Turkey Week

Note:
We have a new look to our blog. It's still the same Stokes Birding Blog and none of the content has changed.

Funny thing, some Wild Turkeys showed up at our bird feeder this morning. They ate the bird seed on the ground that was dropped from the hanging feeders. We suggested they lay low until after Thurs.

Pine Siskins are coming to the feeders. The bottom bird is a Pine Siskin, streaked brown with a hint of yellow along the wing, the ones above are American Goldfinches in their winter plumage. I caught this fun shot of a chickadee in flight coming into the feeder. Keep your feeders filled for the birds to feast this Thanksgiving week, and enjoy watching the birds.

Our new 11 week old puppy, Abby, is being socialized by our frined, Peggy. Thanks Peggy!

Here's a quote from one of our favorite puppy training books, The Art of Raising a Puppy, by the Monks of New Skete,

"By socialization we mean two things: first the positive adjustment a puppy makes to the many aspects of her life, whether to other dogs, people, places, or objects; second, what we do to foster this. A puppy is extremely sensitive to socializing experiences between three and twelve weeks of age, when their effects are permanent for better or worse....since domestic dogs are expected to behave in ways that are socially acceptable to humans, a puppy needs plenty of human contact and exposure to all sorts of common everyday things. This lays the foundation for a positive attitude toward new people and new experiences and teaches the puppy that human beings and their world are part of his pack."

The trick is to expose our puppy to new people and things in a positive way and not in a way that overwhelms or frightens the puppy. We have had lots of people over to meet her. We have shown her many things in her environment, such as vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, trucks, etc. We have taken her for car rides and walked around town holding her in our arms (we don't put her on the ground until she has had all her immunization shots so she won't be exposed to potential germs from other dogs.)

We make sure to also give attention to our Corgi, Phoebe.

We go for lots of walks with the two dogs, Abby gets used to following the pack.

Here's Abby meeting our friends Scott and Kim. Thanks Scott and Kim! Lots of holding and touching by a wide of variety of people, assure that Abby will accept and not be afraid of people.

Abby and Phoebe play wonderfully. They do chase games and mock fighting games, never hurting one another. Here Abby is tugging at Phoebe's ruff.

Phoebe puts her head over Abby's neck. They can play for half an hour at a time like this.
When Phoebe was a pup, she spent lots of time with her own mother, Chanel, who would play gently with Phoebe. Now Phoebe is showing Abby how to play the same way. You can see more photos of Phoebe and Abby on our new Stokes Garden Blog, click here.

This is a busy week, we'll have a big family Thanksgiving at our house and we'll be busy baking pies, getting ready, minding puppies, having fun. We are thankful for the joy of birds and most importantly, for our wonderful family.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving holiday. We're taking the rest of the week off and will see you next Monday.