This is the third blog in the Maple Media 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.
Weight: 12 lbs. @ 10-weeks-old
12.4 lbs. @ 11-weeks-old
Crate Training – Maple has done so, so well with crate training. She goes to bed every night around 9:30/10 and gets up around 6. She is no longer protesting going into her crate at night and has yet to have an accident in it. She’s been doing so well that we recently added a bed in her crate for her. Prior to this, she didn’t have any towel/blanket/bed in her crate. During crate training, puppies can get frustrated and bored and will destroy anything they can get their mouth on. This creates a horrible habit and can be dangerous if they ingest any. It wasn’t until we saw she could be consistently calm and clean in her crate that we added a bed. If she decided to potty on it or chew it at all, we would remove it for a while. So far she is doing super and seems to be pleased about her added privilege!
Potty Training – Potty training is still going extremely well. She’s maybe had a total of 5 accidents in the month we have had her. I have noticed that within the past week, she seems to be better about holding it for longer periods of time. We are no longer going out every 10 minutes but maybe every 30 or so. I also trust her enough that if she is napping in the living room, that she can walk out to the door by herself. When she was really young, anytime she would wake up I would immediately pick her up to take her out to be sure she wouldn’t have an accident on the way. So she is definitely starting to be able to hold it for longer periods.
Training – We have been continuing to work on things she already knows as well as introducing some new concepts. I have been really focusing on rewarding her for standing still, which isn’t something I did with Blitz. This will eventually be a foundation for “whoa” (I am not associating that word with it at this time) and for standing stack in case she ever wants to try out the conformation ring.
Many people don’t teach bird dogs to sit and I understand their reasoning. Blitz has done a lot of sit and down throughout her life and continues to do well with her field-work. My goal for Maple is to put as much as, or even more, stress on rewards for standing over sitting or laying down. She understands sit, down and now stand, but my goal is for her to default to stand more than sit or down. This is a bit of an experiment, so we’ll see!
Socialization – We are continuing to do as much socialization as possible! During the past two weeks she was introduced to a dead bird (which she absolutely loved) and even swam some for it! Just last night she swam again for the second time! I have not forced her to swim or simply dropped her in so that she had to; I want this to be purely her idea to build the most confidence with the water. I have simply given her a lot of opportunities and she she chose on her own to swim again!
She is continuing to meet a variety of humans and dogs and is going as many places as she can with me.
Nail timings is one thing in particular that I want to make sure is well socialized. I have been spending a lot of time working to create a Conditioned Emotional Response to the clippers, as well as regularly doing her nails so that she is accustomed to the process.
Here is what it looks like for us right now:
Now that Maple is officially 3-months-old today, I will be posting every two weeks. Check back for the next Maple Media update!