Puppy Survival Thread - April

[Doje]

Starting a new thread....

I have heard a lot of people who have dogs and puppies say let them off the lead when they are young and recall is easier because they don’t want to lose you. But in the books etc they always say keep them on a long line until you are sure recall is good even with distractions

I can’t wait to take hightidepup out for walks. I think this enforced quarantine will over ride my nerves. From what I’ve read (which is endless due to my anxiety) getting them off the lead when little is good to lay the foundations of recall as they naturally won’t run off far in most cases, and then as they get more confident and brave introduce the longline as you work on recall. But as ever theory is wonderful and reality could be a nightmare! I need to find the holy grail treat for recall and use it for that.

My plan is to walk her on a long line and go to quiet fields and my local beach at high tide, as it’s contained and deserted, and practice lots there. It’s scary interactions with other dogs that worry me the most.

With off lead dogs what’s the deal when you have a puppy. Is it best to have them on a long line or shorter? How do you deal with it?

I think the rule to remember is that if another dog is on lead in an area where yours is off, you should not let your dog approach that dog. Generally people have their dogs on lead in areas like that because they are training them or because they are reactive. Either way they don't really want a puppy all over them.

If a dog is off lead and yours is off lead then generally that's fair game but it's also good manners just to check whether it's ok if your dog plays with them

As they get older, you start to train them not to approach every dog. Some dogs are more cautious about this anyway but some need training to show that not every dog is a play thing!

We are taking happy camping next weekend. Dp is totally relaxed about this. I have visions of waking up and finding Happy eating everyone else's breakfasts!

@Hightideattheseaside I've read similar regards them wanting to stick close to you when little so that's the time to do it. However I seem to have the most confident pup in the world who loves exploring. We're in a flat so no garden but we do have a huge driveway so pup is on the lead every time we go out to the toilet. I'm going to start going out there at other times of day with her on the 10m line and doing some recall practice now as I think it will also do her good to be able to have a run around safely.

Also chicken or ham is our holy grail of treats so that's what we'll be using when doing the recall.

We used Roquefort or Stilton with ours for recall and walks. She stuck real close.

Honestly find somewhere you feel safe letting her off. And big dogs either ignore puppies or tolerate them or give a growl. But they do need to learn young.

We have a big field and a plantation near by which is very dog safe.

@HappyThursdays The RVC is where Georgiepup was referred and diagnosed, they are brilliant. They are also who my vets are now getting their lead from with regard to his care plan.

Epilepsy is a funny one, it's a diagnosis given when everything else has been ruled out. So he had a ton of tests but they showed no reason for his seizures so epilepsy is the diagnosis. If it did turn out to be the Nexgard that would be incredible hut I'd be a bit gutted it wasn't realised earlier before we paid out thousands of pounds 😭 Id do anything to have a healthy pup though.

I was talking to DH about the way ahead future and whether he could see us ever getting another dog (Georgiepup is our first), he said he could but totally gets why this has put me off, it's quite traumatic but we are in the midst of it while he's little. As he grows we may decide it's been worth all the stress and upset (and cost!).

With the puppy walks, we took Georgiepup off lead really early. He stuck to us like glue and we worked hard on his recall. To begin with it was just letting his lead trail on the floor then we swapped to a training lead whilst we practiced calling him from person to person. We ditched the lead when it was very wet weather and it looked too wet and filthy to be of any use. We give treats throughout the walk for staying close or responding to his name etc and on the advice of the trainer I have a tug toy with a squeaker that's pulled out for emergency cases/immediate needs when all else might fail. We have used it a few times just so he knows I have it and that's it's a fun game (he loves tug).

Even if you let him of and then put him back on the lead shortly after, that will slowly build up your confidence and lessen the chance that he'll go utterly nuts in his first taste of freedom. It also doesn't hurt them to know lead on/lead off doesn't always mean the end of the walk, we quite often use this lead on/lead off tactic.

Ooo I love Stilton so that’s a win-win 🤣 I get about not letting my off lead dog go to on lead dogs or just bound up to people without dogs. I don’t like a bouncy dog when I’m trying to enjoy a walk / sit on the beach/have a picnic and I love dogs! So keen to nail recall.

But I was wondering the other way around. If I have puppy on long line and she gets off lead dogs bound up, what should I do? Let her interact and see how it goes? Try and call her back?

How do you go about training not to approach other dogs? So much to learn, it’s quite overwhelming sometimes!

I guess not approaching other dogs is just good recall? Feel like was a silly question!

How do you go about training not to approach other dogs?

This is what I did with mine.

I walked in places where you only likely to encounter a few dogs. And I could see for miles so I had more warning than my dog did of other dogs. When he was in his bloody minded phase of dodgy recall for distractions I would spot dog in distance and recall him (which he did because he hadn't spotted the dog). Lead went on and we moved away from the path, enough distance so dogs could see each other but not close enough that off lead dog was likely to come over. Did a sit/stay whilst the other dog passed. Once passed lead off, lots of praise and games played.

After a while I noticed if he spotted a dog he would kind of look at me as if he was waiting for permission to carry on walking or needed to come back. At this point I simply stopped putting him on the lead because it had become a habit of not running up to other dogs.

So is the goal to teach them to not run up to any dogs? I thought they needed to learn to pass other dogs, have a little sniff maybe and walk in without any big deal
It’s a bit of a minefield for us !

I would worry that calling them back to go on lead every time a dog passes gives them the idea there is something to be scared of?

@Hightideattheseaside

I guess not approaching other dogs is just good recall? Feel like was a silly question!

More or less...

You do want to make sure you do stuff like practise recall while they’re playing. So they don’t learn - that’s playing over if you call them.

You also want to vary when and where you put them on lead... I’ve accidentally taught a dog that come meant to look for a dog lol, ended up having to whistle train him instead.

“If I have puppy on long line and she gets off lead dogs bound up, what should I do? Let her interact and see how it goes? Try and call her back?”

That’s going to depend very much on your puppy, the other dog and what you’re actually doing at the time.

As a general rule, Dog’s that come barrelling over aren’t the greatest to interact with, they tend to do that because they’re a bit OTT... if you’ve got a fairly confident puppy and you’re not doing anything you mind being interrupted then yeah you can let her play, but stick close by to start with to check it’s going to go ok so you can intervene if it’s not.

Mine is a bit unsure about meeting dogs, he likes them, but he’s also just a bit anxious. So I plant myself in between him and other dogs, so I can block it until I’m sure he’s ok.

@HappyThursdays oh gosh, we're going camping at the end of may, just for two nights but I'm terrified! You'll have to update how it goes!

@Turquoisesol I'm always on the alert when we see other dogs out walking. If the other dog looks really bouncy I distract stillpup with a sit and some treats and fuss. If they look calmer I'll make eye contact with the owner and we'll usually slow down to let them sniff. Or I'll ask if it's ok to say hello. I can usually tell from the other owners body language if they don't want stillpup to say hello, they'll block their dog or move away and then I either do a cheerful "come on pup" and hurry past or stop and get him to sit until the other dog has passed. We haven't put him on a longline or had him off lead yet, I've ordered a longline so we'll start with that next week

@StillAliveish I will let you know. Dp isn't even a little bit concerned and given how errr enthusiastic Happy is, I can just see how exciting he will find a lot of people in tents argh! I've just ordered a big block you peg in the ground that you attach a long line to so he can't wander off too far!

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat that's great that he's been seen at the RVC. My friend was raving about them and the difference they've made to their red setter. Yes he said the bills were eye watering!

@HappyThursdays and @StillAliveish please update after camping with everything I need to buy and know 🤣 we’re going in August when PoirotPup will be nearly 6 months...

Oh yes let us know how camping goes, we're going later in the year too, Georgiepup will be 10.5 months.

@Turquoisesol

So is the goal to teach them to not run up to any dogs? I thought they needed to learn to pass other dogs, have a little sniff maybe and walk in without any big deal It’s a bit of a minefield for us !

Mine did that after he stopped running up to other dogs. It was that he didn't see them as really really exciting anymore (and more exciting than you). So now he just isn't bothered by them.

Some dogs are naturally more social than others... so you might never convince them that dogs aren’t exciting...

But you can teach them that sometimes they get to play and sometimes they don’t - and it’s up to you which is which.

We let Sparklepup off lead quite young. We found that if we took him somewhere new he'd stick close and recall was good but after we'd been going to the same place a few times he was way more confident and less likely to come back.

He isn't too fussed about saying hi to dogs, but he does want to say hello to all the people and he barks at people if they don't say hello which is very embarrassing. I'm not a dog person at all, it took a lot of convincing to get him, so I am very aware that not everyone wants to say hello to him.

He's on the long line at the moment because his recall is about 90% and that 10% is just too embarrassing!

It’s funny you should say that sparkle I do t really consider myself a dog person either. I do like some but generally the sweeter more well behaved ones. So I do feel obliged to ensure turquoisepup is well behaved around people.

Can I ask what everyone is focusing on for training their puppies and how much are you doing each day?

I seem to be stuck at repeatedly teaching sit, his name, and attempting the very first bits of Pippa Mattinson’s (sp?!) recall training in brief snatches twice a day or so.

Is there anything else crucial?

I’m catching settles and dripping treats then and trying (sometimes) to click and treat for paws on the floor, especially around the DC but it’s hard work! I seem to spend most of my time lifting them out of his path and barricading them on the sofa!

I don’t know- I think I’m just on the downward crest of a “puppies are great” wave. Being able clip on a leash and go for a nice calm walk with the DC bopping along beside us seems a million miles away😩