This is the third blog in the Echo’s Endeavor’s series. The intention of this series is to be used as a reference point as to what one can expect or do with their puppy at each stage of development. All puppies are individuals, so this should be used as a guideline and not a rulebook. To see all posts in this series, click here. To see all posts in the Maple Media series, click here.
Age: 10-weeks-old
Weight: 10 lbs.
Age: 11-weeks-old
Weight: 12 lbs.
Baby Echo has done quite a bit of maturing these past few weeks! We’re noticing some big differences in her behavior!
Crate Training: No real updates here! She’s still being super about being calm and quiet in her crate. I am super proud of her ability to remain calm in her crate even as things are going on around her. For instance, we crate her in the kitchen while we feed the 4 big dogs, she stays in the crate the whole day we are training dogs at the farm, and there are times where she’s crated while I am home and doing something exciting, like using food as a reward with another dog. These are really tough situations for a puppy to not want to be involved in, but because there has been so much consistency, this is just a normal part of life for her.
I think that new puppy owners (including me at times with Blitz!) think their puppies need to always be out and involved in things. Of course it’s important to do a lot with your puppy, but they really, really need to learn there are times when they are expected to do nothing. This is so important for their mental/emotional health and will really pay off in the long run. Having a high energy/high drive dog with no off-switch is exhausting and a lot more work!
Potty Training: We’re making some big progress here! We’ve noticed that she no longer poops immediately after eating (it could be a few hours after a meal) and her ability to hold it is really growing. She’s still having some accidents inside, but we haven’t had a crate accident in a while. The past two nights (the last two nights of being 11-weeks-old), she slept through the night for the first time! This is huge and such a relief! So her last let out has been 10 pm and she’s fine until 6 am.
Socialization: These past few weeks we have made a few trips out to other locations, such as a park and back to the winery. Echo is really comfortable in different environments and around different people. Something I would like to focus on in these next few weeks (remember the critical socialization period typically ends around 12-16 weeks) is to get her around more dogs that she doesn’t have access too. She has met a variety of dogs at our house that she can play with, but it’s equally important for her to see different types of dogs (not just bird dogs lol!) and to observe them without being able to interact with them. I do not want my dogs to think anytime they see a dog, they get to engage with it. So seeing a variety of dogs being walked around and not just playing loose in our yard would be really good for her. Unfortunately, this time a year isn’t super great for seeing a lot of dogs being walked, but we’ll make the best of it!
Training: Echo is really becoming more engaged and motivated. She’s offering me a lot more eye contact (something she struggled with until recently) and is starting to put more effort in to work for her food. I believe there is a pretty significant difference in her motivation to work for treats vs. Maple’s motivation to work for her meals. Because I am not giving Echo kibble, she doesn’t work for her meals like Maple did.
We've been covering this basics: recall, name recognition, and place. I have also introduced spin, eye contact, and touch, as well as some body-awareness exercises. Here's what a little bit of all of that looks like right now: