Ripley-Blu Pups, Growing Up

In addition to the early neurological stimulation exercises that we did during their first 2 weeks of life, the puppies have enjoyed an busy social life and exposure to lots of different noises, surfaces, smells, and sights.

In their first 8-9 weeks, the pups met over 60 adults and children, in my yard and at outside locations, and they continued to be regularly taken out and about. So they'll be well on their way to Ian Dunbar's "Meet 100 people by 16 weeks" goal. All of them are confident on a variety of surfaces, and can handle loud noises, visiting dogs, small children, big adults, strange objects dropped daily into their pen, basically everything I present them with. They're well prepared to become smart, outgoing, loving companions and athletes. They're all happy in a crate, all potty on the paper (well, sometimes they forget to have all FOUR feet on the paper when they pee). They're very special, and I've never had so much fun raising a litter!

And I am grateful to all my friends, work colleagues, and friendly strangers who have come to play with my puppies and prepare them for the world....

Pups at 5 weeks

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our whelping crate	puppyparty	puppyparty
Bling & Dude with friend	Mila and Chance	Mila and Chance-5wks

Pups at 7 weeks

OK, the verdict is in... these are Superpups, and it's not just my opinion! At 7 weeks, we temperament tested the whole litter. Five good friends--all successful agility competitors and trainers--came over for a Puppy Party and formal temperament testing. We used Suzanne Clothier's variant of the Volhard test (Suzanne's little puppy testing book is most helpful), with prepared forms to fill out for each puppy. One person did the testing (the pups had never met her before), and four other friends observed and filled out the forms.

All of the pups proved themselves to be stable, well socialized, playful and intelligent pups. In discussions afterward, all the testers agreed that all of the pups will be great companions, 4-5 of the 7 are great candidates for performance sports, and have solid, balanced structure and movement.

Bling tries the wheel	Dude-on the Pot	Dude-posing
Grit-charging	Grit-situp	Groupshot
Friends	Party4	tuckered
Mila	Mila, Tate, and Dude	Jo visits

Marked photos are © Diane Lewis: http://dianelewisphotography.com
All others © Sue Kocher

9 weeks...

Ears are standing up, personalities are shining, they're all lively and full of fun. We temp tested most of the pups again at 9 and 11 weeks, with different evaluators, and again with the same great results. Looking good!

While all of my puppies are raised first and foremost to be smart and healthy companions, they are bred for excellence in any endeavor. I would like to see more good Rat Terriers out there "doing stuff." So if you are experienced in training dogs for agility, flyball, freestyle, or obedience, contact me for special terms on my next litter!