Peach is 21 weeks old today - almost 5 months! (Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians, as well! :) ) He is such a sweet, intelligent, trainable pup.
For those new to the Blog, Peach's story starts here.
Between kidding season on the farm, time sensitive maintenance requirements, and the advent of Jazz's unplanned litter at the end of May, some of Peach's training has been delayed. However, I have done some exposure to 'heel', as well as continued some basic lessons like 'wait, easy, step up, step down, sit, down, up & off'. It always amazes me that even if there's been a break between lessons, he remembers previous instruction without much, if any, reminders needed. Here are a few very informal videos of Peach on his second day of heel training. Heel
And then here's a clip of him being asked to go up on a new item in the yard - a boulder.
**With all videos click on the link then click on the video to open fully**
Mid May we introduced Peach to friends of ours for the first time, including their kids. Due to the Covid situation, we hadn't had a chance to have anyone visit prior to that. In the pictures, he had never previously met the guy holding his leash, but I was late to the party because I'd just helped a doe deliver twins, so our friend offered to hold the leash while I cooked myself some supper. He did really well 🙂 Here's a video of them interacting with him a bit. (shared with permission) I was impressed that Peach figured out that I was talking to him, what I didn't like, and then resolved it from that far away!
Here's a video of Laddie & Peach playing on Jun 16. (be forewarned, both vids are a bit of a wild ride).
Peach was a little lackadaisical about the longer 'down' command in the new area after the excitement of playing with Laddie, but eventually did it. :) Right at the end of the second clip, Peach almost fell off into a very slimy waterhole, so I had to interrupt that. (we started building a flower bed and firepit area there last summer but were rained out all summer long. And this spring has been too busy thus far to tackle it, so all there is is a drop off to a deep, stinky, scummy pond, lol :p ) Thankfully, he's learned to pay attention to 'wait' or 'easy', and returned to me.
Due to her currently being in heat, Peach is not able to play with our LGD, Kohar, for the time being. However, she has been a great social rules teacher & playmate when she can be. The first picture was taken mid May, while she was in the midst of shedding her winter coat. She's looking a lot slicker now (2nd picture taken Jun 16) :)
Peach is becoming more adept at navigating more difficult terrain on a leash. Here he is going up and down our deck stairs with me. Very pleased with how he is progressing. I believe he has the potential to be an amazing dog for a lucky family.
Just as a point of interest due to Peach, for those wondering how well a pup blind from birth can adapt, this ES boy is a good example. We are hoping that someone living within town will be eager to welcome him into their home so he can become attached to them sooner than later, as these dogs love to be bonded with their own family. Please contact me if you'd like to offer Peach loving companionship.
