Last Monday, 8.9.10, Michelle and I went to Hastings, MN to meet a lovely couple named Erick & Dawn Lindgren. This insightful couple hired us to come out and train them how to raise their adorable 11 week old Yorkshire Terrier puppy, named Herbie.
The reason I created the "Start 'em out Right~Puppies!" 1 on 1 sessions and group seminars, was to help people to avoid the nuisance, destructive or potentially dangerous behaviors in the first place. So many of the calls we get at Walks & Wags are for dogs that are in some way out of control and causing trouble. During our "Behavioral HELP for Dogs" sessions, we go in to correct that, and I am so thankful that we can. It does my heart good, however, when I get a call for help on the fore side of the pups life, rather than the aft.
Did I mention that Herbie was adorable? The first thing I told the Lindgren's was that although that cuteness is surely a blessing, it is also Arch Enemy #1. Why? A cute puppy is so easy to coddle rather than to let him figure out his problems. He is easy to protect, spoil and not correct when he does something wrong. Think of a bowl of fruit and how wonderful it smells and looks and tastes when it is washed and ready to eat. What does it do to your senses when it is rotten? Get the picture? This goes for our children as well. Both dogs and children need our leadership and direction even more than our companionship and affection.
We began with the basic training about the Innate Make-up of a dog and laid the foundation with Erick & Dawn. Herbie actually gave us a few opportunities to do a Dominance Ritual on him to keep him from puppy biting. At times all his behavior would require was a gentle squeeze on the snout and a "No" from me to cause the behavior to cease. I assurred Dawn, who is the softer energy of the two, that puppies are used to this behavior from their mothers and liter mates. We had photo's with us of two 6 week old Golden Retreiver pups who were engaging in a dominance ritual during a filmling session of our Cable TV show entiteled, "Start 'em out Right~Puppies!". Proof.
Sympathy for a puppy is perceived as weakness to him and will only enable him to become the dominant one over you. Aside from neglecting to take your dog for a structured walk, humanizing them is the main reason for the negative issues that they develope.
I encouraged Herbie's new owners to purchase several of the same chew toy and place them all around the house. Make it clear to him that those are acceptable to chew and furniture is not. When you are only 11 weeks old as a puppy every thing seems fair game. This is a good way to help pup sort that out.
Then it was Herbie's turn to have some fun. We took him outside where he became gleefully animated regardless of the high temps that evening. I proceeded to show the Lindgren's how to teach Herbie some basic obedience commands. In one instance, I used an old fishing pole of my husbands with some string tied to the tip of it and one of Herbie's toys tied to the end of the string. All I had to do was stand in one spot, turn in a circle and watch Herbie run. It was awesome. He had no thoughts about running away from us at that time! I slowed down to let him catch the toy at times, then speeded up again. The point I was trying to make for the Lindgren's was that fast play is a physical drain, whereas slow play is more of a mental drain of the dog's energy. It causes him to look to you for direction. Both physical and mental challenges are necessary.
We, then, postioned ourselves across from each other, about 8 feet apart to work on the recall/ come exercise. We leashed Herbie up with a lightweight long tether and took turns calling him to us. If he balked, we could tug gently with the tether and encourage him forward to us. I told them not to use Herbie's name to scold and never to scold or correct him punitively if they have called him to them and he has come. It is important that when a dog comes to you , there is always a reward of some type of affection waiting. If you need to administer a correction, go to your dog to do it.
I was very pleased when we came back in the house that Herbie was extemely relaxed. Our work outside accomplished exactly what it was supposed to. When The Lindgren's put him in his bed he rested there quietly while we went down stairs and continued more of the session. Later, I went to get Herbie and he slowly got out of his bed and wiggled towards me, not at all afraid of the first human to ever establish dominace over him in an overt way. As a matter of fact, Herbie and I enjoyed some nice, gentle affection time when I brought him back down to join the rest of the group. He was exhibiting behavior that was calm and submissive. The kind I could reward.
~Candiss DelCastillo
Walks & Wags Pet Service
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