This morning it was cold and sunny.
07:30am – Babe was great this morning, no whining. He’s definitely gotten the routine down.
11:00am – Session 1.
We played a ton of ultimate workout as a reward. The work part was “attempting” to jump into the crate. It’s never a good idea to compare puppies but I could tell as strong as he is in some areas, coordination is something that needs more time. But he’ll get it. He did awesome with whistle recall, place / down and stay.
Just a pleasure to work with.
4:00pm – Session 2
He was ramped up for this session – very bitey and generally a nuisance.
When that happens you have 2 choices: help them work through that or put them back in the kennel and try after a 5 minute break.
I chose to work it through with him. When he was calm he some his favorite love and tickling. When he wanted to snip I let him chew on me and when he realized he wasn’t going to get a reaction he avoided mouthing my hand.
Remember: at this age they are still teething, what we call chewing is them simply looking for relief.
We also put the crate on some pavers so that he was about 4 inches high. He had no issues clearing that. Then we made it 2 pavers high, about 8 inches.
This is where I saw him trying to workout how to hop into the crate.
He successfully got it and then got a ton of ultimate workout as a reward. All in all a great session.
8:00pm – play time and walk.
10:00pm – play time and walk.
Some things to think about:
Routine
It is critically important that you have a routine that your dog fits into, rather than changing your life to their patterns. In our environment with our life style Babe knows the following:
In the morning he need to whine or yell – he knows we’ll let him out before his bladder leaks!
He gets to watch me serve his breakfast and walk him to this kennel to give it to him.
Around 11 am he’ll get to “play” with us – we call it a training session but for him it’s play time.
Around 4 pm he’ll get to “play” again with us.
Around 6 pm he’ll get to play, run around the training field and then have dinner.
Around 8 pm he’ll get another playtime and walk.
Around 10pm he’ll get another playtime and walk.
Because we are consistent with the routine he lives in a state of puppy fulfillment.
Puppy Biting
Today it reminded me how important it is to training your puppy with boots on and long pants. Their nails are very sharp and painful.
Throw in a teething puppy, you’ve got the makings of a Tasmanian devil.
Always remember to DRI and DRO and keep them moving.