Puppy Survival Thread - March - April

[PugInTheHouse]

Just starting a new thread before we run out on www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/4141698-Puppy-Survival-Thread-January-February

Welcome to everyone trying to survive the puppy days!

@HappyThursdays My eldest DS was coaching another child today and the mum said they have a 3 yo terrier, she said it is still on a long line as his recall is so bad. She said she'd rather him be safe but said its annoying as often people assume that the dog is not friendly or safe round other dogs. I am glad that you have said there were lots on long leads as it makes me feel better about using one when I feel I need to.

I think the cricket matches are going to be tricky ones, there are a few other dogs there who are always off lead but it does make me nervous as obviously it is pretty dangerous, I don't think pugpup will be ok just wandering off lead this year, maybe next he will be more chilled.

I came home feeling really good though as the other parent couldn't get over how well behaved and well trained he was. It was so lovely to hear after all the hard work (and also the downs lately).

I've always thought @PugInTheHouse pup sounded very well trained and very well behaved! I'm glad you got some good feedback and that he's behaved in public.

I think all our pups will have a shock when the real world opens up again! Remember @PugInTheHouse we had started to do trips to the pub and then it all stopped. I'm starting to get palpitations thinking of Happy stealing everyone's food! He won't believe how many people have kindly prepared food and put it on a plate for him on their tables

@HappyThursdays I think you always doubt yourself though don't you, especially when there are still so many things you feel like you are constantly working on.

And yes, it will be so tricky getting back out I think, pugpup was a lot quieter and calmer before lockdown in December so I think it will be just way too exciting for him when we do go out. We will definitely go for dinner at some pub gardens first to get him used to it. I think we'll need the lickimat and a whole jar of peanut butter

@HappyThursdays Yeah definitely glad it's out the way. It's been at the back of my mind ever since we put the deposit down for a female pup but it's really not been that bad. It wouldn't put me off getting a girl in the future, put it that way, and I've always been around boys in the past.

@PugInTheHouse why did your trainer advise not to use the long line if they're not doing what they're told, if you don't mind me asking? I wonder if this is breed specific advice, if mine isn't in the mood to behave and recall she definitely wouldn't walk nicely on a short lead. We still struggle with pulling, although she is improving.

Can I ask if anyone has cracked the 'give' command when it's something they really want? Today he met a lovely elderly dog but then he ran off with her call and refused to give it up, even for highest value treats. He knows the command, but just decides not to give if it's something very desirable.

@ashmts I am not entirely sure but I dont think its breed specific advice, more that if they are being defiant then on the long line they are not going to come back either and you'll just be pulling them back etc but yes I guess if they aren't behaving on the short lead either then its possibly the lesser of two evils to get them their exercise. Pugpup generally likes to walk right next to you so he would be fine on the short lead if he wasn't in the mood to be fine with recall etc i think. I will ask her at the weekend though as I hadn't really thought much about it to be honest.

@MyRabbit79 nope, not here. We can usually swap for a treat but on occasion he just runs off with whatever it is and does not want to give it up for anything, this happened when he ate the caterpillar, he really should have dropped that as it would have saved a lot of hassle

[quote PugInTheHouse]@MyRabbit79 nope, not here. We can usually swap for a treat but on occasion he just runs off with whatever it is and does not want to give it up for anything, this happened when he ate the caterpillar, he really should have dropped that as it would have saved a lot of hassle [/quote]
You have my sympathy! I seem to remember pugpup was pretty good at give with leaves and things though? Hopefully they'll get better, I'll keep working on it with him.

@MyRabbit79 not really here either. Have you tried with a toy? In the garden he will drop something if I throw his ball for him. Occasionally chucking a handful of kibble down and saying "find" is more successful for us than offering a treat and saying "give". Also sometimes if I go open the freezer he will drop it and run to see if I'm getting him something exciting out. I find with Sparklepup if it's something he really shouldn't have, the minute I say "drop" he wants it more so I have to pretend I don't care and just try to distract him.

How has everyone done the lead training? Did you get to meet a trainer in person? My trainer has done her classes on zoom but we’ve only done the basic puppy one (still waiting for the next one to start) and I feel like everyone on here is way ahead of us...we’ve just been winging it with the walking really and I’d never dream of letting her off the lead as she’d probably just disappear off (probably into the road). Her recall is ok but it’s very hit and miss if she’s distracted. I’m a bit worried we’ve fallen behind in that regard. She’s ok at walking but sometimes she just stops dead and won’t keep going. And if she’s so nosey that she stops every time she sees a person or other dogs.

I should add that the zoom class I’ve done only really covered the basic commands, there was no actual training using a lead...very hard on zoom to do that I think.

@WeeM I feel the same as you, like we've just winged it and are behind others on here with pups similar ages. We have been letting him off lead but recall is slipping now he's hitting adolescence. Lead walking is terrible, he pulls so bad and anytime I try to teach "heel" he just gets frustrated and tries to bite my hand (to get the treats) so I'm also interested to see how others teach this. I know someone recommended a wooden spoon with peanut butter or something, holding it by your side and letting them lick it but he just sits down to lick it and won't move

@MyRabbit79 yes he is pretty good at all that now, we just practiced loads, even pretending to have a treat works with stuff like that. The one thing that works most of the time is running away from him saying 'whats this?' and he seems to think it sounds more exciting than whatever he is doing. I don't treat every time but do treat every few times as otherwise he'll cotton on.

@WeeM regarding lead walking, we went out with a trainer 1:1 to get him as good as possible, same with off lead stuff. I wouldn't have known where to start. I really struggled with heel but being able to watch someone do it with him really helped. I wish I could attach a video. Pugpup will heel on or off lead now, he doesn't jump up at all at a treat either. We started by holding a treat just by our thigh, once he walked nicely without jumping we'd tell him to sit and then give him the treat. The trainer tried various other things but with him being small obviously it was harder as you would have had to bend down too much. When it isn't successful she told us to just walk past quickly or change direction till their attention is off whatever they are pulling towards.

Pugpup definitely still pulls towards other dogs and people, if I can get his focus I can tell him not to but if he spots them first he's not great, we have taught him a 'no game' cue so he then will wait until we say 'go say hi'. Off lead this works so well (most of the time, he's probably better off lead with this than on the lead). If we same no game in the middle of playing he will stop also, he is not great at reading other dogs cues yet so it's really useful. The other thing we were told is to cue the stuff when he does it himself, so for example if he runs over to another dog when he's off lead even if we wanted him not to then just say 'go say hi' as he does it so he relates the cue with the action.

@Sparkle79 it was probably me re the peanut butter on a spoon, apparently works great for slightly bigger dogs but we still had to bend down to do it. I am not sure if I can send videos in PM as I could show you what the trainer sent me the first time she took pugpup out alone and he did heel with her. We had struggled till that point and she just found something that worked for him.

Ok so completely outing but it doesn't really matter as I am only on here for this thread really but this is the trainers IG page. If you look on the highlight circles at the top and scroll to Suggs you will be able to see some of the heel videos she has done with him.

instagram.com/poppysportsmouthpooches?igshid=18yn1431v548y

Oh wow @PugInTheHouseyou really put me to shame!

I find it so hard to do a training session with sparkle because he just goes into play mode and gets bored of the training really quickly.

Ps he's so cute

@Sparkle79 the trainer has been amazing, so much easier to do it in person then you can replicate it properly when the trainer isn't there. We only do really short times at home if teaching something new, the rest of the time we just periodically ask him to do things just to keep him doing it really, he only does longer training when we had the 1:1 sessions. He seems to love learning but at first in the training sessions he would often get the zoomies half way through as he was so tired

He is a funny little thing, he has so many expressions it's hilarious. The trainer says she always knows what he is going to do based on the look on his face, she says she knows if he'll ignore the command or not!

Thanks @PugInTheHouse, I think I might contact the trainer and ask if she does any 1:1 outdoors as I’d really like her to get better at it. We’ve done ‘this way’ and ‘close’ which she does fine in the house but not so good when out on the lead and because we need to stop to give her the treat it kind of spoils her flow of walking if you know what I mean.

Oh wow @PugInTheHouse! He's gorgeous and so good!! We've booked a trainer/behaviourist for after stillpup's second jabs. She'll focus mainly on lead training and recall with him. I'm happy with his progress so far but he's an intelligent/energetic crossbreed (sprollie) and I just don't want to mess anything up!

@WeeM I think it's definitely worth it, the thought of zoom classes put me off really. Some of the trainers weren't doing anything during lockdown but the guidance allows them to work outside, probably inside from 12th April they think. Inside is so much easier, we got a couple in before the stricter rules, the garden was distracting at first but ok now he's bigger and to be honest most of our work is on walks now anyway.

Great work @PugInTheHouse! We have also had some 1-1 sessions and it's helped a lot. I find the advice fairly consistent with eg easy peasy puppy squeeze and the Facebook dog training and advice site (both of which I found great) but someone showing you how to do it and reassuring you that if you do it consistently it will work made a difference. Also helping us get comfortable that he is doing well enough for his age and setting realistic expectations about building things up rather than expecting miracles. As a novice owner that has been really valuable.

Yes I totally agree @familychallenge, she has been able to point out where I wasn't doing it right and physically show me with him. I wasn't really that confident with it all and like you say constantly worrying about how he was doing for his age.

The trouble is, many owners who have older dogs say that their dog did x,y,z by 4 months or whatever and in reality they are probably remembering wrong or that maybe the pup wasn't as consistent as they are saying. It's very easy to forget, for us it feels like months ago that we were moaning that pugpup was weeing in the house loads but in reality it was about 2 or 3 weeks.

@Sparkle79

Oh wow *@PugInTheHouseyou* really put me to shame!

I find it so hard to do a training session with sparkle because he just goes into play mode and gets bored of the training really quickly.

Mine has the attention span of a goldfish at the moment...

But when you’re at home, you can just finish up on something they definitely know, so it’s all positive and stop - let them go blow off steam and pick it up later.

You can teach loads in 5 minute chunks - and they get better as they work out what’s what.

Also, anything you’ve introduced and they’re starting to get the idea of, just reinforce it as you do other stuff.

You want that toy? Then sit. You want out there? Then sit. You want me to throw that ball? Then sit. I mean obviously not just sit it you’ll end up with a dog who only knows to sit, lol, but with whatever command you want.

@tabulahrasa definitely, we were told to cue everything he does even if we haven't asked him to do it. It seemed really odd at first but it really helps and becomes natural. As I was typing this I could hear DS2 with pugpup saying 'no biting', then 'good kisses' so he had obviously been chewing his hand then licked it (and DS2 has actually been listening to what we have told him to do haha)

and yes we always go to a default 'trick' that he will always do if it isn't going well (he loves a spin!)