I hope you and your pooches are all well today.
Batty has definitely entered the teenager stages. This morning I have had outright disobedience, cheekiness and naughtiness. I can handle one at a time, I actually like the cheeky moments, but the outright disobedience has got to stop. I should have known that a Kelpie puppy would outsmart me, even if he is a cross!
This cheeky little puppy has gone from weighing in at 4.09kgs (just 9 weeks old) here:
To 11.8kgs here (4 months 21 days today):
We have been working very hard on our training. Batty heels nicely on a lead until he sees other people or another dog - he believes people are there to pat him and other dogs all want to play with him! We're working on him sitting calmly before anyone gives him attention though.
He has learnt Sit, Drop, Stay, Shake, Paw, Gimme Ten and Come. We're still working on Come as he isn't as reliable as I'd like yet, but part of that is puppy antics so we're being nice and patient.
My favourite method to teach the command "Come":
Firstly ONLY use the word "come" when the puppy is already running to you at first. We want the action the dog associates to the word "come" to be running to you, not stopping to see what you're yelling about. Start with making fun noises, rattling a treat bag or something to get the puppy running towards you, then call out (in a very happy voice) "come" when the puppy gets to you JACKPOT the praise. Make a fuss, tell the puppy over and over "good girl/boy", give them a treat or play a game with them when they get to you (make sure they get close!). Never ever punish your dog for coming to you. If you say "come" you want your dog to believe that something amazing will happen when they get to you, not that they are about to get the beating of a lifetime!
I randomly say "Batty, Come" throughout the day, treats in hand ready to praise and reward for the right action - this way he is associating coming to me as something brilliant. We're moving out to the park tomorrow for our first practice under distraction, I'll be sure to let you all know how he goes!
On a plus, he is now having a lovely snooze, snoring and grunting away under my chair at the moment. When he wakes we'll be having a play, doing some training, he'll have his daily bone then outside for toilets (remind me to write about toilet training!) then back indoors for some more play before we both have a nap. I'm getting old now and he's tiring me out just as much as I tire him!
Have a lovely day, and remember if you don't have a pooch you're missing something!
Ciao xxx
