[Sibe]

We were planning on a Silken litter set for next year buuuuut.... meet Clayborn's Jamaican Mango. I loved her while doing her [Avidog] temperament test, and then she blew us out of the water with her structure eval. I adore her personality and drive and everything, and she has the structure for the sports and activities we plan to do. We will be keeping her reg. name because I love it, and call name will be "Azuma" to keep with our mountain theme. She is 9 1/2 weeks old currently, and should be coming home next week after Christmas.

Not the best stack, tired after their structure evals.

Hummingbird theme litter, this is the Jamaican Mango hummingbird.

Mom, Chloe: UKC CH Clayborn's Quest for Glory

Dad, Titus: UKC GRCH Ricmar's Kristull Tradition

 

[Moonstream]

I just saw your post in the puppy fever thread. I've honestly been really excited to see your addition, as I'm developing a bit of a thing for Silkens. Haven't met one yet, but have a few NoCal Silken owners who've offered to let me meet theirs.

Ugh, be still my heart, she's wonderful! Her parents are lovely- I love dad's coat, especially. I'm so, so excited to get to virtually watch her develop!

As a very, very side note- do you offer the Avidog temperament test for litters as a professional service? Have you experienced any reliability/validity or do you know if there's been any research into that in this system? I know you work as a trainer, so just curious. I have a friend expecting a Lab litter that should be confirmed soon (and hopefully took!), and she's big in to gundogs, so she recently introduced me to Avidog and got me curious about it.

 

[Sibe]

I don't offer it as a professional service, and I've only done it on the Silkens and assisted with it on a litter of Labs, and a friend with Entlebuchers I haven't seen but I know she uses it. I enjoy it so much that honestly I dunno that I'd ever charge to do it for a respectable breeder unless I had to travel a long way. The Avidog temperament evaluation (I'm seeing now I put 'test' in my post but it really is more of an evaluation than a test) helps with placing puppies as much as it helps the breeder learn what they need to work more on in future litters. Avidog is very well researched and scientific from my understanding. Very in depth. Breeders spend *thousands* on the courses and everyone I've talked to says it's completely worth every penny.

 

[ForTheLoveOfDogs]

As I already said in the puppy fever thread, she is absolutely beautiful. Do you plan to show her in conformation as well?

Interesting about the testing. Sounds like a great breeder, too!

 

[Sibe]

As I already said in the puppy fever thread, she is absolutely beautiful. Do you plan to show her in conformation as well?

Interesting about the testing. Sounds like a great breeder, too!

Yes, I do plan to, which will be a lot for me to learn. I also want to give rally and obedience a try. I have the Puppy Culture Killer Free Stacks dvd I need to watch.
She's a really fantastic breeder, has a great page on her website http://claybornkennel.com/index.php/raising-pups/ and lots of videos of facebook https://www.facebook.com/cathi.wester/media_set?set=vb.100000517933966&type=2

 

[ForTheLoveOfDogs]

Yes, I do plan to, which will be a lot for me to learn. I also want to give rally and obedience a try. I have the Puppy Culture Killer Free Stacks dvd I need to watch.
She's a really fantastic breeder, has a great page on her website http://claybornkennel.com/index.php/raising-pups/ and lots of videos of facebook https://www.facebook.com/cathi.wester/media_set?set=vb.100000517933966&type=2

Puppy Culture is such fun stuff!

You probably won't have much difficulty learning to show. I mean it is a little bit of a learning curve, but because you have to show in UKC it should be a lot of fun. Most clubs/competitors/judges are pretty helpful to newbies in my experience. I'm sure your girl will have a lot of fun in all the things! Can't wait to see more pictures once you bring her home.

 

[Canyx]

Yesss!!! Congratulations!!!!!!

 

[Sibe]

Today she got stuck in the baby gate. True to how she acted in her temperament eval when faced with a difficult problem, she tried to solve it, didn't solve it, then was content to give up and wait for help. Honestly I love this trait as I'm not fond of dogs that get frantic and panic and really amp up when frustrated. She accepts her fate, and wags her tail until help arrives.

Breeder working on leash walking skills. Stupid leash gets in the way of happy bouncing, I'm told. I asked if she ever moved at all if she wasn't bouncing.

Pic from a couple days ago, breeder tried stacking again. Stacking puppies is hard.

 

[Sandakat]

She is just SO adorable! I'm trying to imagine a puppy patiently waiting to be helped. **looking at my crazy beast** Nope. I can't picture it.

 

[Sibe]

She is just SO adorable! I'm trying to imagine a puppy patiently waiting to be helped. **looking at my crazy beast** Nope. I can't picture it.

The temperament evals on this litter were interesting because the last thing is Breeder Recall. The eval area is enclosed with several tall xpens that have sheets and blankets on them. A gap is opened up and the breeder is on the other side, and calls the puppy out- but puppy can't see the breeder at all until they get out of the test area. Typically I've seen silken babies run to the area they can tell the breeder is behind, fuss and whine as they try and try and eventually figure it out. We do it twice, as the purpose of this is to see if the puppy remembers and learns how to get out, and to also see their problem solving style. If a puppy tries for a while then returns to the tester to ask for help, the tester can assist as they think appropriate to do so. We don't want to help too much, but we don't want this to be a bad experience. Every single puppy in this litter asked for help after trying, and several seemed to accept that they were close enough but couldn't figure it out and that was fine, and just laid down next to me when the breeder continued to call. I had to walk through the gap myself for a couple of the puppies to get it... and most of them didn't remember! It's common for it to take about a minute the first time, and the second time about 15-20 seconds. But these guys for the most part asked for help again the second time, needed less help but asked anyway, and most took just as long f not longer- but with me helping less because they were still thinking about it themselves that made it take longer.
Edit: If a puppy is too stressed or frantic we help as much as needed, and even stop. I had a couple puppies on a previous litter that were crashing into the pen, leaping up into it, trying to climb it, and too likely to hurt themselves on the first try. After helping, the second time they figured it out themselves quickly without help.

 

[gingerkid]

Aaaaahh I am so jealous. I would love to have a Clayborn silken some day. <3

 

[Sandakat]

The temperament evals on this litter were interesting because the last thing is Breeder Recall. The eval area is enclosed with several tall xpens that have sheets and blankets on them. A gap is opened up and the breeder is on the other side, and calls the puppy out- but puppy can't see the breeder at all until they get out of the test area. Typically I've seen silken babies run to the area they can tell the breeder is behind, fuss and whine as they try and try and eventually figure it out. We do it twice, as the purpose of this is to see if the puppy remembers and learns how to get out, and to also see their problem solving style. If a puppy tries for a while then returns to the tester to ask for help, the tester can assist as they think appropriate to do so. We don't want to help too much, but we don't want this to be a bad experience. Every single puppy in this litter asked for help after trying, and several seemed to accept that they were close enough but couldn't figure it out and that was fine, and just laid down next to me when the breeder continued to call. I had to walk through the gap myself for a couple of the puppies to get it... and most of them didn't remember! It's common for it to take about a minute the first time, and the second time about 15-20 seconds. But these guys for the most part asked for help again the second time, needed less help but asked anyway, and most took just as long f not longer- but with me helping less because they were still thinking about it themselves that made it take longer.
Edit: If a puppy is too stressed or frantic we help as much as needed, and even stop. I had a couple puppies on a previous litter that were crashing into the pen, leaping up into it, trying to climb it, and too likely to hurt themselves on the first try. After helping, the second time they figured it out themselves quickly without help.

That's interesting! Do you expect a certain way of performing for this breed or is the kind of response breed specific at all? For example, would you expect a Border Collie to have gone about solving the issue differently than the Silkens? (You can answer this in a different thread if this is hijacking your picture thread)

 

[Sibe]

That's interesting! Do you expect a certain way of performing for this breed or is the kind of response breed specific at all? For example, would you expect a Border Collie to have gone about solving the issue differently than the Silkens? (You can answer this in a different thread if this is hijacking your picture thread)

There are some things that really vary by individual puppy, and somethings you expect differences among breeds. I'm not sure how the problem solving with the Breeder Recall would be for border collies, or herding breeds in general. With the lab puppies I saw tested they seemed to be more thoughtful in general about thinking about what they needed to do, more aware of looking for an answer and keeping their heads on their shoulders about it. The Silken puppies are often whining and barking as they check around the area they can tell the breeder is behind, but in general seem to have a harder time looking away from that spot to look for an answer (unless looking back at the helper) than the one litter of labs I saw.

 

[Sibe]

She's home! Here is FB album https://www.facebook.com/beyondblond/media_set?set=a.10104255502725413.1073741989.19228523&type=3

Pickup party

AAAAH PUPPIES!!!!

Zoom

I can already hear my dad, "Why the long face?"

With her mom, Chloe

My husband

Car ride home (selfie mode, we're not in the UK)

Nap

 

[Sandakat]

That puppy may be the definition of the word "cute"! I love her smile.

 

[BellaPup]

Congrats!! She's adorable!

 

[Sibe]

My husband said, "My heart is so full right now."

And then she did this and I asked him how it was now, and he said his heart was spilling over.

 

[ForTheLoveOfDogs]

SO MUCH CUTE!!! I love that last picture. <3

 

[Sibe]

We ran errands today. To work to pick up my paycheck and play, three pet stores to find a basic harness (carried in each, no feet on the floor or exploring in big pet-friendly stores yet), bank, agility facility to meet a friend, visit at my boss's house to say hello, car wash, then to see my parents for dinner. Busy busy day, met lots of people, napped a lot in the crate in the car and on our laps.

The lobby at the car wash

Slept on my lap during dinner (and dessert of M&Ms)

Safe puppies ride in crates, but I thought it would be good to get some practice riding not in a crate as well. The clash of the bed (which is Denali's new bed!) and her jacket is awful but she's so cute and perfect!

 

[Sibe]

Videos!
Flirt pole yesterday
https://www.facebook.com/beyondblond/videos/10104257188666773/

She discovered the sandbox this morning and it is so overstimulating.
https://www.facebook.com/beyondblond/videos/10104258819698173/