Our little Paw Patrollers are 5 weeks old now, just about fully weaned and are quite the little stars at following me around which means our off leash group walks are growing in distance and getting a little bit more interesting each time! When we go for our little walks, we always have a grandma dog or two chaperoning. This helps because if anyone gets separated from the pack, a grandma dog can go to them, get their attention, and get called back and they’ll have someone to follow.

The other exciting thing that happens at this age is that they have officially started ‘training’. Little, tiny bits of cheddar cheese are the reward of choice and the first thing they learn is to take cheese treats from our hands. A few days of this and now we are able to start rewarding them for sitting. Having a very well reinforced sit behavior is so handy because it gives them a way that they can communicate in the future- a sit is a polite way to say ‘please’! and when they want to be held, or want a snack, or have another request, they will often offer a sit because it’s been so well paid from such a young age.

Another learning oppportunity happens every time they eat. Four times a day- every six hours- the puppies get a meal of meat mush. When I set down their platter, I give the traditional puppy call: “Pup Pup Pup!” and they already know to come running when they hear this, because they LOVE to eat!

The puppies are getting more stamina and more playful by the day too. Climbing onto and over little obstacles is especially fun right now as well as wrestling over-sized stuffed animals.