In just over a week, little Hector has gone from being a mellow little pup to the leader of the pack! Taking full advantage of his celebrity status, Hector has everyone wrapped around his little paw.  He has grown physically, weighing in at a healthy 5.4kgs and also in confidence! While the snow has kept us chilled on the outside, Hector and his nine siblings have certainly kept our hearts warm on the inside.  

Playing host to 9 little pups is very similar to caring for a new born baby. Routine is everything! The pups are fed four times a day. This is normally followed by them 'getting busy' (our way of saying 'going to the loo'), some playtime and a good old snooze. They usually like to snuggle up together when they sleep. Of course, while shooting a video of the litter this week, Hector put on his best performance and kept his siblings out of their sleep in the process.

While too young to be ready for any serious training, we do start getting the pups used to the sound of a whistle. We do this during the feeding ritual. Just before placing the food down for them to enjoy, we blow a whistle three times. This is significant as a whistle becomes an important tool in their future training. By blowing a whistle at feeding time, the pups start associating the sound with something positive (i.e. food). The whistle is later used as part of 'recall' which is when trainers teach the dog to return to them after being released off-lead.