Teaching Come, Sit, and Down

Hi puppy trainers!
The Week Two challenges are teaching your puppy "come" and "sit," as well as socializing the puppy to new objects. I threw in "down" to this video as a sneak peak for next week! Work hard this week on come and sit, though, as they are extremely useful tools to have!

 

Sit:

1. Begin by luring your puppy: Keep a treat a few inches from your puppy's nose. 
2. Move the treat up over your puppy's head toward his back until he looks up. 
3. As soon as his bum hits the ground give your positive marker "good boy," then give him a treat.
4. Once he can be lured easily begin using a hand signal (no food in hand mimic the movement you were doing to lure puppy). 
5. Mark and reward him if he sits.
6. If he does not respond, lure him a few more times. 
7. Once puppy is responding to the hand signal reliably (9/10 times), begin saying "sit" right before you hand signal.  (mark and reward!)
8. After 20 repetitions of the verbal command then hand signaling, try just saying "sit." If the puppy responds correctly, mark then jackpot reward (two or three treats right in a row)!
9. If puppy does not respond correctly, go back one step to saying the verbal command then hand signaling. 
10. Slowly add in distractions, duration, and distance to asking your puppy to sit!

Come: 

1. Begin by luring your puppy: Walk several feet away from him and hold out a treat. 
2. When your puppy comes to your outstretched hand, grab his collar and give your reward marker, (Good boy) then treat. 
3. Add in a hand signal once your puppy is coming to your outstretched hand. 
4. When you puppy comes after hand signalling 9/10 times, begin saying his name then "come" right before you hand signal. 
5. Try just saying his name and come, and see if he responds without the hand signal. If he doesn't go back to hand signalling. 
6. Slowly add distance, distraction, then duration. Distraction can be achieved by practicing in the backyard, then at the park on a long lead (30 foot) and a harness.

Down:

1. Start from putting your puppy in a sit position. 
2. Lure the puppy by putting a treat in front of his nose from the sit position and lowering it directly between his front feet. 
3. Puppy will lick and sniff at the treat- don't release it until his elbows and stomach are fully on the ground and you say your positive marker. 
4. Practice luring from a standing position, too- hold the treat at the puppy's nose and slowly move it between his feet. He will lick and sniff at the treat, but don't release it until he lays down and you give your positive marker. 
5. Begin using a hand signal of a flat hand that moves toward the ground (You will have to be down at the puppy's level for this to replicate the lure).
6.  If your puppy does not respond, hide a treat between your fingers so he can smell it but not eat it. Mark and reward. 
7. Slowly move your hand signal higher and higher until you can give it from a standing position. 
8. Once he responds to the hand signal 9/10 times, say "down" then immediately hand signal. Mark and reward. Remember not to say "down" for "get off the couch" and "no jumping." 

      

No bite and no bark!

Training your puppy not to bite and to be quiet in the apartment need to happen ASAP! Your neighbors hate it when your puppy barks, and you will end up getting sued if you don't curb your puppy's nipping now.

Training these skills uses negative punishment, or taking away (negative) something your puppy does want (punishment). So if your puppy wants your touch, eye contact, and for you to talk to him, what should you do when he nips you?
Yelp like a puppy would when hurt "Ouch!"
Walk away.
If he does it again (which he will), give your negative marker as soon as teeth touch clothes or skin, and then immediately walk out of the room and close the door for 10-20 seconds. Come back in and ignore him for a bit before coming back to play.
* Approach your puppy with a toy so he has something to chew on when he's playing with you
* Spray your shoes and pant legs with bitter apple

Okay, now let's talk about how to keep him from barking.
No bark, puppy!
This uses the same principles as no bite. Take away what your puppy wants the second you hear him barking. 

No Jumping!
By some weird ironic twist, I can't find a puppy to jump on me. It's really strange. I'll just describe what to do:
Same principles of negative punishment:

     As soon as your puppy's paws leave the ground, give your negative marker "Uh-uh!" and turn around. Avoid touch, talk and eye contact for 10-20 seconds.
     Turn around and interact with the puppy again- as soon as his paws leave the ground give your negative marker and then leave the room!
   Give your puppy touch, talk and eye contact when he has four paws on the ground.

Potty-training perils, Separation Anxiety, and Socialization

Every day with a 9-week old puppy feels like a new adventure!

I've learned a lot about Doctor since he came home. He can only "hold it" for 20 minutes if he's hyper playing, he has separation anxiety, and he is very heat sensitive!

Doctor averages 11 trips outside per day to use the bathroom. With three flights of stairs, that means myself, my fiancé, and my dog walker climb a total of 44 sets of stairs per day. What a great workout! In general, potty training rules are as follows (for a 9-week old puppy):

• Outside as soon as he wakes up
• 20 minutes after eating/drinking
• Every 2 hours, 15 minutes
• 20 minutes after hyper play
• Once in the middle of the night
• ALWAYS say a command to eliminate, like "hurry up," then say "good boy" as he eliminates, then give him 2 or 3 good treats.
• If he doesn't go when he's supposed to, crate him or watch him like a hawk, then try again in 30 minutes.
• Every week add 15 minutes to the time between eliminations! (# weeks old x 15 minutes = # of minutes he can wait)

Here is Doctor during a trip to his potty area... He doesn't quite have it down yet!

 Training for separation anxiety is so difficult for a number of reasons. First of all, let me explain what separation anxiety is. Does your puppy whimper, cry, bark, or destroy things when you're out of sight? Does he "lose it" when you take a shower, or when he's put behind a baby gate? If so, he has separation anxiety.
It's so difficult to treat separation anxiety because puppies are adorable, and we want to soothe their fear and unhappiness when they cry.  It's difficult because it takes a lot of time, patience, and understanding neighbors.
I was fortunate to have a few days off work when I first brought Doctor home. As soon as he showed signs of separation anxiety, I began the training! The idea is that you must create a positive association with your leaving, build confidence for being alone, as well as instill the idea in his mind that you will always come back.

•  I put him in his pen, and told him "bubye" while waving, and gave him a few treats. 
• I stepped outside of the door for one second, then came back in. 
• I ignored him for a moment, then repeated, but stayed outside for two seconds. 
• Over the course of two days, I worked my way up to fifteen minutes, then eventually two hours. 
• I focus on socializing so that Doctor can gain confidence.
• Always give him a minute of ignoring before leaving and after coming home.

I also started hiding treats in his blanket when I left and leaving interactive toys that dispense treats so that he was distracted and had something fun to do.

Doctor in his pen and our hairless cat Jumoke puppy-sitting.

 This brings me to socialization!

Socialization at a young age, done in a responsible way is like inoculating your dog against fearful and aggressive behaviors. In dogs, aggression usually stems from fear, and a dog becomes fearful when they encounter a new situation and are forced to react. Socializing should be done ideally between the ages of 8 and 16 weeks, though "better late than never" definitely applies. Here are the main principles of socializing:

• Go about it in a structured way- create an exhaustive list of settings, objects, animals and people (SOAPs) you want/need your dog to be comfortable around. Divide them up by 6 weeks. Every week focus on a new set of SOAP.
• Socializing is only effective if it creates a positive association for the puppy with whatever she's being exposed to. 
• Bring a mix of treats for the socializing experience that are better than his kibble.
• Watch for signs of anxiety and stop what you're doing if you see them. Pick the puppy up and move to a distance that he feels comfortable from the SOAP. For example, turning the head away, freezing, and panting (when not hot) are all signs of anxiety.
• Observe dogs before letting your puppy meet them, and ask the owner if 1. He is friendly to dogs 2. He has had two sets of vaccines
• When puppies are playing, pick your puppy up as soon as he is uncomfortable (squealing, shrieking, growling while snapping the jaws rapidly)

Doctor has made a few friends in the neighborhood already.

Here is his first time playing with another puppy. Notice how Doctor takes the more submissive position on the bottom since Scout likes to dominate.

It's very important for your puppy to learn how to play with babies and toddlers since it's different than how children and adults play.

Here Doctor meets Maple, a 9 month old Standard Goldendoodle. She's so gentle with him!

The Charles River provides all sorts of socialization opportunities- ducks, skateboarders, strollers, squirrels... and water!

The Doctor is In!

Good afternoon puppy owners, I hope you're enjoying this warm Boston Saturday!
I'm thrilled to announce the arrival of Doctor!
Doctor is a 9-week old Miniature Goldendoodle.
He came by continental cargo shipping from Kansas City, Missouri, and his crate was very messy when he showed up! Poor thing had a lot of pent-up frustration and energy from being stuck in that crate for five hours.

His first morning in Boston- pooped!

Yawning in Frustration coming out of stinky crate

SO I'm training Doctor to walk on my left side and with a loose-leash, as he would need to in Service Animal training. Every 5-10 seconds I tell him "good boy!" if he is walking like he should be, then give him a treat immediately after!

Some dogs naturally fetch, and I got very lucky that Doctor is one of those dogs! A puppy who naturally retrieves is one of the indicators of being willing to work with/for humans. This is a great sign for his future service work!

I threw this one in here because it's adorable.

 

We have been doing some gentle socialization- Doctor went to check out the grass at the Boston Common. He did a great job! After about a block's worth of walking he starts whining because his little legs are so wimpy.

Potty Training:  

And finally, I must lament the difficulty of living on the fourth floor, with no elevator, and potty training. Only one accident so far in 24 hours... let's hope I can keep up the trips up and down the stairs! I bring him to the same spot every time outside, and I take him out every two hours, or right after he wakes up from sleeping, or 20 minutes after eating, drinking, or rough play. Yes, that's about 8 trips up and down the stairs per day. At least my legs will be in great shape!

As soon as he starts to potty,  I say "Go potty!" the instant he finishes, I say "Good Dog!" immediately after that I give him three tiny treats in a row.

Lola Monroe... fabulous big puppy!

Lola Monroe is as fabulous as her name!

Here we have a puppy that might compete with Teagan for biggest puppy in the 11 a.m. class! She has Great Dane in her mix, so she is growing lanky fast! I met Lola Monroe and her mom Deanna in Jamaica Plain center on my break. Deanna was doing a fantastic job trying to motivate Lola Monroe to walk nicely on the leash. Lola will be about 6 months when class begins.

Teagan and Miekka

Ahem... May I introduce you to two of the cutest pups I have ever seen?

Patriotic Puppy!

Teagan is an American Mastiff who lives with her mom Leanna. Teagan will be in the BIG puppy class, and will probably be the biggest of all the pups! American Mastiff females often mature between 140 and 180 lbs! She will be about 4 months and 1 week when class starts. American Mastiffs are a cross between the English Mastiff and the Anatolian Mastiff- they were bred together to reduce some health issues in both breeds and to create a great family dog!

Why Grandmother, what big EARS you have!

Meet Miekka, a Tamaskan! Tamaskans are a pretty rare dog breed, and they originated in Finland. They are sledding dogs, so her dad Daniel will have to keep reminding her not to pull on the leash! Tamaskans get to be a little bigger than German Shepherds. Miekka will be about 4 months old when class starts, and will be joining the big puppies at 11:00 a.m.!

Meet Sadie the hound mix!

What a beautiful day to blog! I've received a few more pictures of the cute puppies in the class.
This is Sadie, a hound mix who will be around 4.5 months when class begins. She will be in the "big puppy class!" She lives with her dad Lucas in Beacon Hill.

I believe she has mastered "puppy dog eyes."

Sadie has some big shoes to fill.

El perro tiene hambre!

"Try to resist my puppy dog eyes."