Highview Spanish Water Dogs, LLC

04/23/2025

My two enterprising puppies have teamed up and the older one is teaching the younger one some pretty neat tricks (NOT)....the rock WAS inside the red water bowl to stop them from emptying it and playing with the bowl....you can see how well this worked...(lasted 2 hours)

04/19/2025

The Fear Periods

Puppies go through distinct fear periods from when they are with their litter mates to when they are mature. The behavior seen will vary between the individual dog, but is typically categorized by them being wary and not wanting to interact with new things. They can also suddenly become scared of familiar things, or with heightened sensitivity to things they were fine with before. Your puppy might also appear clingy during these stages.

Stage Age of puppy

Hazard Avoidance/Initial Fear Stage 7-11 weeks

Adolescent fear stage 12 weeks – 6 months

Flight instinct period 4-9 months (can be up to 14 months depending on the breed)

Adult fear period 12-18 months

04/17/2025

Just a reminder for all my recent puppy owners - 2nd DHPP shots are now due

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04/05/2025

Puppy Developmental Stages:

This link helps explain the different stages of puppy mental and physical growth.

https://reginahumanesociety.ca/programs-services/alternatives-to-admission/dog-behaviour-tips/puppy-developmental-stages-and-behaviour/

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04/03/2025

For all my new puppy owners, a great tip from the AKC when it come to house training your puppy:

Don’t Ask Your Puppy to Hold it for Too Long

Remember, puppies can’t control their bladder until they’re about 16 weeks old. After that, in general they can only hold their bladder for the same number of hours as the number of months of their age plus one. So, a four-month-old puppy can only hold it for five hours. Expecting your puppy to wait too long for a bathroom break will lead to an accident.

You need to take your puppy to the correct toilet area at least as often as they will need to go. Otherwise they will be forced to go in the house or inside their crate or safe area. If you can’t be home to take your puppy out, you can use potty pads to give them an indoor dog potty, but it’s possible that might delay the entire housetraining process by giving them two options instead of only one. A better solution would be to hire a pet sitter or ask a friend or neighbor to let your puppy out as often as needed while you’re away.

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04/02/2025

Here is an excellent link with puppy potty training tips

Learn how to potty train your puppy with these tips. These three tried-and-true methods will help you housetrain your dog.

03/29/2025

New toy!

03/29/2025

Happy puppies going home with great families!

03/19/2025

Off to a great life with a wonderful family!

03/15/2025

7 weeks old and full of mischief and adventure!

03/01/2025

03/01/2025

Mission accomplished! Playroom all setup 🤗

02/26/2025

We ate, we peed and we pooped...PLAYTIME

02/26/2025

I wish I can say this doesn't happen, but it does and the dog ends up suffering for it

How to teach your dog to resource guard - a blueprint

1. Don't puppy proof your house. Leave dog attractive objects like shoes, food wrappers, hair brushers, the laundry basket etc easily within your puppy's reach.

2. When puppy takes one of these objects, immediately shout no, quickly move into puppy's space and grab it out of their mouth. Don't do any training teaching them to drop or trade objects.

3. If pup starts running away from you when they have taken an object you don't want them to have, corner them, grab them and remove it. Remember to verbally scold them for all of it.

4. When puppy starts to growl, verbally chastise them, and still remove the object. Remember not to do any training teaching them to drop or trade. Ensure all your verbal "commands" are done with aggression and volume.

5. Be surprised when your dog starts guarding spaces such as beds, couch etc and shocked when they start trying to or actually biting you. This usually starts happening in as adolescence begins, around 4-5 months.

Bonus points for taking your dog's food bowl away while they are eating to show them you can, and for petting your dog, playing with their ears or feet, and sticking your hand in their food bowl while they're eating.

Double bonus points for everything you do to show the dog you're the boss and for completely disregarding any genetics.

Almost every dog we work with who shows aggressive behaviours around objects or spaces has been subjected to this or a version of this. So much of it comes from terrible historical advice people have been given.

Tomorrow, I'll break down how to prevent it.

If you're needing help with this, please get in touch, we can help.

02/26/2025

Moving up day....graduating to a puppy playpen - goodbye whelping box! Playroom being set up - videos to follow later.

Puppies are now on soft kibble and eating like little vacuums...mom comes in and tops them off and stays for a while but all those new teeth can be a lot to handle, so she sets her limits..lol

02/25/2025

Full bellies - now playtime (chewing feels good!)