Going home days – Labrador Puppies
What do the final days with a litter of Labrador puppies look like?!
There are LOTS of puppy cuddles, and lots of puppy teaching sessions – from being up off the ground on a garden wall or being on an ottoman; loud noises; alone time; substitution training (focusing on chewing); crate time etc.
Manding is the process of teaching a puppy to wait for you by sitting (as opposed to jumping) quietly (as opposed to barking/whining). You reward this behavior by offering praise or a treat (Labrador retrievers are highly food motivated, so small treats work fabulously for this) and you reinforce this behavior by ignoring them entirely until they do as you want. This training primarily takes place inside their x-pen at first, until you are confident in their ability to do so without moving on to a different undesirable behavior.
Most pups are very cautious on new ground for a little bit. Since we don’t want our sweet Kindred Pup Labs to have any more trouble than they need in their new homes, we spend a little time outside on various types of ground. Here, Mr Green (Now Mowgli) looks pleadingly at me, asking with all his puppy-dog-eyes can give, what on earth this new kind of carpet is. Mowgli was a rock expert in short order, though, have no fear. 🙂
Puppies learn to self-soothe rather easily in a safe environment. They also learn that people are a safe spot for comfort, too, if their breeders are mindful to give the right amount of attention at the right time. Here, one of our sweet pups cuddles in after a romp in the grass. She eventually fell asleep in my son’s arms and had a nice “Pup-nap” – the slightly longer counter part of the feline “Cat nap”.