denali – May 18, 2008 12:00 AM

Red Paw gained .6 lbs in 24 hours, this is when pups start really having a growth spurt. Red Paw is 21 days old today and wolf care staff began conditioning the pups to the auditorium where they will be featured in an open house for the surrounding area residents. Red Paw is showing some fear avoidance behavior and it is very critical that he has some positive associations with the building before he enters it with a large crowd. In order to accomplish this, staff waits until the facility is closed, and brings the pups into the auditorium with their familiar blankets, stuffed animals and anything else that makes for a positive experience. Assistant curator, Donna Prichard and wolf care staff member, Jen Westlund brought the pups in during their shift. They exhibited a lot of whining and Red Paw was a bit nervous before settling down and playing with Attila. During the first few days of working with this pup, he demonstrated some independent and timid behavior, where he would retreat to a corner when anxious. While he occasionally reverts to that behavior, in the auditorium, he sought comfort from Jen and Donna, and fell asleep by Jen. These nightly sessions will continue until the Open House on Thursday, May 22nd. The Wolf Curator brought in a stuffed moose that was originally purchased when Malik and Shadow were pups. Red Paw was curious and attempted to dominate, but was intimidated when he rolled off the moose. The audio clip for today is an example of what we term "Exploratory whining", when a pup is walking around checking things out, but gets intimidated by the new environment.