Tully is Growing Up too Quick!

[neve102]

Our little girl is growing up… Tully graduated puppy preschool last week and now goes to big school! – She’s growing like a weed and getting along really well with the big boys – all be it supervised at the moment as I can’t say they’re as big a fans of Tully as we are

She’s now a worldly 13 week old girl and we’ve learned more in the last 5 weeks with Tull than we have in the past 30 years of dog ownership! Having read every piece of literature I could get me hands regarding TMs over the past 20 years I now have my own mental pictures of so many of the TM traits we read about. Such delightful dogs.. I’m hoping my house withstands her puppyhood!

Coming from an English Mastiff who’s world would collapse if he thought I was unhappy with something he’d done to Tully who’s so independent and could really care less what I thought (most of the time) has been fun. Our current boys are all very “compliant†type breeds as well, so up until this point I fear we may have been quite spoilt ( Although I’ve had Airedales as well and they are also a beautiful handful)

Tull comes everywhere with us at the moment and is keen to meet everyone. My 11 year old daughter has taken it upon herself to clicker train Tully in her spare time. We now sit, down, paw and high 5… all wonderful achievements however Tull is also now nearly 17 kgs (37.4lbs) so we’ve had to have a chat with Jami about how often we need to “Train†our puppy and how much roast chicken she needs in a day!

Regarding TM’s temperament, is there a point in time when there is a “shift†in their acceptance of new things, people, places etc. or is it feasible to hope that if she continues to come along everywhere with us then she should remain accepting of the situations we put her in? We’ve come into the breed very cautiously and in all honesty have been really pleasantly blown away by how trusting and accepting she has been up until this point – we can see the traits there but to date ( true all 5 weeks) she seems to be taking things in her stride.

 

[cinnamon roll]

Welcome, she is beautiful.

 

[ruthcatrin]

She's lovely! They do grow up so fast don't they!

In general somewhere 6-9 months they start showing more of the aloof guardy behavior. But it varies from dog to dog, and she doesn,t sound like she's going to be all that hard tempered.

DO continue to take her places as often as possible and show her new things though!

 

[DDSK]

OMG she is absolutely beautiful.

 

[Catia]

awww--she is a pretty girl!

I've followed what Ruth & Mooshi's mommy have said about making sure Tessa gets xxx-extra-socialization. My girl just turned 10 months, & I've had her since 11 wks. I was always a HUGE socializer to begin with, but I upped it as much as possible. My girl is out in the public at least 5 days per week, twice per day...And I focused strongly on children interacting with her from 11 wks.
Tessa is pretty much a joy in public, which is a good thing because everyone wants to go straight for her face or give her a hug & kiss. I'm sure you are getting this constantly too with your girl--people will want to get as close as possible it seems-and it doesn't seem to stop as they grow either.

Tessa isn't a pure-bred & I ended up with a TM via accident (or divine intervention). I knew nothing about them, so in an effort to avoid future issues, as much as is possible with a TM, like excessive guardiness, I've not done much more than socialize, it takes just about all of my free time...
So if you want to send your daughter my way with her clicker for a few weeks, it's on the house.
Gosh I wish I had the energy of an 11 yr old!

Please post more pics!

 

[DDSK]

I just had to come back here to get another look at that beautiful baby.

 

[neve102]

I smiled when I read your reply - I too wish I had the energy of an 11 year old! I've had two away at camp this week for school so the house has been very quiet (funnily enough, so has the puppy She's also one of those kids that only stops talking when she's sleeping, and moves at 100 miles an hour. I've noticed now if Tully is confused with a command she sits, drops, high fives and rolls over all within the space of a few seconds as if to say "I have no idea what you want from me" I also suspect the flight costs from US to AUS might negate any advantage to "Cheap and motivated" puppy training - also could make no guarantees regarding what on earth she'd teach your baby

We're lucky with the socialization with kids side of things - I run a childcare centre and she comes in to work with me each morning and gets tackled by quite a few small people, and loves every minute of it - I suspect as she gets older that the parent's may not be as keen, but at the moment she's cute enough to pull it off. I then make an effort to take her out again in the afternoon each day whether it be to the shopping centre, or to collect the kids etc. Sadly we've found that people around here just don't seem to have "time" to pat puppies these days...

When I had my english mastiff we lived closer to the beach and we would walk along the esplanade each day and he would be adored from every angle. Poor old Tully prances head and tail up to every person she meets then if they pass her by she will often try to bounce after them . fortunately our home is like a half way house and there are people coming and going all day everyday so she certainly gets her fair share of cuddles.

She's already a very "guardy" girl. The night she arrived she sat stoically on our verandah looking off towards the horizon doing that delightful growl at whatever concerned her. We've taken the position of telling her "OK" and "Enough" if the "OK" doesn't work as she seems to take her job quite seriously, and while it is delightfully cute to start with, I'm not sure the 2cm moth poses enough of a threat to ensure that the whole household is alerted at 2am, included the three dogs downstairs... She also does it if we are out and she is insure about someone, but she seems to redirect well when we tell her it's "OK" , so fingers crossed she keeps re-directing well I'm very happy to read that Tessa is 10 months and still delightful

Your baby is delightful - How lucky to have come across such a fabulous soul without going looking!(and what a surprise she must have been as she "unfolded")

I figured people would have had enough of our pics. We're a photo family - she already has hundreds of pics in her album, playing dress ups, playing with the big boys, playing int he pool - you get the picture. I also have a good family friend who is here most days who likes very much to play dress ups with all the dogs - thinks it's hilarious. I came in the other day to my setter dressed as a hula girl and tully with a tutu and butterfly wings on attacking the poor "hula girl" She was our literal "Tooth Fairy"

I look forward to reading about your Tessa (Tully was very nearly a "Tess") There are so few TM out here and it's lovely to read the stories and anecdotes on the site My daughter is apparently going to make a youtube video on how to train a puppy so I'll be sure to send you a link if she gets is going - I'm sure it will be fabulously insightful (I should be a nicer mum

 

[looby73]

You can never share too many photo's!
Tully is gorgeous and sounds like she's doing really well.
Our first TM (Zeus) is pretty chilled but our 2nd (Hades) not quite so much....even though we've socialised him just as much, if not more with seeing he wasn't a people dog!
Keep us updated with how Tully is doing and dont forget the photos

 

[ruthcatrin]

If you're in the USA, there's more TMs out there than I think most people realize. Even those "in" the breed. The National breed rescue has a constant stream of dogs.

By the age of almost 3yrs Apollo has stopped alerting to moths, but if one of those black squirrels decides to hit up the feeders he lets the whole household know! He almost never reacts to the grey ones, just the black ones.....

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

I have so enjoyed reading your update and I agree, there can never be too many photo's. Hey....has anyone noticed that the TM owners here seem to be all ladies?

 

[neve102]

So I only need to wait another 3 or so years and she’ll lay off the moths…. Excellent Fortunately we have no squirrels to contend with however we do have possums (that my old setter will attest to) that come out at night. He will stop barking when we tell him to however I suspect Tully won’t be able to. The plan at the moment is to keep her in bed with me… (for the sake of the neighbors that is

We’re in Australia so I’m not too sure on how many TMs we’ll find around. I’ve only ever met them when I’ve gone looking at shows etc.

I think I should stay away from the “All lady owners†comments – could get into trouble. I can only imagine what Tully would grow into if I left it up to my husband and boys to raise her!

We lived with a wombat with teeth for a week or so and I couldn’t work out why Tull was so hyped and having so much trouble not using her teeth. I then noticed that the boys and the husband were taking every opportunity (meaning when I wasn’t watching them) to wrestle, push, pull and basically have full on rough and tumble with her, then coming to me when she leaped at their faces wanting to show them some love with her teeth! I will say they all bonded beautifully over that week though.

We discussed it (again) and for the past fortnight there have been no teeth and she now listens to their “enough†(the boys that is.) My husband still feels the need to roll around and throw pillows at her while she’s chasing him around the table so he’s a working progressJ (He still does it with our big boys, and it is the highlight of their day so I’m sure there is a little wisdom in his madness.)

Tully has now mastered the art of chasing and takes every opportunity to do it with the big dogs. They all got their treats yesterday afternoon. She held hers in her mouth, waited until they had all finished then produced it again out of her mouth, threw it around a little to make sure they all saw it then took off in circles. The boys are lovely but not overly bright and she literally ran rings around them darting, weaving, changing directions, throwing her treat around and having a ball. She then sat and ate it in front of them knowing full well we wouldn’t let any of them take it off her… I think we’re creating a monster

 

[Catia]

My girl is very mellow & 'chase' with other pooches isn't her thing-she likes to reserve her energy, she's more of a wrestler.

I do not know if Tessa will ever outgrow her fascination with moths, or any other flying thing.
She loved the locusts & I think she ate every one in my yard. She likes to hide things in my bed, specifically under my pillow, & save them for later.
Lucky for me I saw the locust as soon as she spit it out--on my bed--it was still very alive, but wings weren't quite dry. It wasn't pleasant scooping it out of my bed, as they look evil (but have no defenses & are quite edible). Was glad I had the light on.
I think she was getting most of them at night when they come out of the ground & attach themselves to plants so they can molt.

 

[ruthcatrin]

I have so enjoyed reading your update and I agree, there can never be too many photo's. Hey....has anyone noticed that the TM owners here seem to be all ladies?

I'm pretty sure that Mayawill (who's not been on in a while) is a guy, he mentioned a pregnant wife anyway.....otherwise yes, they all seem to be female, or at least teh female half of the family lol

 

[ruthcatrin]

So I only need to wait another 3 or so years and she’ll lay off the moths…. Excellent Fortunately we have no squirrels to contend with however we do have possums (that my old setter will attest to) that come out at night. He will stop barking when we tell him to however I suspect Tully won’t be able to. The plan at the moment is to keep her in bed with me… (for the sake of the neighbors that is

We’re in Australia so I’m not too sure on how many TMs we’ll find around. I’ve only ever met them when I’ve gone looking at shows etc.

I think I should stay away from the “All lady owners” comments – could get into trouble. I can only imagine what Tully would grow into if I left it up to my husband and boys to raise her!

We lived with a wombat with teeth for a week or so and I couldn’t work out why Tull was so hyped and having so much trouble not using her teeth. I then noticed that the boys and the husband were taking every opportunity (meaning when I wasn’t watching them) to wrestle, push, pull and basically have full on rough and tumble with her, then coming to me when she leaped at their faces wanting to show them some love with her teeth! I will say they all bonded beautifully over that week though.

We discussed it (again) and for the past fortnight there have been no teeth and she now listens to their “enough” (the boys that is.) My husband still feels the need to roll around and throw pillows at her while she’s chasing him around the table so he’s a working progressJ (He still does it with our big boys, and it is the highlight of their day so I’m sure there is a little wisdom in his madness.)

Tully has now mastered the art of chasing and takes every opportunity to do it with the big dogs. They all got their treats yesterday afternoon. She held hers in her mouth, waited until they had all finished then produced it again out of her mouth, threw it around a little to make sure they all saw it then took off in circles. The boys are lovely but not overly bright and she literally ran rings around them darting, weaving, changing directions, throwing her treat around and having a ball. She then sat and ate it in front of them knowing full well we wouldn’t let any of them take it off her… I think we’re creating a monster

There're a few Ausies on here, and I know of a few more, so you're not alone at least!

And yes, that sounds about right, boys and puppies! My husband still can't figure out why my cat Trouble thinks he's a living chew toy....