3 Months Old

The pups are 3 months old. Doesn't seem possible. They do look their age though. Suddenly their legs are as big around as a full sized greyhound's only a bit shorter. Miles feet are about the same size as his mom's. They still have puppy bodies and heads with these huge strong legs that are so out of proportion to their bodies. The pups grow so much every day you can see the difference. Their heads are larger than the whole pup was when I first met them at 10 days old. Their second round of shots was today and Miles weighed 22lbs and brother Otto was 19.2lbs.

Miles got to play with his other smaller brother this week, who has yet to be named. The smaller brother was 12lbs at his vet visit this week so had put on 3 pounds in a week. He looked much better! He had definitely grown and wasn't as scrawny as he had been. His skin was better and his hair is starting to grow back. He is such a cute little guy! Boy can he jump. He is more finely boned than his big brothers and looks and leaps like an Italian greyhound. He can bounce up about hip high. He seems like he might be a little more energetic than his larger brothers.

From what people have told me about greyhound pups the first 12 weeks are the easy weeks. From now on they are wild and are big enough to do damage. So far they really have been good little pups. Today at the vet's office I got comments on how well behaved Miles and Otto were. My mother commented when visiting that Miles was so much better behaved than the Guide Dog puppies (yellow labs) we had raised at the same age.

Miles has learned everything we taught the Guide Dog pups and then some. The biggest difference between Miles and the those pups is that he doesn't naturally bring the toy back to you when you throw it like they usually did. Miles is perfectly happy to chase the toy or ball then carry it around and play with it by himself and doesn't seem to need someone to throw it for him. Instead of being a retriever he is a "carrier". Loves to carry his toys around. Miles doesn't tear up toys just throws them up sometimes and pounces on them. Occasionally he stalks them. More like watching a cat play with a toy than the way most dogs play. He learns tricks as quickly and cooperates just as well though.

So far the pups have just been pups. No worse or higher energy than any of the puppies I have had really. Miles is better trained than my previous pups because I have been training dogs for longer and spend more time training that I have with other pups. The pups do need to be watched most of the time or they are likely to put something in their mouths that shouldn't be there. They need exercise and much more of it than an adult greyhound. When tired they sleep so it has been pretty easy to prevent trouble with just a little work on my part. I use the crate when I can't supervise to prevent damage but I am home most of the day so it is mainly just used for nap times.

I do correct Miles for chewing on my things and offer something that is OK to chew on. I don't put things up or take things away from him. I use Cesar Millan's method of having the pup drop items then back away from "my things" rather than prying them out of his mouth and putting them out of reach. I leave the thing on the floor and watch it. Miles gets corrected again with an "ACK" if he tries to get it until he "gets" that it isn't something he is allowed to touch. I purposely leave chargers on the floor, fun items on low tables and tempting items laying around. Miles does very good at leaving my stuff alone and playing with his numerous toys. The hardest thing in the house to resist are cheap bamboo coasters in the living room. If that is the only thing I lose to him that will be great.

Miles sleeps alone in his crate all night. His mom, Sara, is in the same room with him in another crate. He and his crate will probably be moved into our bedroom once Sara gets adopted. He crates on command and is good all night. He has a door going out to an Xpen with some newspapers that he uses if he has to go potty at night. He usually doesn't use the newspapers during the day and goes outside. We have taught him "hurry up" as the command to relieve himself like we did with the guide dogs.

Twelve weeks down and a big adventure still ahead!