The content below is the week summary of the update from our Vizsla breeder on the things she does with the puppies and where they are at in their development. The activities below are an example of what a reputable breeders does to help puppies prepare to live their best lives. This post is part of our How To Raise & Train A Vizsla section. Click here to see more weekly updates.

In this seventh week of life, the puppies are introduced to horses, have a field trip to a farmers market, and attend a pool party.

Notes from week 7:

• Puppies had another fun week!
• FIVE different field trips
• Another field trip to the barn
  • a 20 minute drive each way, over winding mountain roads and they ride in their crates in the car like champs!
  • exposed to quail for the first time:
    • tied a frozen quail to a whip and dragged it along the ground
    • puppies pick up the scent trail and follow it to find the bird
    • some instantly stop and freeze/point when they see the bird
    • others try pouncing on it – thinking it is the best toy ever!
    • a few needed a little bouncing of the bird to get their attention
    • all did much better by their second round on the quail
  • rainy weather  = set up by the barn and did some inside activities
  • all the puppies met at least 3 horses
  • set them down on the concrete barn floor – a new surface for them & novel location
  • very ‘intimating' for such small puppies to be just inches away from 1000 pound horses on the other side of the stall doors
  • a couple puppies were not sure what to think when they were put down and chose not to move for a few minutes
  • proud of all eventually getting bold enough to explore this new place on their own
  • ALWAYS their decision to eventually explore, and all of them did so
• Introduced to another piece of Agility equipment, the teeter board
• Play in a different creek
• Walk and follow people down a gravel road
• Each puppy got individual attention walking/following a stranger
• Clicked and treated for being on the left side of their person
  • good foundation for loose leash walking
  • good foundation for working alone away from their littermates
• Local (small) Farmers Market
  • explore a few produce booths
  • meet lots of new people
  • play with children
  • including a crying infant
• New adventure in our steep front yard where another family Vizsla played with them in the tall grass
• Different area of the local Elementary School where we could work them on level ground with new people
  • train with the distractions of a novel location
  • work with more new people
  • each puppy worked individually on
    • recalls
    • following/walking beside a person (foundation for loose leash walking and heeling
    • puppies again showed great confidence interacting with, offering behaviors for, and following a person they did not know
    • learning the important lesson to focus on people, and ignore the distraction of their litter mates nearby
    • lots of reinforcement to the clicker
• Walk in the woods
  • another new experience
  • lots of interesting new smells
• The track at the local school with new and returning people
• Pool Party!
  • drove an hour
  • every puppy got 2 chances to do a short swim from one person to another
  • paddleboard fun
    • got gentle rides on it the first time
    • second trip we could rock the board and bounce it off the edge of the pool and they all took it in stride