Puppy Kindergarden- Day One

[Tracey & Spike]

So last night was our first night of what essentially is puppy kindergarten (needs to take this to graduate to grade one. So cute)

I honestly don't know who was more tired the humans or the doodle! Spike was out cold on the car ride home and he was still sleepy this morning before I left for work!

I have to say I'm super impressed. Some of the things that were worked on last night I have already been doing with Spike. Handling paws, ears, his tail and such. So that was a bonus. I got a chuckle at the other puppy parents who had to battle their mini sharks during this exercise. Spike just sat there like it was no big deal. Other things that were demonstrated and explained were amazing. Things that we never would have thought of. But now that we know; it all makes complete sense.

One of the big points of the night was the 1 second rule. You have 1 second to give correction or give praise after something's been done. Any longer and it's in the past. The faster you are at catching them in the act doing a good or bad deed the better the association with the desired behavior. Don't get me wrong.. I've been pretty fast at getting to him to praise or correct. But not fast enough to really change behaviors. If he's snuck away and had an accident and I don't notice it immediately I've missed the golden moment of correction. I can scold all I want and he wont associate his mis-deed with doing anything wrong. It's done. It's over. He's already moved on. Same works for when he goes outside. I need to be quicker to bust out the confetti!

The trick to the one second rule? The drag line! Brilliant! When he's loose in the house he now has a house leash attached to him. When he grabs something he shouldn't I just have to step on the leash to get to him. I don't have to chase him around encouraging more zoomies and turning his thieving ways into a fun game. Brilliant.

We learned so much last night. We are going to have to read the "Training bible" to go through it all again. By this time next week Spike will recognize his name and look at us when we say it. He knows our voices but I really don't think he's associated himself with his name. Proved that one in a very distracted environment last night.

Other than the information overload the experience was wonderful. I was honestly so nervous about how Spike would deal with other dogs and people. So far I have no worries. If anything it's more concerning that he acts like a "momma's boy".

During off leash play time he stuck with us. He attempted to approach the border collie siblings but as soon as they noticed him he took off like a shot under the nearest bench. He made nice with the classes only other doodle (the owners said it was a full size dood puppy but it was much smaller than Spike (mini dood) and older. To me it looked like a cocker. They bought him off the internet so who knows) They cowered together. A yorkie just shook like a leaf and a bad behaved red rimed eyed rotty had to be escorted from play time for bad behavior. Of course that's the dog Spike was most drawn too. Fun times!

The next three weeks will be interesting. I'm really looking forward to it. I know if we all stick to it and practice hard we are going to be well on our way to having a well behaved little dood :)

Note to self: Get new soft treats. The soft treats I had last night could have knocked over a horse. Man they STUNK! Although Spike LOVED them and three other dogs (the border brothers) were trying to steal from our treat bag. The trainers were using Zukes and there was no nasty smells from them. However thanks to my knowledge from the food group I know Zukes were bought out by Nestle. Not good! Need to scan the food group for approved soft treat brand.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

This is so true about practice. Yogi did so very good in his first set of classes and I got kind of lax on repeating them daily. When we started up again a couple weeks later I could tell the difference. He wasn't so willing to do the down and comes. But I have since seen the error of my ways and stepped it up. We are back to where we were again. I'm thinking I'll probably try to do all commands daily until at least one year old, then even after that very frequently. The key is to try and incorporate them into your daily routines when possible and cut back on treats when they know the command. Our trainer says to make it a lottery, sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. That way they don't become dependent on treats. Just praise like crazy!

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

It's amazing with the right trainer what can be accomplished...  Our trainer says that 20 minutes of intense training is more exhausting for a pup than an hours worth of play so no wonder your little guy was exhausted!

As for treats, I used hot dogs for Bailey at first and now have switched to cheese.  They are soft and you don't have to worry about what brand to get.  I cut the hot dogs into little slices and Bailey would do anything for them...

Have fun and keep us posted !!!  And practice practice practice

[Tracey & Spike]

Good to know! It has been bugging me a bit. He'd go at the other dogs stealth style and the second they noticed him he was GONE! His tail was wagging away the entire time so I know he was happy but still. I was looking forward to watching him play! Maybe next week. After all it was his first time being around any other dogs since he left his litter and mom. The super bonded border collie brothers probably didn't help. They stuck to themselves. That was cute to watch. They were all adopted by separate families and all arranged to meet up for puppy class at the same day/time

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Sounds like it was a very good class.  So much of what they teach is common sense, just not what would have thought about.  I loved taking Yogi to his puppy class.  He(we) learned so much and I thought it was worth taking him to before he had all his shots completed.

 

Yogi was timid in the first class, but after he could not wait to play and became very social with the other dogs.  Just let him go at his pace..