Bruce Contemplating Life, The Universe, and Irish Terriers
Hi
I want to share with you some of the joys and challenges with Irish Terriers.
These guys and gals are interesting and people tend to fall in love with them, and part of the reason is that they are smart, quick, energetic, and have definite personalities and minds of their own. As owners, it is a challenge to raise them, let them have their joy and sense of adventure, while insisting they follow rules that make them safe and our home life workable. They are a dog, if left to it’s own devices , would run the house, but if over controlled, loses the joy that we love to see.
One of the things I have seen in our puppies, is that for the first year or so, they get into whatever seems important to us. They want to know what we are doing, and join in our play. This usually involves helping Hattie with her knitting by spreading it all over our living room. Tasting plants that we put time into caring for. They can wind up on tables, steal food from countertops. and generally get involved with all of our important things. Sometimes they chew on furniture and car knobs. Management is key. Look over things, and decide what is an absolute no-no. Then arrange the dogs life so it is not left with those situations. If they do something you don’t like, just move them to a different location.
When the puppy is new, there should be no negative interactions. We want the puppy to feel loved and secure. When it is older, and settled in, there might be room for correction, if done with love and respect.
Oddly, there are things we do that sound the opposite of this, but they are part of these puppies necessary education. When we do grooming, such and nails, ears, stripping coat, we insist that the puppy put up with it, even if the puppy fusses a lot. We have to make sure that we are not holding a puppy wrong ( to o hard or uncomfortable), but even if that puppy fights, we work on the grooming until we are done, and the puppy accepts us working on him/her. All puppies fight grooming, but as they mature, seem to look forward to this special time.
I would like to include some videos of Roisins last litter. It was really fun (and a lot of work) to help mom and to watch the 3 boys and one girl grow from the tiniest creatures into little Irish.