Journey and Her New Pack

What a good sport!

Gentle Phoenix

Sweet Pea gets down to Journey's level

Still such a good sport

Tuloon and Zulu "observing" the pup

The week has been spent introducing Journey to all her new friends at Points Unknown. She is adapting nicely and continues to prove to be an independent and highly adaptable pup.

This week's lesson is "no jumping" and "no biting". When called, this little girl has a habit of making a full speed run in your direction, then a last second high leap right into your arms when she arrives. Its very cute now but imagine this behavior from a 60lb adult. I have begun turning my back on her when I spot the little fuzz ball speeding in my direction. She isn't as excited about jumping up when there are no arms there to catch her. Once she arrives and stays on the ground, noticing that I won't be catching her, she gets praised like crazy. She also takes high leaps from the ground on people legs, for attention. Simply stepping back as she attempts to leap, while uttering a low "ah" sound, with a perfectly timed and high pitched "good girl" once she makes contact with the ground, seems to do the trick. I save "no" for major offenses so as not to over use the word.

The biting is just typical puppy stuff. A high squeal, once she makes skin contact, similar to the way a litter mate might react when a bite is too hard, deters this behavior.

Tuloon still is not impressed with the new pup. Phoenix is extremely fascinated with Journey and is distracted by her every move. Everyone else has just accepted her. "Oh well, I guess she's staying" might be the attitude of some.