Welcome to "The Shelby Show"!

…So, 17 years after our last puppy-raising experience with the much beloved and missed Mickey and Callie (who both died in 2012 after 16+ years with us), baby Welsh Corgi Shelby came to live with us last Saturday, May 18. Here are some first-week impressions of our 13-week-old puppy.

Puppies have lots of energy! LOTS!! I had forgotten just how much. They need to go-go-go…until they crash into a nap.

A puppy has the attention span of a...

It took Shelby a mere four polite days until she decided this new planet was OK with her…and then she unleashed her Tasmanian Devil side, complete with Shelby-gator-chomping baby teeth and sharky-jaws. Now, without her five littermates as competition, she firmly believes she will rule her new world. It will take some time to convince her otherwise (which is what training is all about).

Clicker training is THE best training method I’ve ever seen in 32 years with our dogs and 16 years as a trainer.  [http://puppykissesblog.livejournal.com/9047.html]
We only incorporated it into Mickey and Callie’s lives when they were 11 or 12, and they loved it. I’ve
been using it with dog-training clients’ puppies (and older dogs) for the past 5 years or so, so I already knew how effective it was. But Shelby is our first puppy to be clicker-trained from Day One.

Shelby has already learned sit, down, come, “watch me,” stay, to go into her crate when asked and mastered her first trick (“Spin!”). Not all perfectly executed yet, but an amazing educational accomplishment for less than a week. And clicker training made it possible -- and fun!

A puppy has the attention span of a...

Don’t count on getting a lot of sleep when you have a 3-month-old puppy. Shelby’s excellent breeder Carolann VanWyen took the time to get these puppies accustomed to sleeping in their crates, so Shelby didn’t fuss at all from her first night on. But she needs to get up and go potty around 4 AM, so that’s my new wake-up time…for the next several weeks, anyway.

A puppy has the attention span of a...

Puppies want to chew and bite EVERYTHING!! (unless they're sleeping)

After having had the pleasure of raising three amazing Corgi puppies before Shelby, I know it takes some time to get into the comfy rhythm of a great relationship. But I had my first such “Awwwww” moment with Shelby the other day. I was sitting at the kitchen table eating lunch, when I felt something on my foot. I looked down to see Shelby had flopped herself down and made herself at home across my fuzzy shearling slippers.

"You sure I can't nom on them a little bit..?"

Which was way better than chewing on my slippers...which she’s probably saving for next week.
Stay tuned for more "Shelby Show" reports, coming soon to this blog near you!