23Jun
Introducing Enzo, our newest and last member of the pack! He is a son to Hendrix and a small, standard coat chocolate Pomsky girl called Lady.
I know it is insane adding a new pack member when I decided to keep Eden, but I knew I would regret not trying to add him to my family. His temperament stood out on the 2 occasions that I met him and I don't think I have ever fallen in love so fast 🙈 He and his sisters were truly incredible. Hendrix and Lady made very special babies and I am so happy that her breeder chose Hendrix.
I have 7 adult dogs, and now 2 puppies who are aged 3 weeks apart. I am very aware of littermate syndrome and now Enzo is no longer in quarantine, I have a strong plan to prevent any issues. I can work well with their temperaments and I know they are perfect family additions.
Enzo has to be the easiest puppy I have ever had. He loves us humans and meeting new people. He has zero fear with the adult dogs, listens to them and it is like he has always been here. It was interesting introducing Eden to him. It wasn't like oh we are both puppies, let's play... they responded as 2 older dogs would together. I took it slow and brought Raven in to help. Raven's canine social skills and with how well she welcomes new dogs into the home is truly wonderful to watch. I did wonder if she would be more inclined to protect her daughter but nope.. she responded the same as she always does with new additions. She greets them if they feel comfortable, has a sniff and then sits by them to protect them. She then warns all of the other dogs if they get too close or play rough. Eden listened to her mum and calmed down. I cannot say how just how special it is to have a dog like Raven within the pack.
Willow
Willow has been mated to Enzo's grandad Reggie. If the mating was successful then she is just over 2 weeks into her pregnancy. I feel quite tense waiting until I can scan her. I think I am more nervous as I used an outside stud. I cannot begin to say how excited I am to meet their puppies. They will be F4, be black and white or grey/blue and white with husky masks. They are likely to be smaller than her puppies with Drake as Reggie is closer to Willow's height and weight. With his gorgeous long coat, Russian genetics and beautiful temperament, we can expect some stunning puppies.
If all goes well, I will pair Reggie with Alaska at the end of this year for Spring 2026 babies.
If I could go back in time and tell the younger me that I would own an awesome pack, help create Pomsky puppies and raise them to bring love and joy to other families... the young me would say that I would be living my childhood dream. My new dream would be to have a bigger house, a huge garden and lots of items and activities tailored to socialising puppies and the dogs.
UPDATE:
I thought it would be appropriate to add a not so little update on this blog post rather than creating another one. People have told me how crazy I am to have 2 puppies at the same time. Would you believe that they are very easy and are so much fun to have? Every dog and puppy's need is met every single day and they are all content... so much so, I have started to analyse why it is working so well. Now I know it is early days and we have various life stages to go through before the puppies reach adulthood but I am building a solid foundation. This foundation with the puppies will enable me to guide them successfully through the future life stages and phases of hormone changes as we are creating a strong bond and developing routines with positive associations.
I am not the kind of person to label a puppy as naughty or stupid if they don't respond to me in the way that I would like. I like to observe them and work out what is going on. If they are struggling to focus for example in our short training sessions, I ask myself "when did they last sleep and was it a good quality sleep?", "Do they need to toilet?", "Are they feeling full from a meal or a chew?", "Are they comfortable with the heat?"
Puppies are babies of a different species and we need to learn how to communicate with one another and create a bond where we can both come to an understanding. Humans have to be fair and lower their expectations.
Puppies naturally chew and we can guide them or redirect to something more desirable. Our puppies always want to chew a certain part of the skirting board- it sticks out and as they walk by, it is there and is easy to access. For now, I have blocked it off. In time they will forget about it partly because they realise what is worth chewing- toys that squeak, yak chews, antlers and they will soon grow out of the teething phase. I have removed the barriers that blocked the sofa and I am supervising Eden in the room to show her the value is on the floor. By animating toys, sitting and playing with her, the sofa has become less exciting. But I know she will jump onto the sofa when I leave the room. I may be a little paranoid about those developing joints but I do not want her jumping on and off a great height and causing micro tears to her growing tendons and ligaments. I am using the crate for short periods of time or the puppy proofed smaller room when I cannot supervise and I am super proud of her. Crate training was a breeze with Eden. Positive associations started with the crate around 4 weeks of age but I hadn't progressed to shutting the door and leaving her in there. Last week, it was a training priority so I did a few games through the day, fed her food in the crate, put a longer lasting treat inside and she started to venture in on her own to chew her chews, would take toys inside and she would naturally go in to go to sleep. At night time she went in and I closed the door, I slept downstairs each night so she could feel safe knowing I am nearby and it was easier for me to let her go to toilet at 4am. I am now sleeping upstairs.. Eden naturally goes in the crate, lays down, I close the door and go to bed. She sleeps in until 6am and then goes out to toilet first thing. Crates are only used overnight, for short periods of time through the day and she is content being inside.
I have been wondering why this is going so well, even with Enzo who is still fairly new to us. I try to capture desirable behaviours as much as possible, especially with young puppies and I am feeling certain that this has made a massive difference. It can be rewarding something as simple as settling down, remaining calm when the house gets busier, being startled by something and recovering quickly. The pups know "good girl" and "good boy" to the point that the TV saying it caught their attention. Eden has always had the TV on and it is background noise. A song came on TV and it repeated good girl a lot.. I noticed Eden watching the TV with her head slightly tilted. She may have wondered when the treat would come.
I have set the puppy rooms up for success for the pups. Anything I do not want them chewing (like remote controls, cables, anything potentially dangerous) is out of reach. Even if they managed to climb on the sofa then it is still inaccessible. They have space to run and play, plenty of toys to hand (and they are of various textures, shapes and colours), a toybox and toys are switched around now and again to prevent boredom. I am not allowing the puppies to play nonstop and get frustrated with one another. Both are sleeping a lot through the day and I haven't noticed some of the issues I had with previous new pups. Some call it the witching hour and a few of my others would suddenly be full of energy around late evening yet these puppies are sleepy.
We had a heatwave last week with temperatures reaching 30 degrees. I am so glad I have the air con unit as I doubt I could have gotten the puppies comfortable enough without it. The puppies were clearly more comfortable with the room being cooler and accepted mental stimulation as it was too hot outside for them during the day. I changed their routines to accommodate the hot day and cooler evenings and it worked well.
To summarise (as I went on more than I expected to), it is working because I am supervising the puppies, observing their body language, keeping training sessions short, ensuring they have good quality naps through the day and they have a lovely routine that works for us all. I feel like I should add that I remain calm and the puppies and dogs feel that. In training sessions, I rarely speak as I use my body language and hand gestures to indicate what I am asking of them. Socialisation is ongoing and I am super proud of Eden and Enzo. I must admit, I am quite proud of myself as it is me doing the majority of the work and my youngest 2 sons help out outside of school hours. The other pack members are fabulous, are adaptable, sleep well and our interactions are valuable. I am a very proud dog mum who will never be bored or feel lonely.
~ Claire 🐾
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