Puppy survival thread September and the pups just want to eat all the leaves!

[cheeseisthebest]

Omg I never start ongoing threads like this!
Back to school for my lot tomorrow. Taken pup for an evening walk tonight, desperately trying to tire him out! He's struggled to nap today as felt too hot.

What training have you done with your pups please? Other than Sit, we haven't done anything with MaePup . MaeDog can do Paw, High Five and Lay Down, but that's it.

They're mini poodles and everyone says they're so smart.. so what else should I do?

FawkesPup has learned:
Sit
Watch
Lie down
Paw
Wait (stay)
Recall to name, working on doing it to the whistle.

Working on some rewarding watching/checking in on walks to as precursor to loose lead walking.

I feel really out of my depth now though!!!

@MeredithMae "stay" in position when I leave a room and wait eg for food or at a gate so I go in first. Leave it, drop it, fetch it. Sit, down, stand. Off (the sofa), up as in stand on her back legs and put her paws on my knees. Come, walk to heel. Paw. Touch her nose on my palm. Roll over from a down position onto her back. Gently. Find it - teach the names of toys and hide them easily at first. Pup is 7 months old.

@GuyFawkesDay "watch me" is only solid at home... she still prefers to look everywhere else when on walks

@TheBigMacDougal glad your pup enjoyed doggy daycare. I worried that I wasn't doing enough with pup also but I think it's just different at daycare - lots of dogs, dog friendly large space and someone there to play with them constantly. Pup falls asleep as soon as we get in the car to come home and then growls at me when we arrive home and I have to wake her up!

@GuyFawkesDay How did you teach stay? My pup gets so excited that we're struggling with it.

Training: recall, he's pretty good - he's come back even when chasing another dog on the beach however I'm under no allusion this is solid. Sit, down, watch (I love his watch....he stares deep into my eyes and melts my heart), loose lead walking is a work in progress.....leave it (ignore food) which is shaky and stay (also shaky)

We've done

Sit
Watch
Down
Touch (nose to hand for greeting people)
Paw
Floor (4 feet on the floor, not jumping up at the table/worktop/person)
Stand
Find it / Show me (also Find Fox/Elephant/Hamburger for specific toys, Find Arrow for finding arrows. We've tried to teach our names but unsure if she knows or just goes to the other person)
Come
Heel (work in progress)
This way (for following when off lead)
Catch
Mat ( settle on mat )
Give (release toy to us - still a bit hit and miss)
Up (paws up for into boot of car)

Ada is 4 months old

Our paid for training last week was focused on linking some of these together, e.g. sit then stand, or down then sit.

Forgot we're also working on leave it and various other self control things. So use 'Ok' to say she can stop waiting which means she can start eating, take the treat etc.

@tizwozliz yes I forgot I use "ok" too when she can release from her stay/wait and I say "ok let's go" when she can cross the road as I make her sit and wait at kerb before we cross.

My OH insists it's cruel but I like to get her to do down and then place treats on her paws and resist them until I give the ok

@MeredithMae

Elmpup is fairly reliable on:

Sit
Down
Off
Leave
Touch
Come
Brekkie
Lunch
Dins
Time for bed
Let's go

She did fetch for the first time today.

Recall is patchy - depends on what distractions there are around.

She sort of gets watch.

Arrow finding practice in the woods (video)

www.flickr.com/gp/ebygomm/95Z54m

How are you all getting on with barking? Opalpup doesn't do a huge amount, but she had a very barky episode around 8.30pm tonight. With young kids, I really don't know what we'd do if it became a regular feature!

I've realised I am quite noise sensitive...any general tips on discouraging too much barking?

@opalescent good question. Goofy also barky

Oh we also taught "speak" and "quiet" to help with barking. Mine went through a barky phase in the evenings, it did pass, I just had to keep her occupied! She couldn't bark if she's sniffing or chewing something!

Ada mostly barks at specific things so we just avoid them, e.g. cover patio doors so she can't bark at her reflection, don't let her play with the Kong wobbler toy, make sure I prepare her kongs and lickimats quickly and efficiently!

Oh he does fetch and let's go too! Forgot them!

With wait I just did it in sitting with treat. Say wait and when they don't snatch, treat and praise. Extend those waits. Then went to moving a step, then further and further. I can get about 3/4m on my long line before the lure of the cheese means he dashes for me but unless he hears me say "come on then" before he moves he ain't getting the primula!!

Elmpup is very vocal - we've found distraction is good way to quieten her. Getting her to sit or lay down, for example. These are usually accompanied by grumbling to herself.

Anyone else's pup discovered they can howl yet? God knows what our neighbours think we're doing to Elmpup when she starts howling. It's usually FOMO, because we've put her on a long lead in the garden to keep her away from us when we're using a chainsaw or chemicals or similar.

@GuyFawkesDay

Yes, forgot 'wait'/'stay'. That's variable.

She's good at 'gently' too.

We only have:
Sit
Lay Down
Touch
Stay (new one in the past day or so and am extending it a little at a time)
Recall from the garden (only works if I have a treat bag in my hand!)

We need to work on:
Off (furniture, clothes, anything he wants to bite)
Watch
Drop it

One thing he always gets right is racing back from where ever he is when he hears the reminder on Alexa to feed him! Even if he's under a bush in the garden!

He's 11 weeks and seems to be very food orientated for getting him to do anything. He's grown massively in the last week or so. Definitely not a little puppy anymore.

Anyone else have a puppy that insists on waking, toilet, play, breakfast and then goes back to bed? Little monkey is snoring on his bed next to me 😠🤣

@GuyFawkesDay - Elmpup does wake, toilet, walk, possibly eat, play THEN crash out for the morning. It's too long after she wakes to make it worthwhile me going back to bed.

@567and - loving the use of Alexa for meal reminders.

Yes, every morning @GuyFawkesDay - the other day she only managed to stay awake 15 minutes before deciding it was first nap time.

Aren't rainy days tougher! We normally have our Bach doors wide open, and our days with opalpup are a real mix of in and outdoors. I really find that rainy days feel tougher, partly because we don't have all the outdoor space to use. And partly having a wet and muddy puppy skidding in and out!