Ha. Cute. How did the dogs go after the pups left ? Do you think they understand ? I'm pretty sure that they would.
When I left the last rental there were two Staffies that live there. They were a bit painful as they were all over you whenever you moved around the garden. Well the day I was packing my ute to leave they just lay down and seemed to be unhappy. Pretty sure they understood that I was leaving.
Nugget (pictured!) is the mum, and honestly I think by the 10+ week mark she was happy to see them go. We had the new owners around at least 3-4 times prior to taking them home so it was "normal" for them to rock up and play with puppies and then leave. Nugget was fast asleep when they left for the last time and didn't show any signs of missing them.
Pet shops take the pups off their mum at 5 weeks, to sell at 6 weeks... which is way too young. They should be 8 weeks MINIMUM before they leave mum. The 5-10 week period is when they learn social cues and having mum (and other dogs) around to tell them to pull their head in when they're being obnoxious is super important.
We go for at least 10 weeks, usually try to push out to 12 weeks depending on the new owners. Sometimes people are going away, or there's school holidays coming up, or someone is working from home for a bit, or whatever, and we try and align to give maximum time together before the "normal" routine resumes.
Beagles are way more chill than Staffies, but I'm sure they all feel sad when their new friends leave. Luckily we have a decent pack at all times so a few coming and going isnt as much of a big deal to the overall vibe of the place.
Thanks for all of that. Really interesting about getting cues from the parents. Pretty sure I never thought of that.
Makes sense of course
Just got around to moving all my plants as they were in the way of a future fence. At least I can start watering them more now that they're all together. There's quite a lot in there as they're all crammed together. It's a temp spot and I don't like double handling things but I just needed to get it done.
Yesterday was Nuggets birthday, so she got to wear the special birthday hat and eat cupcakes.
Also I found it that at some point someone has chewed the pompom off the top of the birthday hat 🥲
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