week 2

Currently we are training both the litters from November and December, along with the older litter who are now about 19 months old. Even though they are being trained for different activities, it is good to have the dogs around each other to get comfortable interacting with dogs of different ages!

The pups are getting bigger and bigger every single day. This also means their nails are growing and becoming sharper. Today my friend Kayla and I cut their nails and made sure all of the nails were growing in properly! Cutting their nails doesn't hurt them, but none of the dogs like it.

The pups already weigh more than they did last week! They are all walking around and playing even more! Over the weekend we had to move them into a bigger "nursery" area due to them now being able to climb out of the original "nursery" area.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kHB4jWkSugZd2kDkrzXuVfGHVCq5Lo_v/view?usp=sharing

The pups are continuing to show their personalities more and more each day. Green Girl seems to be the most playful out of the bunch, always wanting to play with her siblings while they are trying to sleep.

Today we went on an outing to Trader Joes in Foxboro to train the pups. We started training duration, meaning we trained the pups to be able to stay in a command for longer periods of time. Rosey was amazing with this and was holding commands for up to 25 seconds (which is a long period of time for a puppy to hold a command).

Gigi is the newest pup to the farm. She is from a breeder in New Jersey, and is going to be a breeder herself for GOFI. She is such a sweetheart and has already begun standard core training at just 8 weeks old!

The pups are becoming closer to each other and really bonding, especially during nap time. They love piling right on top of one another, along with playing with their toys together!

Today we went on an outing into Walpole center to allow the dogs to become comfortable with loud noises and different smells. I got to train Cooper, who is 6 months old, and he did amazing! He wasn't scared by any of the loud trucks that passed us on our walk.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1EWt8hyx98rOGtLMm90WmFTZjFTNVZOQVV6NEdLdm1VRE1r/view?usp=sharing

The pups still might not understand the concept of drinking water and the sound of a squeaky toy is, but they do understand that there are toys to play with besides each others ears.

In the morning today, we went on an outing into Medfield Center. I got to bring Sunshine, the oldest dog at the farm. Due to being the oldest and most well trained dog, Sunny is the perfect example for the younger pups to follow! She, of course, did amazing and wasn't frightened by the loud noises that the cement trucks made driving though Medfield.

In the afternoon, I got to help train Bear. Bear is one of the older dogs I got to help train over last summer, and is now being trained to become a search and rescue dog for he Brookline Police Department. I, along with 4 other people, got to be the "missing persons" that Bear was trying to find. We rubbed a cloth all over our clothes, arms, and faces to get our scent that Bear would be able to follow. We started training at GOFI for this, but decides to go out to a different area that had more distractions and new smells. Bear did amazing and found every one of us in both locations!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1EWt8hyx98rT0E2djA0N2RYSVZfZW1sQ04wazlpWFpDRFdJ/view?usp=sharing

The pups are having fun playing and learning how to play with people (not just each other)!