is learning anything from it.
She was one of my 4 escapees, she also came to meet me.
My Number 3 Pick is this Tri-colored male with the blaze. Originally I had him down at the bottom of the pick list, he showed signs of sensitivity and didn't want to be touched. But, over the last couple of weeks I've seen him solid up and handle things well. I really expected him to be scattery to noise and motion, but he is proving me wrong, so far.
He was another one of my escapees, though he slid back into the kennel when the other two came to greet me, the sensitivity is part of him.
Here is number 4, this pup is pretty easy going but not as outgoing as the other two. If there is a bussel in the kennel you will see her find a safe corner and watch from afar. She really does not seem to be scared, but more of the "I don't want to get into trouble" type.
She was the 4th of the Jail Break Gang, but she too retreated back under the fence when she saw me coming.
This one is unexpected, number 5, I actually had this male tagged as a good one early on but an interesting development has brought by thinking into question, it's the same issue that has the number 6 pup in her place, in addition to a gut feeling that I have that he is going to be excitable. He's shown me a couple of over the top reactively excited moments, that type of dog can be hard to train, they get excited and can't take direction, but if you make them contain themselves they can't react. Time will tell...
The biggest issue I have with number 5 is that he is not willing to try hard when he wants something but would prefer to sit behind what ever is in his way and scream about it. We have a 10 inch lip at the doorway to our kennel building, the other 4 struggle over it to get outside, both he and number 6 stand with their feet on the ledge screaming and biting at the ledge, heck, even with Dixie nursing the other 4 just outside right in front of them. Today he finally showed enough determination to conquer that wall.
Onto number 6....
Number 6 is a large tri-color female that I know most would consider her the female pick of the litter. She is outgoing and handles things pretty well. But, if she feels too much pressure she goes into a little frantic spin and she also has an issue with adversity. I don't think many would even see it, but I tend to test the pups and look for either desirable or undesirable reaction.
She still hasn't clawed her way over the kennel ledge, and I'm not going to help her. Today I watched as number 2 jumped back into the kennel building to get a drink, number 6 was tickled to see her, number 2 came barreling back up and over, number 6 screamed, "Help me, I can't get out"
I could see where many would have helped her over the wall, but I wanted to see how long it took before she builds the resolve herself or if her helplessness is a part of her. I've not been desensitizing these pups, with the exception of number 3, he needed to accept being touched. Otherwise, I've been watching to see how they handle adversity on their own. So that I can learn see how it translates to future stock work and training.
This past weekend we took their sire Ricky and Toby, an uncle to dog break cattle. Ricky went right to work, it was tough going, the mud was elbow deep in places. Ricky has never worked in such poor conditions nor for such a long time, but he kept ticking. Toby, well that was a different story, he sniffed poop, tried to stay on dry land. Even went so far as digging in his front feet refusing to step into the mud, his unwillingness to deal with the adversity prevented him from being useful. No courage or heart, he's lucky that Wayne is in his corner, I'm done with him.
It will be interesting to read over this post in another month or so and then again further into the future to see if what I believe to be positive or adverse traits stay with them or if they change with maturity. It will also be interesting to see how if effects their interaction with livestock. The level of stock drive may have a strong influence on their desire to push through, but I also wonder is as the work get more difficult and less fun if those traits I'm seeing now will raise their head.
We will start leash breaking in another week or so, that usually tells me a bit about train ability, how badly they want what they want and if they are easily distracted from something that peaks their interest.
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