Jpeg on the other hand ...

... will flop down anywhere. Okay, so both of them are a little bit spoiled, as my philosophy is that if dogs weren't meant to be petted and hugged they wouldn't have fur. But training started in earnest yesterday, because it loooks as though we may have these two little bundles for a while. They're 12 weeks old now and big enough for some serious rules. So here is the Official Training Update.

Crate Training

Vista and Jpeg are thoroughly X-pen trained. They sleep all night, quietly, on their puppy blankets. At about 7:30 they whimper and it's time to take them outside. No barking or crying. I'll transfer them to crates over the next week or so.

House Training

Proper training means tailing the pup until it circles and prepares to squat. In the split second between conscious intent and action, you scoop the pup up and zip it outside. It's hard to tail two pups at once. And then, of course, you don't know which one peed and which one is about to pee.
I've learned to guage the rate of house-training success on how often husband Don makes that wet sock sound men make. You know, the one that sounds like an explitive.

Vista went to the door this morning and scratched to go out. Her first time. I don't know if she meant "I have to pee" or "I would like to eat some leaves" but it's a start.

Waiting for Breakfast

Both pups are learning to sit quietly with Iggy and Ginny while waiting for food. No time for pictures yet, as this lesson means returning said pups to their waiting position each time they leave it. Which is very often, because Vista thinks hunger is fatal. This morning breakfast took so long that Iggy started barking.

Leash Training starts today. Now that should be interesting.