Training & Socializing

 Training and Socializing these pups will be a new experience for all of us during the pandemic.  It's been dragging on long enough that there are some great resources for how to give your pup what he or she needs while doing it in as safe a manner possible.

If you have not started looking for a puppy class, I recommend doing that right away as they are in hot demand and most are limiting class sizes and taking health precautions.

Over the last few days, we have been getting each pup out a time or two during the day by themselves.  We've been doing "puppy push-ups" (sit, down, stand) with tiny bits of string cheese.  Pups are on the grooming table so they learn to be comfortable there.  We've also been gently brushing them with a soft brush to get them used to that.  We are also doing some tiny, short play retrieves with the pups, with varying success depending on distractions.

We wont have pups sleeping through the night in kennels before they go home, but we do have several extra kennels set up and will be rotating pups through them when we are out of the house running errands or walking dogs in the upcoming week.  We'll also feed pups in the kennels to build a positive association with them and teach the pups to eat there since it is sometimes convenient when traveling.

Here are two brief training tips from OneMind Dogs.  OneMind Dogs is a dog and agility training method based on dogs’ natural behavior. I follow them on Facebook and they have had some nice brief puppy tips lately.  Here are a few of them.

From November 5:

How do you let new people meet your puppy?

From a puppy's perspective, there are some potentially scary things that can happen when approaching a new person:

• looking the puppy directly in the eyes
• crouching over the puppy
• trying to touch the puppy
• talking in a loud / low / strange voice

Instead, it's best to ask people to:

• look away from the puppy at first
• let the puppy approach you, instead of approaching them
• go to the puppy's level by kneeling for example, keeping your upper body straight
• keep your hands low, put a treat on your palm next to the ground where the puppy can see it, don't try to touch the puppy
• stay silent

From October 27:

Aaahhhh! Today's training tip Tuesday is a bit of a spooky one 

Did you know that puppies go through two fear periods throughout the first year of their little lives? 

A fear period is basically what it sounds like: a short period in your puppy's life where things just spook them — whether it's the garbage bins they've walked past everyday of their little lives, or that neighbor that they usually get all wiggly-tailed about.

It's confusing for us owners, and sometimes scary to think: will my puppy always be so afraid?

The good news is, likely not! 

The first period happens around 8-11 weeks of age, and it's less obvious — because (hopefully) your puppy's environment is highly controlled and you're slowly introducing them to new things.

The second might be more obvious, as by 6+ months of age, your puppy will be more independent.

So what should you do during these periods? 

• Stay calm and pretend it's no big deal! (Wow, that is a very loud pair of rollerskates, cool!)
• Don't overwhelm, but desensitize 
• Counter-condition (Scary thing? Treat time!)
• Socialize! 

Here is your last training "bit" for today.  Always break things into small pieces for optimal learning.