Puppy Cards

Ah,  a puppy's puppy card. That ticket to getting away with murder with other dogs because you are "too young to know better". It is amazing what grown dogs will put up with: excitedly jumping all over them, mouthing and chewing their ears, paws, tails, toes, barking in their face and using them as obstacles in their zoomie races. Obnoxious licking, whining and just totally making a right little monster out of themselves -all things that when a puppy has their puppy card most centered/social adult dogs will just ignore (though look absolutely annoyed at times).

The puppy card is also a mysterious thing. At some point, it vanishes. Adults start treating the puppies as adolescents, and they can be mean about it too. All that fun -that is no longer acceptable-. A puppy card usually vanishes between 4.5-6.5 months, sometimes earlier and sometimes later on different factors. Most of the time the more confident/brash/cocky a puppy, the earlier that puppy card flies out the window and the world of manners sets in. Shyer, more careful or just plain socially "dumb" puppies don't tend to lose their card until later. I've seen labs hold onto their puppy card until 7, 8, sometimes 9 months. They mentally just don't "get it" so why bother say the adult dogs. But when that 9 month old suddenly loses his puppy card he is IN FOR IT.

We've had three puppies over the last few days. Heli(Pentu), here for foster until tonight when she goes home, Tegan (previously Lexie the golden mix pup) here for just an overnight as her parents were going to a Christmas party, and of course Shane.

Shane is the oldest at 19 weeks tomorrow. (4.5 months). To my knowledge he still seems to have his puppy card, though he doesn't do a lot of ridiculous idiot behaviours that need to be addressed and pronto. Don't get me wrong, he's still a puppy and does puppy zoomies and has a habit of grabbing Jinks tail when she's ignoring him, but he has a good idea of what is acceptable and what isn't. Herding breeds tend to be more respectful in their play -they mind space better- so they tend to keep their puppy cards a little longer. That, and providing they have a few good role models early on they tend to "get it" faster when all of a sudden they lose that puppy card. A few good tell-offs and they're smart enough to realize they might not want to try that again. Shane is a thoughtful, laid back type puppy as well.

Tegan is only a few weeks younger than Shane (guesstimate 17 weeks). Golden mix, possibly with some corgi or something short legged. Jerrad calls her the "golden-weenie". She is a sweet but bold puppy, always in the middle of everything and though she's not the kind that would start something, she's ready to finish it if need be (she has a bit of herding dog in her somewhere I think, as that tends to be a herding breed trait). She's not a personality that would back down. I can see her puppy card starting to dim though it probably won't completely disappear for a few weeks yet. Tegan has also spent quite a few weeks as an only dog in her home which might play a factor in her losing it quicker. Dogs who live in multi-dog homes tend to (though definitely not always) lose it quicker because for better or worse they practice their behaviours on their people instead of on other dogs, and don't refine their skills as they go. Besides, humans can't teach social skills nearly as well or fast as other dogs. Puppies with other (adult) dog(s) in their home, because they are exposed to it on a continuous basis, have more time/frequency to learn. That's also why puppies raised with calm adult dogs, tend to be calmer themselves. They mimic what they see.

And then we have Heli (Pentu)... She is only 12-13 weeks and she most definitely does not have her puppy card. Even Beckett will tell her off for smaller infractions dogs twice her age get away with. To be fair, Heli is a bit of a different beast/temperament altogether. She is, what I assume anyway, what a Karelian Bear Dog is supposed to be like. I've had a few KBD mix puppies before but none of them have this kind of demanding, controlling, invasive drive. Heli tries things not to get a kick out of them (lots of puppies just want the attention/are bored), but to see if she can control the situation. She is confident, smart and would play someone -or some dog- like a harp if she could. I doubt she's had a puppy card for awhile. She already acts like a teen dog, trying to figure out where she stands in the world, and she has ideas that she should be on top of the pyramid. At the same time, she is a keen follower of a person/strong-minded dog. That's not to say she isn't going to challenge them at various points along the way or that she doesn't need strong reminders. But, providing the tell-off is strong enough (she needs them quite strong or she doesn't take them seriously) she gets it -for awhile anyway-.

Even the way she tries to sleep with other dogs is controlling. Most puppies will just snuggle up beside, maybe put their head on a shoulder or something. Heli's FIRST attempt to snuggle Beckett is to put all four paws over top of him and squish him. To which he promptly rolls her off and doesn't allow her to snuggle until she's by a side. She is no dumb puppy who isn't aware of where he body is, or what it means.

The first day or two I thought "hmm, she isn't particularly active" -she doesn't run around like a hooligan-, she doesn't play crash and run type play, she has a good off-switch. She will initiate play with Shane but he will rarely play back with her. And it clicked a day or two ago -around Thursday I think-. She's mentally challenging in almost everything she does. My dogs are just smart enough not to play into her challenges. So, they rarely play -only when it is play and not a mind game.

For example, her bad habit #1 is that she likes to take stuff from other dogs' mouths. Now, this is a typical puppy behaviour that they just have to learn, but with her it's different. She doesn't do the "hey, I got your toy, come chase me" type play that bored puppies do in order to get a rise out of other dogs. Nope, she hovers over a dog and their toy, just hovers there awhile. Then she sticks out a paw and places it on the toy with the challenge "what are you going to do now." And then after awhile if the dog hasn't backed down from the toy she takes it, runs away three steps and drops it. She doesn't want the toy, or to get a rise, she wants to know she can have control over a situation. She is amazingly bright like that.

Unfortunately for her Tegan saw through her plan while she was here and the two got in a little scuffle. Tegan got over it, Heli held a grudge for another hour or so (she was beaten!). 12-13 weeks and holding a grudge. If that's not independent, controlling KBD I don't know what is.

She tried that tactic the next night with Jinks and Jinks took her by the neck and pinned her for almost a whole minute before she let her up. After the initial pin she just held her jaws there over the air -no full hold- and she did not leave until that puppy went limp. Heli has decided it might be best to rethink trying to snatch Jinks' stuff -something I'm sure she'll relearn a few times.

Now does this mean Heli will grow up to be dog aggressive or anything like that? NO, in and of itself it doesn't. What it does mean though is that she will need to be around social, but not permissive dogs who will keep her in her place, that will remind her consistently and effectively how to behave around other dogs. She needs shepherds, collies, other Karelians, dogs who don't put up with nonsense. She needs to be around almost exclusively dogs she can't control. --The more she practices and gets successful from controlling, the more of it she'll do.

She is a sharp, intelligent, manipulative, strong-willed but independent dog who is true to her breed. So it's a good thing she's going home with a breed-savvy home who has a nine year old KBD mix to help socialize her to all things KBD.

Having this kind of dog is a really neat experience, but she will never be a typical "blonde" Labrador or retriever, nor will she be a bit of a nasty herding type who just wants to be with their person. She will be the dog that doesn't mind leaving you behind and finding her own adventure, and who is smart enough to get whatever she wants if she puts her mind to it, brave enough to take on anything that comes in her path.

After all, she was bred to take on a bear. We could except nothing less from her!