Puppy Survival Thread - May

[Doje]

Starting May off! If someone could link I'd appreciate it....

@tabulahrasa This is SO helpful. "Also... dogs are trainable forever, if at any point something doesn’t work and you want to train them to do something else, you can."

I keep thinking if I do something wrong I will irretrievably break her!

@mynameisnotmichaelcaine I can also tell you that with a now 9 month old pup that slept on my bed from arrival and who now chooses to sleep on his own and just come in for morning cuddles that they do gradually get more confident away from you 😀😀 I also didn't like the cry it out approach - my belief and my trainer is similar to tabularasa- make them secure and happy when they are little, concentrate on your bond and basic key commands, and then work on whatever else you want later.

Would anyone be able to tell me their approach to teaching pup to walk on lead nicely? What methods have your trainers given you ?
We are on just feeding treat every time she looks up and me. And saying “heel” so she understands the position to be in. It works if no other distractions but goes completely out the window the second there is a distraction. And I wonder when we will be able to wean off treats.

I have seen other methods. The 123 game where they get a treat on every 3?
Or just not using treats and refusing to go forward (sometimes change direction) whenever lead becomes tight.

Just wondered if anyone has any experience of which method is most likely to be effective ?

No expert here but we started in the house and garden - feeding his meals as he walked beside us no lead.

Then added lead in, did the same in house and garden.

Then moved to driveway/front path - this took much longer as lots going on.

Then moved to outside the house. I started almost constantly treating every step, then moved to two steps and got to about 35 steps before PoirotPup will then run and sit in front of me like he’s saying ‘where’s my treat’.

For us still a work in progress and I was told it would be for some time. I try to use one lead for when i’m training it and use the other long line for when he can sniff more.

I haven’t done it yet but have read that if he is pulling to basically turn and walk the other direction and treat as soon as he is back in position. I did have to use higher value treats as we moved outside and to the pavement. I try to do it on a short section down to an area where I then switch to longline and give him big praise/treat and then lots of sniffing/long lead time!

I definitely wouldn’t say we’re there yet and someone else might have better way than me but it seems to be working. I say ‘walking, walking, walking’ because I forgot to pair it with ‘heel’ and accidentally said that initially but now if I say it he will trot for a bit waiting for his treat 🤣

Thats funny, I used “walking” too initially. I am just recently trying to be more persistent and changed to saying heel for some reason. Ok so your method is fairly similar to mine so far. I think maybe I should switch between leads too to mark the difference in training and sniffing.

It’s such a long process training a puppy isn’t it. I didn’t realise walls were all about training for basically the first year and very little chatting with the person you go for a walk with

Our trainer suggested using a harness for when you don’t mind them sniffing and a collar for when you want to insist on heeling. Billy is only 12 weeks so we use the harness all the time as we don’t expect him to walk nicely all the time and treat “good walking”. For some reason he walks the nicest for DS 🤷‍♀️.

@familychallenge My pup sleeps downstairs and has done since we got her (she's four months now). It's more worrying about doing something that will cause separation anxiety or resource guarding, or some other difficult issue! I think I probably just need to calm down...

Mynameisnotmichaelcaine I worry about doing something wrong too that creates an issue with her. Anxiety around other dogs cos I haven’t handled the interactions well enough. Or interactions with the children or resource guarding etc. I think I read too much on Facebook groups where people have issues they are trying to resolve and get myself stressed about it all. I even worry she will pick up on my anxiety and I need to chill more

@Turquoisesol The internet is definitely a double-edged sword! I guess the people who have no issues are not necessarily posting about it.

[quote mynameisnotmichaelcaine]@Turquoisesol The internet is definitely a double-edged sword! I guess the people who have no issues are not necessarily posting about it.[/quote]
Wise words there, thanks. I'll try to remember that

I find myself reading all the information, making sure I know all the guidance, and attempting to put it into practice carefully. Then I have to leave him with dd1 while I go to work (she's home ft for the next few weeks as she's home from uni) and I worry she'll do something to cause separation anxiety (she won't, she's done a load of reading as well). Or I leave him with DH while I'm working or putting dd2 to bed, and all I seem to hear is "no! No!" And I end up thinking DH will undo all my positive reinforcement by being to harsh with him. But DH is the one with experience of dogs, I've never had a dog in my life, whereas he's had multiple dogs throughout his life. Why would I think I know better than him about how to train a puppy? I think I might need to step back from the internet and all the advice I can find out there and just enjoy the puppy (I can't find anything to enjoy about 5:30am wake up calls though)

@MsAwesomeDragon Yes, exactly this. DH is very "No", as is my Dad who is much more experienced with dogs than me. I think I'm definitely over-thinking things! Pup seems pretty happy.

The thing is many a happy puppy was produced during years gone by when nobody really knew how to train puppy’s and nobody had the internet to guide them! Goodness knows how though

Dd1 is currently in charge of AwesomePup in the next room while I carry on working. She's doing a fab job!! I can hear her singing lullabies to him to get him to sleep🤣🤣🤣 He's still crying a bit, but she's right there comforting him in exactly the same way I would be (I might not inflict my singing on him but she's got a better voice than I do)

Honestly - dogs are pretty adaptable, that’s why they’re so successful, lol

With separation anxiety, you can either let them feel secure when they’re wee and then teach them that it’s fine to be alone gradually once they’re settled or you can go full cry it out... the second is quicker, but... can go wrong and you run the risk of a dog that behaves when alone but is miserable.

With things like resource guarding or issues with other dogs... unless you’re really really doing wrong things - and I don’t mean just a bit, it’s genetic really.

And no isn’t going to cause issues usually, it’s just not effective.

Oh yes my teens are far softer on the dog than I am! Ds1 is making his packed lunch as we speak and Georgiepup appeared at his side hoping for a titbit - and it worked! 'But mum he's sitting so nicely for it, he looks so sad if I don't'. TBF Georgiepup had a seizure tonight so we're all giving him extra love 🤩

Hi my pup is 16 weeks old. She is generally very good BUT she won't stop barking when we try and eat our dinner! She obviously wants the food, it doesn't matter if she's had her dinner already, she still barks.... we've tried kongs and licki mats, various chews/bones/pigs ears etc which work for a while but not the whole meal, same with puzzle toys, snuffle mats and treat dispensers - as soon as she's had enough of whatever I've given her to distract her with, she's back at the gate barking. We tried putting her in her crate - even louder barking!

I'm working on "settle" on her bed in the front room which is separated from the kitchen/diner by a stair gate and she's very good at it the rest of the time except when we're eating! We've tried ignoring but it's just so loud and grating, it's driving DH nuts to the point he shouts shut up which obv doesn't help, then our youngest copies and shouts shut up too and it descends into a chaotic stressful mealtime.

Anyone else have this? Or had this and managed to find away to stop it? DH is literally getting to the stage of wanting to send her back all because of this one issue and it's causing real tension between us too!

Aria20 that does sound stressful. I don’t know if you have read the advice in dtas on Facebook for this? They say in the early days you have one person eat later so they can keep her entertained while family eat. And in the meantime - not during family meals but other times of the day - you do specific training in this where you sit at a table and eat a snack and she gets rewarded for staying in a place - her bed for instance quietly.
This is what we have been doing. And it is working to an extent. Although I do find it quite annoying that she is sitting waiting for a treat. And we have to sporadically reward her. And I wonder if cold turkey of “no you aren’t getting any of our food and you can bark all you like but we will just ignore you” would event get to the point that they would give up leave you in peace

I was going to say what @Turquoisesol said! We’ve been mat training (not sure that’s the right phrase - I’ve seen it called boundary training). So PoirotPup will now go and lie down but we do still have to feed him fairly frequently eg chucking bits of kibble at him whilst he’s down.

We sometimes give his dinner (in a slow feeder) at the same time as us eating or we’ve also used his favourite most treasure of chews and give him a goats ear!

We have done the bulk of the mat training not at mealtimes but at other times of day both inside and outside - he picked it up fairly quickly.

He does still come to us, occasionally jumps up, I usually point at the mat and say ‘away’ or ‘mat’ and he will go and lie down. If he’s not jumping we’ve just ignored and as soon as he has then laid down we’ve chucked him treats so I’m hoping this is reinforcing the mat behaviour.

@Turquoisesol i also wonder about the ignoring the barking but it's just so loud and persistent that it goes right through you!

@MrsHerculePoirot that's exactly what I've been working on "settle" on her bed and she has picked it up throughout the day and lays nicely in her spot, but as soon as dinner time comes around it's too much temptation! We had some success with a pigs ear and then every time she got up and came to the gate and barked I had to leave the table and take her back and settle her again but it's annoying having to keep doing that during a meal but I guess if I keep doing it hopefully she'll get it in the end! How old is your pup?

Turquoisepup is 20 weeks. Although to be honest my post probably makes it sound like we are having more success with it than we are in reality. Turquoisepup doesn’t bark much but the temptation with smells at dinner time is often just too overwhelming for her. She does come over to the table a lot and jump up trying to look. If we put her in crate she whines. So often dh and I take turns to take her out to play instead or we give her a long lasting chew. Training her to stay on her mat works a lot better at lunchtime when we have only sandwiches.
I think it must be a long process. It’s hard to see the day when she will stay on her bed through out dinner

PoirotPup is nearly 18 weeks.

@Turquoisesol like you a work in progress if the food is super delicious smelling - you can literally hear his nose sniffing!

@Aria20 It’s tricky if barking - as harder to ignore I suspect! The only thing I’d say, and I am definitely guilty of this, is if he barks and then you go to his side of gate and resettle is he then being rewarded by your interaction? I mean I’ve no idea what the answer is so just chucking it out there as I think it about my interactions sometimes!

Yes I feel it is almost torture for them if we try and have fish pie or something the smells are just overwhelming for them. Perhaps with practice and maturity it will improve

Growing up we had a lab. If we had food in the coffee table he would never try to eat it but would sit watching us drooling massively! I agree the smells must be so interesting and often all new for them - I feel guilty sometimes eating in front of him if delicious!

Yes me too I fee mean. We had barbeque the other day and the smell of the sausages was so hard for her