Puppy Update (15 weeks old)

Time flies when you have a puppy! Rory is 15 weeks old now and he is growing up much too quickly! Watching him learn new things and grow in confidence has been so much fun. I thought I’d give an update on how he has been going.

Puppy Socialisation

I’ve tried to get Rory out and about in various environments without overwhelming him. He’s visited parks, outdoor shopping areas, carparks, cafes, a beach, dog friendly pub, other people’s houses, Bunnings and pet stores. He adores meeting people and a friendly interaction with anyone will reassure him that wherever he happens to be is a good place. Toddlers and pre-school children who run straight up to him can startle him but he is fine with them after a short period of time and some reassurance. Some of the things that made him nervous initially (trolleys, loud trucks/buses, motorbikes, helicopters) are becoming less of a concern to him. As much as possible I let Rory explore each experience and figure out for himself that he is safe and happy. I support him with pats and praise when he is doing well and I also use food treats (mostly to encourage specific behaviour such as loose leash walking or staying on his mat).

Rory has finished one course of puppy classes that were run at a local vet and he is going through another course at my obedience club. I have found these classes invaluable because of the opportunities for Rory to socialise appropriately with a diverse range of puppies in a controlled setting. He gets along beautifully with almost everyone and has had lots of positive interactions. However, he does tend to avoid dogs that are very full-on, bouncy and “in your face”. Again, as much as possible I let Rory relax and choose who he wants to interact with. He is learning to be comfortable and confident at his own pace. Ideally I don't want Rory to feel like he has to greet and play with every dog he sees. Puppy classes are a great place to practice relaxing around other dogs as well as working/playing/focusing on YOU.

Play Mechanics

One of my goals with Rory is to effectively use play as a reinforcer (so I can train just as easily with toys as I can with food). This means I have been playing A LOT with Rory. Of course, we all play with our puppies - and I have played with all my previous puppies! But this time I am focusing on specific play mechanics that will (hopefully) help me down the track. One of my main objectives at this point is to have Rory constantly driving towards me with a toy. This means that if we are tugging and I drop the toy, I'd like Rory to immediately move towards me and want me to pick up the toy and continue the tugging game. I am lucky that Rory is just awesome at toy play and everything seems to be progressing well. He is bred from Retrieving lines so his natural retrieve is a no-brainer - he brings back anything you throw around. If you are interested in play mechanics, I have found this video to be EXTREMELY helpful: https://youtu.be/EiFswmIHvac

Skills Training

I work every day on foundation skills for Rory. Sometimes it seems like very tiny progress (and it is so tempting to want to jump ahead to the “fun” stuff) but I know that I will be grateful in the future for solid foundation skills! Here’s a few of the thing we are working on:

Recalls - Practicing lots and lots of fun, motivating recalls around the house and garden. Rory’s doing really well with this. I started with a simple “Name Game” (say name, give treat) and then added movement and distance. I do enjoy training recalls - it’s fun to slowly increase the challenge level and there’s nothing more awesome to see than your puppy flying towards you when you call him.

Sit/Down positions - I’m trying to focus on a specific “tuck sit” and “fold-back down” for obedience trialling in the future. This means the front feet don’t move forward as the dog moves into each position. Rory’s sit is looking nice and he is finally responding well to my down cues without luring.

Nose Touch - It’s super easy to teach this to most dogs. I’m trying to make Rory’s nose touches exciting and motivating. I’ve also started getting him to touch objects other than my hand.

Pivot Platform - I love training this for rear-end awareness and heeling, and Rory loves when I get his platform out (an upside down pot plant tray thingy). He is happily placing his front paws on the platform. I’ve got him side-stepping around as I move (keeping his paws on the platform) and I am now waiting him out to move around the platform independent of my movement. He is doing awesomely.

Place Box - This is fun to train as well. It’s a targeting exercise where he has to run to the box (a small wooden platform) and sit on it. I also find it useful to reinforce his stays and release cue training. 

Mat work - One of the first things I did was make sure Rory loves his mat. I take it out and about and wherever I place it, Rory is happy to lie down on it. I’m working on taking it to more distracting places and building duration.

Impulse control - Hand zen, Its Yer Choice, Leave It… Whatever you want to call it, I need to do it more because I always seem to forget about it! Rory understands the basics: I have food in my hand, he has to leave the food alone and give me eye contact. But I should start upping the ante a bit on this one. 

Ok, so that’s a snapshot of how Rory is going. There’s always lots to think about when it comes to raising a puppy but I’m trying to just enjoy him and his adorable puppy-ness as much as I can. And when in doubt... I just play with him! (And I think that’s a good rule of thumb for all puppies.)
 

A New Puppy

So I have a new puppy! Meet Rory the Golden Retriever:

Rory arrived from a lovely breeder who had clearly put lots of work into him. I have many things I’d love to do with Rory in the future and a long list of skills I’m planning to teach him: competition obedience, rally-o, retrieving, nose work, agility (maybe!), and lots of tricks. But what we end up doing together will largely depend on what brings the both of us the most fun and enjoyment!

Rory has been home for two weeks so I thought I’d write an update on how he’s going and what we’ve been working on. My priorities at this stage are fairly simple:

1. Get to know my puppy! What does he like, what does he not like, how does he like to play, what sorts of interactions does he enjoy, how curious is he, how confident is he, is there anything that worries/scares him?
2. Let my puppy explore the world. Socialisation, socialisation, socialisation! And no, not just meeting and playing with dogs. But experiencing all the sights, sounds, smells and textures of the world this puppy will live in.
3. Start teaching basic training concepts. At this stage, I’m not so much interested in my puppy knowing sit/down/stay/etc, as I am wanting him to understand the process of learning (how to earn reinforcement) and building a foundation for our communication and relationship.

So how is he going?

Getting to know Rory

Rory seems to have a lovely even temperament. He takes notice of things and if it’s something new to him, he will think about it a bit before engaging. He is curious and eager to explore. He loves loves loves to put things in his mouth and he is so much fun to play with (he’s excellent at tugging, he will hold toys in his mouth while he climbs all over you, and he loves to chase and fetch toys). One of his favourite activities is to run around the house searching for items of clothing that he will then proudly parade around the house with. He is possibly the mouthiest puppy I’ve ever had in terms of putting his teeth on me, so that’s something we are working on! At this point, he is probably more toy motivated than food motivated, although he does enjoy food. He is happy to play in his puppy area by himself with his toys and is also happy to sleep in his crate. I would say he is much more easy-going than my last two pups!

Socialisation/Exposure to the world

I'd like to give Rory as much choice as possible in interacting with the world as I present him with various life experiences. I never want to force things upon him. He’s enjoyed playing with all the friends and relatives he’s met and doesn’t seem worried by people. He seems to have very appropriate play with the few dogs he has interacted with so far. Rory has been exposed to experiences such as being in the car, going to the vet, guests visiting, vacuuming, mowing the lawn, traffic sounds, birds, children playing loudly, being carried around a pet store, a loudspeaker and lots of household noises. He has coped well with most things but seems to be a bit sensitive to loud traffic, motorbikes, helicopters, etc. He did have a negative reaction to shopping trolleys so I will work on counter-conditioning and gradually desensitising him to those. I’ve also been introducing Rory to different surfaces, objects and sounds by playing shaping games with him (giving him choice to interact on his terms and rewarding him for being brave and for different types of interaction), which he loves.

Training Foundations

I’ve been working on several different things with Rory. He understands the association between a clicker or a marker word and food. I’ve been practicing luring basic sit/down/stand positions (without verbal cues). We’ve been doing lots of shaping-type exercises: crate games, mat work, hand zen/leave it behaviour. I’ve also been playing lots of name and recall games. And I’ve been working on making him love putting his harness on. He is doing really well with everything! I’m trying to keep training sessions super short, but sometimes my enthusiasm gets the better of me and we go on too long (my bad!). In terms of life skills training, his toileting is going well (I’d say 90% of his business is done outside, and the rest is due to my mistakes, not his!). One thing I need to work on more is his ability to be left alone for longer periods of time.

In summary, the first two weeks of raising Rory have been lots of fun! He is a happy, playful and easy-going puppy and I am very much looking forward to all our future training adventures.

Rory is yet to master the skill of staying still for photographs!

My Dogs

Name: Elly

Breed: Alaskan Malamute

Born: 2004

Personality in 5 words: Friendly, Bold, Independent, Opinionated, Silly

Likes: toys with squeakers, being chased, zoomies in the backyard, belly rubs, meeting new people, being the centre of attention, "woo-ing" at people to get what she wants, walks with lots of sniffing time, jumping on freshly-made beds

Dislikes: dinner being late, the other dogs having food/toys/fun without her, the sound of the blender or food processor

Best trick: she will do the alaskan malamute "woo" with you

Most annoying habit: unsolicited alaskan malamute "woo-ing"

Elly is a "rescue" dog. I use inverted commas as she was not from a shelter or a reputable rescue group. My mother came across some people trying to sell her back to a pet shop as she had apparently grown too big. Long story short: she ended up in our household, living with our family's two elderly golden retrievers. Elly is a complicated creature. She absolutely thrives on human attention... in fact she will demand it. She loves being adored by anyone and everyone. She will stand there calmly and happily as strange children run up and throw their arms around her (those children who have never been educated about how to approach dogs!). Elly has received much less formal training than my other dogs. She is a challenge to train as she is not easily motivated and I have found it difficult to transfer the value of rewards to working with her. She could more accurately be described as working for bribes rather than rewards. I think this is a result of many factors - a lack of training early in her life, her own temperament and my own methods and motivation. One of my biggest training challenges and learning experiences with Elly has been dealing (mostly successfully!) with her resource guarding.

Name: Crosby

Breed: Labrador

Born: 15 September 2010

Personality in 5 words: Loving, Bouncy, Sweet, Happy, Fun-loving

Likes: eating (can be food or non-food items!), playing fetch with a squeaky ball, clicker training sessions, snuggling on the sofa, playing scent games, jumping on people, chewing toilet rolls, being wherever I am 

Dislikes: not being able to jump on every dog he encounters

Best trick: making it easy for me to wake up and get out of bed every morning (he's just sooooo happy to get up!)

Most annoying habit: being an overly enthusiastic kitchen assistant

Crosby is the first dog that is wholly "mine" as well as being the dog that really sparked my passion for dog training. Until Crosby, the dogs I had lived with had been loved family members but they hadn't seemed to need "training" in order to fit into our family so to be honest, it wasn't really something that I thought about. Crosby arrived and I took him to puppy school and he seemed as easy as my previous dogs. Fast-forward 18 months of hectic life filled with work and study commitments and I suddenly found myself with an adolescent labrador that was uncontrollable (lunging, screaming) around other dogs. It honestly felt like it came from nowhere but looking back, I can see plenty of warning signs and things I should have done differently. From that point on, I have been on a journey of learning about dog behaviour and training. I discovered clicker training and a bunch of other stuff and it was as if I had found the one thing I enjoyed most in the world. I realised the amazing possibilities that training creates. Sadly, Crosby is almost completely blind now as a result of a hereditary condition which means we won't be able to do a lot of the things in his life that I had hoped to do (obedience competitions and such). But we continue to have fun together and learn new things every day. We recently completed all three Odour Recognition Tests (Birch, Anise & Clove scents) for nose work and are preparing for further nose work trials.

Name: Pippin

Breed: field-bred English Springer Spaniel

Born: 11 September 2012

Personality in 5 words: Cuddly, Energetic, Thoughtful, Intense, Cheeky

Likes: hunting lizards and bush turkeys, training sessions involving lots of action/movement/fun, playing tug and running off with the toy, stealing socks from drawers, parading around the house with his favourite toys in his mouth, snuggling with people under blankets

Dislikes: anything strange/unknown

Best trick: anything that requires aerial acrobatics (spins, jumps, leaps, etc)

Most annoying habit: finding/eating/rolling in poo

I decided to add a third dog to our household because... well, why not? (Although I should add that you should only have as many dogs as you have enough resources, space and time for!) Because Elly likes to do her own thing a lot of the time, I found myself wishing that Crosby had more of a playmate. After researching gun dog breeds, I fell in love with field-bred (or working) English Springer Spaniels. Pippin was the first puppy that I was determined to train "properly" from the get-go and from the time he came home at 8 weeks of age he has been clicked and treated and taught tricks galore. Pippin is a complete joy and a hilarious character. However, he is extremely sensitive and I have now learned (the hard way!) that for sensitive puppies in particular, socialisation needs to be handled very carefully. It is an ongoing process dealing with Pippin's anxieties around strange things but it is a valuable learning experience! Pippin is well-trained in obedience competition skills and I hope to compete with him when he is more confident and happy in trialling environments. He is also doing well with nose work training and has completed all three Odour Recognition Tests alongside Crosby.