The Surreal Killer

The Surreal Killer
Machu Picchu. Peru

Sunday, April 6, 2014

LIFE WITH ONE OF “JULIET’S” PUPPIES


Well, life with almost one of “Juliet’s” puppies.  Our newest dog pack member, Ries, is the grandson of Jolie, the model for “Juliet” in “The Deadly Dog Show”.  Ries, in turn, is the model for Juliet’s new puppy Romeo, who will be featured in guest shots (or more) in upcoming books in this series.  He’s seven months old (that milestone happened on March 26th), and most certainly has a personality.  In fact his personality is bigger than he is at the moment.   He shows every sign of potentially becoming our best hunting dog ever---and that’s quite an accolade with three of the women in his life (mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother) having their Senior Hunter certifications and some, if not all, of the necessary successful rounds completed to qualify as a Master Hunter.  Ries is working his way up the hunting dog hunt test ladder, currently completing his final qualifying round at the Junior Hunter level.

Dog psychologists have defined a “fear period” from 8 to 18 weeks when the puppy will fear any bad experience he/she has had for the rest of their lives.   The human analogue of the “fear period” takes place when a child is 8-18 months old.  As responsible breeder/owners, it’s our job to give the puppy as many different experiences as they can possibly handle during this period, and to make the experiences positive ones, to get the best possible temperament and self-confidence in the adult dog to come.