- Early scent introduction (You can see a blog post I wrote about these two things here)
- Early Neurological Stimulation
- Extensive exposure to things to climb on and go through
- Individual crate training
- A lot of work on potty training. Since this litter will be due at about the same time as my first litter, I can hope that the weather will be as cooperative in how much outside time the puppies will get. I have a 30 foot x 70 foot attached dog yard where they spent a lot of (supervised) time.
- Exposure and play with my intact male Border Terrier Jag. He weighs 15-16 pounds, so is not that much bigger than an 8 week old Flat-Coat puppy, and he was invaluable with the first litter.
- Learning to negotiate our dog door
- Learning to negotiate ramps to get inside and outside
- Group attention training
- Individual lessons in position changes, recalls, retrieving and beginning targeting work
- Individual time outside learning about following and walking on different surfaces
- Exposure to game birds
- Several car rides in crates
- Introduction to whistle recalls
- Twice a week toenail grinding
- Paw hair trimmed several times
I plan to do all of these things with my February 2018 litter.