how much to expect...

[ejano]

Remembering that this is my first time raising a pup, just how much can I expect a five month old pup to learn and how fast...Robin is picking up the basics at home okay, but in new situations he can be a real space cadet. He's not frightened at all... he's a very steady pup, he's just incredibly interested in everything around him. I took him to the town green for a little lesson in leash walking in the evening when there wasn't much traffic and he couldn't even be distracted by food I finally just sat on a bench and let him watch and watch and sniff everything within reach of the leash, converting the lesson into him discovering that there is an end to the leash and it is finite. When we went back the second time, he was much calmer and responded nicely. And, when we sat on the bench, he didn't pull to the end of the leash at all.

 

I guess the question is, when might I reasonably expect that the training will override his excitement at being placed in new situations and he will respond to me instead of wanting to embrace everything like a kid in a candy store?

 

Thanks,

Liz

 

PS The easy walker is really working but he still pulls like the devil if I transfer him to the collar....

 

 

Liz

[Liz P]

I own a dog who got a full pass on her therapy dog certification test the day she turned 16 weeks old. She went on her first visit, to a nursing home, the next day. I was already an experienced BC owner and therapy dog handler, so I knew the type of training and socialization required to meet that goal. Each day we did many 5 minute training sessions that were short but fun. All that said, I knew a puppy had a short attention span. Her therapy visits were just 15 to 20 minutes before I would put her back in the car and pull out one of my older dogs.

 

Since then I have backed off on the intensive training for little puppies, not because it doesn't work, but because I am too busy and my pups turn out just as nice as adults with a somewhat more hands off approach. A 2.5 yr old that I own right now used to come to classes with me as a tiny pup. He was expected to sit quietly under my chair and sleep or chew on a toy until break time (10 minutes per hour). By tiny I mean 3 weeks old (he had to come with me because he had an injury that required 24/7 care).

 

Anyway, that is my long winded way of saying that pups are capable of a lot more than most people realize. It's all about the standards you set and what you expect from them.

[ejano]

I own a dog who got a full pass on her therapy dog certification test the day she turned 16 weeks old. She went on her first visit, to a nursing home, the next day. I was already an experienced BC owner and therapy dog handler, so I knew the type of training and socialization required to meet that goal. Each day we did many 5 minute training sessions that were short but fun. All that said, I knew a puppy had a short attention span. Her therapy visits were just 15 to 20 minutes before I would put her back in the car and pull out one of my older dogs.

 

Since then I have backed off on the intensive training for little puppies, not because it doesn't work, but because I am too busy and my pups turn out just as nice as adults with a somewhat more hands off approach. A 2.5 yr old that I own right now used to come to classes with me as a tiny pup. He was expected to sit quietly under my chair and sleep or chew on a toy until break time (10 minutes per hour). By tiny I mean 3 weeks old (he had to come with me because he had an injury that required 24/7 care).

 

Anyway, that is my long winded way of saying that pups are capable of a lot more than most people realize. It's all about the standards you set and what you expect from them.

 

 

He's getting much better now that I've set down specific goals for behaviors I'd like him to learn and we work on them cumulatively - when one gets pretty solid, I add the next one.... and he's getting much better about breaking off and turning his attention back to me when excited. We're ticking off new things off pretty regularly...its all a matter of communication! The moment of shared understanding is really thrilling.

[desertranger]

Jin 7 1/2 months works reasonably off lead and knows a slew of tricks like bow, wax on, wax off, left and right along with fetch and retrieve. His longest fetches are of a soccer ball from a distance of 250 yds (measured ona golf course) He also knows the difference between large and small soccer balls, a tennis and chick ball, squeaky and Frisbee. What else, knows front and back seat auto sit, auto down, lie down and down (two diff commands) and wahtever he;s learned in obedeiences classes. I wouldn't worry about what yu can stuff into his head just don't push him and let him take it at his own pace.