Balki's thread :)

[iPappy]

On Wednesday, May 8th, a 10 week old sable male Papillon puppy came to live with me. His name is Balki. He is not registered yet, but his registered name will be "Gold on the Ark", in honor of my Tag and all my pets who have come before him.

Balki came from a breeder in Illinois, who was so easy and pleasant to work with. We've discussed the Papillon breed and husbandry and I felt very comfortable bringing a puppy home from her. I was unable to make the 13+ hour round trip, so she recommended a transport company called Delifurry. I give them 5/5 stars. They were SO easy to work with, and made the process as simple and uncomplicated as possible. They began a group text between the driver, the breeder, and myself the day of transport and sent updates and videos throughout the trip so everyone was informed as to how things were going. If you're looking for a pet transport company for any reason, I cannot recommend them enough!
I told the breeder I wanted a milder mannered cuddly male to offset Livie's energy and intensity, and that's what I've got. He's also excellent overnight and sleeps in an ex pen and doesn't make a peep. And unlike Livie--he's very quiet!
Livie absolutely loves him. She warmed to him faster than he warmed to her. Sarah took to him almost immediately, but reminds him to mind his manners.

"OK, kid, I get it. You love me. Just remember to tow the line!"
Lila is not impressed, but she is not afraid. She's just annoyed, but has the majority of the house as he's in an ex pen if I'm not supervising him 100%. He is very submissive around the cats and incredibly respectful of them. (He saves ALL that play biting for me! )

We're dealing with typical puppy stuff. Play biting, house training, etc. For play biting, I am redirecting to a toy which is easy (puppies have very short attention spans). For house training, I'm doing what I did with Livie--preventing accidents by using ex pens and baby gates, keeping the litter box(es) near, and praising and saying "Go pee" whenever he goes, so he learns what that means. Having a dog pee on command is so nice if you're going somewhere and need them to go NOW, or if it's very cold outside and you don't want to stand outside and freeze.
A day or so ago, he had an accident on the floor and I swooped in with a gentle "no no no". I picked him up, and his ears drooped and he sighed. To me, that means he doesn't understand what I want yet so he doesn't have as much freedom to move so far away from his boxes, as he has no real bladder control at his age. My goal is to prevent as many accidents as possible so I have more and more things to reward.
His set up. Room to move around and play, but, with the help of an attractant spray, making the right choice on where to potty is easy for him. And lots of praise and treats help too! He still occasionally has an accident outside of the box, but, if I find a mess I clean it up with Nature's Miracle without a word. No puppy (or kitten) understands punishment for an accident they had 10 minutes ago.

He's also learning impulse control. I hold a treat in my closed fist and let him sniff, paw, and nibble at it without being able to get the treat. When he stops and looks at me, I open my palm and let him have the treat. Eventually, he'll see a treat in my hand, or dropped on the floor, and rather than grabbing it he should sit and look at me. This is a literal life saver if something like Tylenol would accidentally get dropped on the floor.
He's also being reinforced for following me in the yard, which he does very well on his own. Tonight, he followed Livie through a full sized tunnel! He didn't mind the odd footing and played in it awhile. I was impressed!
I have not used a clicker with him yet. I was waiting to see any signs of jealousy or problems with Livie, and was waiting to use the clicker with her if I would need to work with her. I wanted a clicker to be a foreign meaningless noise to him if that were the case, but, I don't think it's going to be a problem. The clicker will come out this week and he will learn what it means.
We will play a game called "Choose to heel". You take your puppy off leash to a secure area, and let them do whatever they want. Walk around and be boring. At some point, puppy will come to you and you shape them to find heel position on their own without forcing or luring them. When they understand the position, you can walk, run, turn, and they will work to stay in heel position...all on their own will as there are no leashes used in this game.
Balki has met men of different sizes/shapes, women, cats, and a few friendly small dogs since he's been here. He has gone to work for 10-15 minutes at a time with me, and knows what a crate is. He has his teeth looked at every day or so, and has had his nails trimmed by me once. He's a sweet puppy who has a nice combination of silly and happy, and sweet and mellow.
He's a wonderful addition to our house.

More to follow...

 

[neely]

Welcome adorable Balki. You might just be the cutest little puppy I've ever seen. Your sweet demeanor is going to make you a big hit with your mama and furry family members. I can't wait for updates and plan to be one of your biggest fans. I'll be anxiously waiting for more pics in the days ahead.

 

[DeesCats]

Congratulations on the new addition to the family! Balki is just adorable and seems to catch on to things quickly. Looking forward to more pics as he grows up.

 

[iPappy]

Busy day for Balki today. He went to work with me today briefly. He got to experience a maintenance work man (also a dog lover and a close friend of ours) hauling in tool boxes, scaffolding, ladders, etc. He got to hear the sound of drywall being cut through and barely reacted to the noise other than a few curious head tilts. There was a tarp spread in the area, so I had Balki walk on it for a few minutes. Then, my Mom brought her dog over, and her dog was terrified of this tiny puppy last week. But today, he realized puppies are FUN and the three of them had a fun game of chase, supervised, in my kitchen. Then, he had his second time on my grooming table, this time he got briefly combed out.
When the work man arrived, my initial thought was "put the puppy in a quiet room in his pen with some toys so the noise doesn't upset him", but I decided not to shield him from something new and let him experience it without having to directly interact with it.
Puppies, kittens...everything in life is brand new, even something we wouldn't think of as being novel, such as walking across a tarp or hearing a loud noise, is new. He will be 12 weeks old and within the next 4-6 weeks, I want him to see, smell, and hear a lot of different people, places, and things.
Tonight was much too rainy to do anything fun outside. I have two large totes and a garbage bag full of different types of toys (yes, they are spoiled!) Some of those toys are over 20 years old. I rotated some of his old toys out for new ones, different shapes, materials, etc. and he's gleefully mauling the stuffed football and chewing on a puppy safe chew. I expect he'll sleep good tonight.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Balki's adorable! Such a cutie. Love the pics - in the one of him and Sarah, I'd have thought from her expression his chance to toe the line on this occasion was well past and he was about to get a swat!

 

[iPappy]

Balki's adorable! Such a cutie. Love the pics - in the one of him and Sarah, I'd have thought from her expression his chance to toe the line on this occasion was well past and he was about to get a swat!

She has become amazingly patient. As a younger cat, she had no time for shenanigans!
Lila is more apt to smack him, and has a few times. But a day or two ago, she slapped him gently with no claws, then curiously watched him scamper away to find a toy. I think she's getting there.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

That was remarkably tolerant of her!

 

[Lennybells]

ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. The breeder sounds amazing. The fact that they kept you in touch for every update is outstanding!!!

 

[neely]

You're very wise to expose Balki to new sights and sounds at a young age.
Since our last dog was found roaming the streets by the police he was fearful of loud noise especially motorcycles. He also had separation anxiety which we worked through and he acclimated nicely but he never really got over his fear of loud noise.

BTW, I kept meaning to ask you, how did Balki get his name?

 

[iPappy]

neely despite my best efforts, Tag still developed some sound sensitivities at about 3-4 years old. He became shut-down fearful of certain sounds, it wasn't crippling to him but it made managing the environment much more difficult. Your dog was lucky to have you do all you could to work through his fears
Balki was named after Bronson Pinchot's character in Perfect Strangers. He's silly, sometimes a bit clueless, but is a very happy (and funny) guy!

I have been having some health issues with Sarah (16 years old) lately, so unfortunately things have slowed a bit with Balki but we're still working and keeping notes on things he's learning quickly and things he's having trouble with. We played a favorite game of mine, "101 Things To Do With A Box". You pretty much just put a box on the floor and mark and reward them for doing anything with it. He got rewarded for looking at the box, sniffing the box, bopping his nose on the box, chewing on the box (lol), and putting his head in it, and eventually his front end. The goal with this game is to help them learn that trying new things is good. Balki took a bit to understand the game, but once he realized he got a reward no matter what he did so long as it involved the box, he caught on.
For comparison, Livie is 3 years old and has grown up being taught this way. I have not played this particular game with her since she was a puppy. When I put the box on the floor for her, she started throwing things at it (nose touch, front feet in, rear feet in, hop inside and sit, hit it with your paw, etc.) to earn a reward.
He has also lost all off leash privileges when he has the supervised run of the downstairs portion of the house, as he's began to challenge me to a "chase me" game, which I don't play. So now he drags a leash so I can stop him from darting away so he doesn't form bad habits that will be difficult to un-train as he grows.

He has been going to work with me on occasion. He's VERY happy and friendly with new people and when he sees a new dog, though he doesn't always interact with them. My views of socialization have changed drastically over the years, and no longer do I feel every single person on the planet needs to pet or hold my puppy if I'm aiming for friendly neutrality once they're adults. There's a lot of dogs who are conditioned to see a person or a dog and expect to "go say hi" as puppies, then don't understand why their owners get frustrated when the dogs lose their minds just because they see a person or a dog.

When I need a break, Sarah has my back.

Terrible photo but someone wasn't cooperating

Nothing like a good chew toy with your big sister!

 

[KittyFriday]

I missed this when it was first posted, but gosh, he's so cute!

 

[neely]

You have a lot of patience which is invaluable and will pay off as Balki grows up. I would have never thought that he got his name from a character Bronson Pinchot played in a movie.

I'm sorry Sarah is having some health issues and hope she rallies. Carleton is slowing down and it's become more noticeable so I understand what you're going through. We think he's either 14 or 15, maybe even 16 like Sarah.

The last pic of Livie and Balki together is priceless. It should be your Christmas card this year.

 

[iPappy]

You have a lot of patience which is invaluable and will pay off as Balki grows up. I would have never thought that he got his name from a character Bronson Pinchot played in a movie.

I'm sorry Sarah is having some health issues and hope she rallies. Carleton is slowing down and it's become more noticeable so I understand what you're going through. We think he's either 14 or 15, maybe even 16 like Sarah.

The last pic of Livie and Balki together is priceless. It should be your Christmas card this year.

I hope Carleton has many more years left in him. Sarah's problems started with a tooth and blood work revealed some other kidney issues going on, but, she's acting like she feels so much better since starting some minor at home treatments with the help of her vet, so we're hoping for good reports when she has her levels re-tested!
Lila is the only one who still has not completely accepted Balki. She's a hard sell. She was so bonded to Tag, she was unimpressed with Livie's arrival in 2020 and suffered terribly after Tag passed away. Balki has not won her over yet though he's very respectful of her as only a puppy can be. He approaches her practically on his belly, sucking up to her with a lot of (annoying to her) puppy licks and tail wags. She hisses and leaves the room, but earlier today the dogs were having a very dramatic wrestling match in their bed and Lila was laying in it, staring at the wall and doing her best to ignore them.

 

[fionasmom]

The last pic really should be your Christmas card. So little Balki has reached the "chase me" stage of his development!

 

[iPappy]

Quick update:
I looked at my notes and realized Balki, who is scared of riding in the car, went a full 10 days without being in the car which was a huge mistake on my part. Yesterday and today, he went for a short ride to two separate fun places and he definitely is still afraid, but he doesn't claw or cry as much. He sits in the corner of his crate and shivers, ears back, and it's very hard not to tell him "It's OK" which could be reinforcing it. I talk to him in a normal tone of voice.
He has a strapped in crate in the back, but with his level of fear I keep him up front provided we don't go far. We'll be doing another short ride tomorrow and over the weekend, always to fun places, so he learns the car = fun.
Loaded up and ready to go tonight, with the "oh, no, not again!" look on his face.

 

[neely]

We'll be doing another short ride tomorrow and over the weekend, always to fun places, so he learns the car = fun.

That is so important! It's definitely the best way for him to make the connection between going for a car ride and doing something he enjoys. We did that with our guy too and took him to Dairy Queen - big mistake since he loved it so much we couldn't drive down that street anymore because he'd get so excited, lol.

 

[iPappy]

What a difference a week or two makes!

I have no idea how to properly stack a dog, but, I'm glad I've been doing this weekly as it's fun to watch him grow. In the past two weeks or so, I've noticed he's getting much leggier, and his chest is dropping a bit.
In getting leggier, he's become quite "springy". He'll rush up to me, or the cats, or Livie, and leap into the air off of his rear feet out of excitement and/or joy. I love this trait. Tag was a champion spring-y dog, and it makes me smile seeing him do it too!

Housebreaking has been a challenge. I have litter box trained Paps before with very few problems, and if Balki is confined he does very well. If he is given the run of a room, he gives his box a sniff then will jump out and pee, or attempt to pee, elsewhere. I gently scold him for this. He's old enough to begin to understand that there are consequences if he considers going in the right place, but choosing not to.
Tonight, he was playing in the kitchen. He suddenly jumped up and began running back and forth. In a few seconds, he dove as fast as he could into his litter box and urinated quite a bit. I was very proud of him and told him how good and smart he is, and gave him LOTS of treats!
The next step will be moving him to a crate and taking him to work with me for 2-3 hours at a time. I want him to learn how to "hold it." I asked for some advice on a Papillon forum and was given very good advice that if he has constant access to a box, his bladder muscles may become weak and that's not something I want. I will more than likely start by taking him with me at the end of the day for the last 30-45 minutes, and work up from there.

The car situation is improving a lot. I took his bed that he sleeps in and placed it in the car crate in the back during a longer drive. He was much happier this way. We went places to people watch. I opened the back of my car and sat in a parking lot next to his crate and let him see the sights and hear the sounds. He saw people, cars, and heard loud trucks and honking horns. He has a very serious side and instead of doing puppy barks and wags, he sat quietly, studying things. We went to another place where I had to load some things up, and a mother and her young son saw the dogs and talked to them but kept a respectful distance. Both were very happy to see their new friends. Not only was this great for Balki, but I've noticed my frantic little Livie is becoming less frantic and seems to be calmed by his chill demeanor.

Recalls are important to me and too many dogs get lost, hurt, or worse because they won't come when they're called. This is a big fear of mine. I read the book, "Really Reliable Recall" and am working out of that. I do not call him to me unless he is dragging a leash and I have treats in my pocket. (The leash is there for if he doesn't come to me, and I can enforce it by picking the leash up, backing away and inviting him with me and rewarding.) He is doing very well with this, and I highly recommend the book for anyone with a dog or puppy that needs to learn come when you're called means do it quickly, and immediately. Sometimes I'll call him off of a toy, reward-reward-reward!, and then send him back to the toy so he doesn't think being called off a toy means he loses the chance to play with it.

And his picky eating seems to be dying out. He leaps around excitedly for meals. He is fed 3 meals per day, and in the evenings he has a bowl of dry food he can nibble at before bed so I make sure he's nice and full for the day. I was having a hard time finding treats he likes. He seems to really like Zukes oatmeal and peanut butter training treats. Much cleaner in my pocket than cheese or steak!

If I had to pick one thing I loved about this puppy it would be his "off switch", aka his ability to settle. Today I was at work from about 6 AM til 1PM, and I was beat when I got home. I let him play for 30 minutes, then had to lie down for an hour. I put him back in his ex pen, and he whined around for about 30 seconds then settled in his bed to chew on a toy and I was able to rest. This makes my life so much easier, and his as he isn't constantly stressed if I have times that I can't supervise him and have no choice but to keep him in a safe place so he doesn't get into trouble or get hurt.

"Yeah, I got yogurt on my nose. So what?"

Learning agility contacts...2 paws on the contact, 2 paws off. He has no idea what he's doing yet, but, he was rewarded for holding this position! (Livie in the background is supervising!)

Ridiculous.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

neely despite my best efforts, Tag still developed some sound sensitivities at about 3-4 years old. He became shut-down fearful of certain sounds, it wasn't crippling to him but it made managing the environment much more difficult. Your dog was lucky to have you do all you could to work through his fears
Balki was named after Bronson Pinchot's character in Perfect Strangers. He's silly, sometimes a bit clueless, but is a very happy (and funny) guy!

I have been having some health issues with Sarah (16 years old) lately, so unfortunately things have slowed a bit with Balki but we're still working and keeping notes on things he's learning quickly and things he's having trouble with. We played a favorite game of mine, "101 Things To Do With A Box". You pretty much just put a box on the floor and mark and reward them for doing anything with it. He got rewarded for looking at the box, sniffing the box, bopping his nose on the box, chewing on the box (lol), and putting his head in it, and eventually his front end. The goal with this game is to help them learn that trying new things is good. Balki took a bit to understand the game, but once he realized he got a reward no matter what he did so long as it involved the box, he caught on.
For comparison, Livie is 3 years old and has grown up being taught this way. I have not played this particular game with her since she was a puppy. When I put the box on the floor for her, she started throwing things at it (nose touch, front feet in, rear feet in, hop inside and sit, hit it with your paw, etc.) to earn a reward.
He has also lost all off leash privileges when he has the supervised run of the downstairs portion of the house, as he's began to challenge me to a "chase me" game, which I don't play. So now he drags a leash so I can stop him from darting away so he doesn't form bad habits that will be difficult to un-train as he grows.

He has been going to work with me on occasion. He's VERY happy and friendly with new people and when he sees a new dog, though he doesn't always interact with them. My views of socialization have changed drastically over the years, and no longer do I feel every single person on the planet needs to pet or hold my puppy if I'm aiming for friendly neutrality once they're adults. There's a lot of dogs who are conditioned to see a person or a dog and expect to "go say hi" as puppies, then don't understand why their owners get frustrated when the dogs lose their minds just because they see a person or a dog.

When I need a break, Sarah has my back.
View attachment 477189
Terrible photo but someone wasn't cooperating
View attachment 477190
Nothing like a good chew toy with your big sister!
View attachment 477191

I love the one of Sarah holding his lead!

 

[Kwik]

So glad you told me about puppycat Balki's thread,I'd of never found it!!!Will I ever get the hang of a Forum? Thank God for friends!!!!

Seems like you were waiting forever for this little sweetheart and now it seems he's always been in the ipappy family!!!Balki was meant for you before he was even born,I believe Tag sent him from Heaven,set it it all up and showed you the way to this baby.....

He's the cutest little puppycat there is( except for Livie!).Thsnk you for sharing this delightful journey with all of us so we can all watch him grow,learn and be a part of our lives too

 

[Tik cat's mum]

Awwwww absolutely adorable what a sweetheart Balki is I'll be keeping a eye out for updates on your little fella. Give that puppy a belly scratch from me. Too cute.