Need some ideas??

[tennesseemom]

I just got back from the Vet's office for Sampson's check up. It went really well.. he is in great shape except for a case of round worms and some fleas. He has a more german shepherd look to him but its obvious he is a mix... and OMG he is smart as a whip!

He has taken to all of the training we have started like its easy for him... He is great in the kennel at night as long as he doesn't have to go potty. He seems to be figuring out that I will not open the kennel until he is quiet. He is excellent about house training... We take him out every hour... and he doesn't play any games about it... he will go out... go pee and pooh if he has to and he comes right back up the porch and wait at the door.

The vet was very pleased with him... and has warned us to find a way to keep him busy...as his smarts can turn into destruction if we do not find an outlet for it. I told her we were mostly concentrating on potty training and kennel training and a couple of commands.. sit and come, and she told us to step it up some. To teach him a few things at one... make a routine of it.

So now I am starting to feel a little out of my element. LOL I am not sure what we should be working on. Right now there are a couple puppy viruses going around... Parvo... was one... and the other one began with a C. The vet told us to keep him home for the next month or two and away from other dogs and puppies until he gets his third set of shots. So now I am not sure what to do with him. LOL he is already learning sit... come and have been trying a bit of light NILIF. But this stuff really just seems to come naturally to him.

Any ideas on how I can find ways to help keep his puppy butt busy besides running him ragged? Maybe something constructive until we can get him into puppy classes?

[masha]

Its a pity about keeping him away from other dogs - our vet actually told us that it was more important to get our pup socialised around other dogs as early as possible, than to keep her " clean" until the last bunch of shots. But if there are viruses going around then its probably more risky.

Signing up for a puppy class at a good dog club or training school is the BEST thing you can do. Apart good advice, having your dog be around other pups under the watchful eye of an experienced trainer is very good for his future social skills.

I created some "lightning atractors" and left them lying around the garden and house- lightning atractors are things which are more fun to play with than pot plants, shoes, cats or remote controls. A big plastic bucket with a couple of holes in it, and some smaller plastic containers tied to it with tough elastic bands work well. You can initiate the games, and also leave them around for him.

Leaving toys around is not NILIF, but as long as he does not get possesive about them I think keeping him busy outweighs that problem.

You can use a "kong", which you can buy at most pet shops - its a hollw rubber shape that you fill with food, and the dog spends happy hours trying to remove the food from inside the kong. Sort of like an artificial marrow bone. You can get all kinds of kong recipes - horrible concoctions of cheese and peanutbutter which you pour into the kong and freeze.

(Although I would not advise giving a pup cheese or peanut butter, as in my experience they are foods which act on a pup like chocolate coated sugar pops act on kids: makes them manic)

You can get a food-ball, which is a plastic ball which you can fill with doggy biscuits or treats, which the dog has to roll around so that the food falls out of the small holes. They have to work hard for the food. Putting a food ball inside a wooden box works well, as they then get to stand with their front legs inside the box, knocking the food ball around and make a lot of very satisfying noise as well.

End up with a fat pup as well, if you follow my advice

In the end there is not much substitute for you playing with your pup. Having a strong play drive is very useful and encourages your bond with your dog. In the future you will find it easier to teach him stuff like come on command if he knows that you are the center of all FUN. All FUN should emanate from you, as far as he is concerned.

He sounds like a bright little thing. You can teach him lots of useful stuff already - my favourite being " let go" which is easy to teach - if he has hold of something, tell him " let go" and offer him a treat. He will cotton onto that quickly.

Lots of people on this forum will not agree with me, but personally I found it very useful to escalate this command by playing tug with my dog and teaching her to " let go" when she is very excited.

Teaching him " watch me" or " look at me" is very important as you can use that in all sorts of ways. Are you using treats? Hold one near your eyes, say "watch me" and as soon as he does, treat him. Once he does that, extend the time he has to look at you, until he is staring at you. Also, if you happen to see him staring at you, give him a treat, or a praise, a cuddle, a quick game.

You will have a lot of difficulty training him later on if you cant get his attention, so this is an important one.

Read about clicker training. It works like a bomb. Clicker training makes the dog work with their brain, so thats very good for a little clever boy like yours.

Even teaching him seemingly " useless" tricks like roll over or shake hands is good, as you are teaching him about learning, about watching you and trying to figure out what you want. Learning should be fun. Dont make the mistake I made, which is to think that my dog will think being trained is a pain. She loves it, its interesting and stimulating and she gets to be with ME, the center of all FUN.

[sibemom]

That's OK Masha about playing tug I forgive you Now what is this about the "POT PLANTS" sorry could'nt help it Everything you posted was great ;D your right though nothing is better than playing with your puppy one on one, although I do have a CHEAP REMOTE CAR, that when I am really tired I get it out and let the little buggers chase it around, I do make sure though that they can't CHEW IT TO PEICES the other thing that I use instead of store bought dog toys, and of course under supervison is a 2 liter plastic bottle where I have put some noisy subject matter in, anything that makes noise will do, I let them roll that around, chase it, pounce on it, etc.. but if they start to chew on it I take it away till next time. This also helps them get use to different sounds so they are not so jumpy around noise. I guess it's easy here I just make my 4 year old sacrifice himself as the TWO LEGGED LIVE DOG TOY the dogs always get a work out with him

[sibemom]

Masha wrote:

" are things which are more fun to play with than pot plants"

SEEEEEEEE

[Brooke]

sibemom said:

Masha wrote:

" are things which are more fun to play with than pot plants"

SEEEEEEEE

[Brooke]

Personally I find nothing wrong with tugs depending on the dogs temperament. If they are dominant by all means... don't use them but in fact, I think they can be excellent tools to boost confidence in some of the shy'er pups.

I think if he's a quick learner you are fine to start advancing to more. Especially if he's needing more activity to keep him stimulated. "Stay" is a good excersize to work on. I'd start making him "wait" for his food until you give him the "ok" to eat. Some of these are in the NILIF thread.


dogden.proboards21.com/index.cgi?board=articles&action=display&thread=1079736429

[Aussienot]

Pot plants has a different meaning outside of the US, which has caused me to giggle a few times too. I don't have time to water mine daily, so I tend to stay away from them.

Back to puppy exercises. In addition to the good ideas already posted, try a small ball on a string to teach grip and focus. Do the call back and forth between two people (dog gets to run from one person to the other.) You can also fill a kid's wading pool with sand and bury toys in it for the dog to dig in a good way.

Swimming is good for pups if you have access to shallow water.

And any kind of obedience training - short sessions done frequently. Mental exercise is more tiring than physical exercise.

[masha]

OK - no, not THOSE kinds of plants. Friends of ours were taking care of the neighbours plants, one of which was a POT plant. Their cat kept wandering outside and eating it. Sort of new kind of katnip.

[tennesseemom]

Thank you guys for your great suggestions.

As I am from a very rural town I can't seem to find a "kong". I did find a food ball and OMG he is hilarious with that thing. He just pushes it around for about an hour sniffing for food falling out of it. We are going to try to head into one of the bigger surrounding towns and maybe we will have some better luck. I also tried the two liter bottle idea... that is a big hit too... I filled it with buttons and these small bells I had lying around from some project along with small shapes of bright colored fabric. I am not sure if dogs can see in color LOL but what the hay I guess. He really like thats. Actually to be honest he reminds me an awful lot of my kids sometimes... he LOVES anything that makes noises when he plays with it. The louder the more fun for him. Lucky for me I have three kids and its never quiet around here anyways.

We just try to keep him worn out. He is so easy to play with and he really is just smart as whip. Housebreaking has gone as smooth as I could possibly hoped for and we have had only a handful of accidents in the two weeks we have had him. He is just starting to let us know when he needs to go when he is not in the kennel... its only happened a few times in the last couple days... I don't think he really gets a chance for the most part as we are very diligent about taking him outside.

He is just a complete joy to have in our home... he is smart and keeps us cracking up with his antics. I have already gotten him to learn "sit" very well. "Come" is one of those things I am going to have to work on because he doesn't always come right when I call him. I have started using puppy treats cut up into small pieces on my vets recommendation that he is very food orientated and that works very well. I just added two days ago.. up, down, floor, (floor because everyone tells him to get down when he jumps on them. ) and also just started working on stay , release on OK and drop it. He is a natural and picks up this stuff so quickly. Leash Training has also gone very well so far I think. We have only worked on just getting him used to using it... I did as you all recommended and left it on him around the house so that he drags it around. Plus the kids use it when they are in the living room to keep him away from their video game system and from jumping on them. That way he can be with them.. but he isn't all yanking out controllers or chewing on things. He still balks when I go a way he doesn't want to go.... like to my car. He does not like my car at all.... though once he is inside he seems to enjoy going for a ride.

I just wanted to give a bit of an update in case anyone thought I wasn't paying attention. LOL I am still here.. and trying to follow as much advice as I can and get as much info as possible.

Hugs and Thank you!

Jesci