A Quick Update

Last evening Number 6 finally mustered the courage to get over the wall!!!

Last evening I let all the pups and Dixie out and we went for a walk out into one of the small pastures. All the pups were great, following along, going out and investigating the new environment but staying aware of where I was.

I've said it from the time they were less then a week old, this litter is different then any other that we have raised. Typically on the first outing there will be a few pups that would prefer to stay in the kennel or one or two that go off doing their own thing totally oblivious at to where I am, not this crew.

It was entertaining watching them struggle up one of the remaining snow piles, about a 4 foot climb with ledges to fall off. Number 3 jumped off a top ledge just because he wanted to get to the bottom, he's kinda fearless little bugger. 1-4 all buzzed around, up and down easily, number 5 sat at the bottom and screamed for a minute or two before setting his mind to the task of climbing up so that he could be by me. Number 6 did a good job but you could see she was a bit uncertain of her footing and was low and slinky to the ground.

Wayne joined us just to watch and take it all in, he also sees that this litter is a little different then previous that we have raised, but maybe we are looking at them for a different angle compared to how we looked at previous litters. Another thing we have noticed is the both Dixie and Ricky are different with the pups then any of the other dams have been or Jake. Jake really does not like puppies, Ricky takes them in stride, he lets them play around his feet, head him, heel him a bit and corrects them effectively but not over the top for getting to personal. Dixie has been physical with them since they were under a week old. We were worried when we heard a growl and screech from the whelping room as Dix tuned on a little 3 day old pup. She also would leave them and not go running when someone cried, she had them on a strict feeding schedule and would only feed them at set times. She would go in and clean them, but not allow them to nurse.

When I feed Dixie I don't worry about seperating out the pups, the pups go to join her, she raises a lip and they all slide stop a hault lined up side by side and patiently wait for Dixie to authorize them to eat. If they are around a food bowl they move off when told to but will eat comfortably if allowed, they understand that no means no. I have a feeling that Dixie is going to make my job a lot easier come training time.

Over dinner we discussed what his thoughts were, he is pretty much in agreement, Ricky Junior is the best and number 6 is the bottom running a close race with number 5. We both agree that if someone was to drive in today and pick a pup to take home they would more then likely pick one of those two bottom pups if Junior was unavailable.

On a different note, Ricky has worked his way back into the house for a brief stay. On Saturday while working cattle he was stepped on and lost some hide over the top of his foot. I've been keeping and eye on it. After using him to tag and sort ewes and lambs last evening I decided to play it safe and leave him here in the house after cleaning it up last night, his entire foot is sore but not to the degree of showing it while working. He has claimed the leather sofa that I picked up for free as his domain, actually chasing Bea off of it last evening after dinner, house dog again....atleast for a few days.