Puppy class notes

Tonight Dr. Angela Dattolico talked about the importance of getting puppies accustomed to handling. Leaning over them to pick them up, handling their feet for nail trims, running your hands along their body and having them associate putting a muzzle on with something they LOVE!

Here's Michelle and Ruger with a muzzle.


Michelle and Ruger demo sit, touch, and eye contact. Notice no jumping up when Ruger approaches Michelle :)


We saw some really nice play tonight. I also talked about the importance of stop and start play. Checking in with their playmate to make sure both parties are having fun is a great way to prevent fights. Here's my older beagle Daizy 9 and Keegan who was 2 at the time. You'll notice he respects her initiating the stops and then waits for her signals to begin play once again

If your puppy's playmate doesn't initiate those check in points, then it's our job to interrupt so their bodies get used to start and stop play. Ramp up and calm down in short increments so they will learn to calm themselves BEFORE things get out of hand. Here's a great article by Dr. Sophia Yin on Dog Parks and how to identify problems before things get out of hand and how to set things up for success and learning to take place http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/dog_park_etiquette

I like to teach a cue which will eventually mean to "calm" themselves. It's in no way shape or form a reprimand or warning. Just interrupting play when you start to see things ramping up ( 20sec - 2min into play) and neither puppy is giving any signals to tone things down, just simply using classical conditioning. This will help the pups learn through repetition that your approach into play, say "Calm" or whatever word you like in a happy, calm voice and pair it with one of their most favourite reinforcers (food for most dogs) then reward reward reward means just to take a breather before continuing to play.

Eventually they will hear the word and notice your approach and will disengage from play on their own. Their reward for disengaging and checking in with you, shaking off the stress, will be play starts back up again so you can fade the use of rewards. You'll know if they're ready for that stage once then automatically disengage when you say your "Calm' cue.

 Lastly we touched on 'Take it" and "Give", the beginning of a retrieve and a sure fire way to prevent resource guarding behaviours when the pup learns that once they release something from their mouth, something better comes along. It's never a competition or adversarial challenge. At first you trade for something of equal value, or something that will trump whatever they have in their mouths. Play this game with socks, shoes, anything and everything so your puppy doesn't think twice of giving something up. **Notice that the game doesn't start until the puppy is in a sit and is calm, not mugging the toys or treats in your hand. This is an important step for the puppy to learn. When they calm themselves, something fun or tasty comes their way.

I've got your back

I'm always on the look out for behaviours which are kind and respectful to reinforce. One important behaviour that I see all too many people overlook is the "look away".

The second I see one, I'm always checking to see what the other dog/person does in response to it. If there's any indication that they're not going to respect it, I intervene and try to time it so that the sender of this "look away" is reinforced for not following through with a more overt display. At the same time, the receiver also is reinforced for not pushing the interaction further.

The "look away" is one of the benevolent, cut off signals that should be respected. It can be as subtle as the eyes flicking away in the opposite direction or as overt as the complete head turning away.

So many dog fights and bites would never happen, if people would just reinforce the "look away" and teach the pushy dog or ask an unaware person to respect it.

Here's my own crew doing a great job....

Keegan my Aussie is so cheeky but from day one, I knew as a puppy that he'd grow to be 4times George's size so I have always been around to reward being respectful and it's paying off. Kee still has some growning up to do but atleast he's on the right track. I think it's sweet to see him give it his best shot...but even sweeter to respect another dog's request for space.