New Puppies!

8 Week Old Shana Madela!   Welcome home.

We just purchased a new puppy.  Shana Madela will have been our third puppy, and our seventh dog.   One forgets a lot of puppy stuff in between the new family members, and especially if your dogs live happy and long lives.   So I am going to attempt to collect as much puppy information as possible for others right here.      Dobermans grow until at the minimum two years, and are not considered mature until three years of age. Taking your eyes off puppies can be quite a mistake, that may threaten the life of your new family member.   Please be sure to supervise your young and learning puppy, to keep them out of trouble and accidental harm to themselves.

So here is some puppy info links, notes and advice:

1. House Training
2. Crate Training
3. Socialization
4. Feeding/Food/Water
5. Vaccinations - also talk this over with your veterinarian.   You should know the risks ET, and the changing environment of vaccinations.
6. Worms and Parasites - Good to know about, but be sure to consult your vet if you think there is a problem.
7. Teething
8. Stages of puppy hood
9. Leashes/Collars-Leash protocols for young puppies (NOTE:  I use a fifteen foot leash for this)  and slip type training collars can be used ONLY to be sure that the collar will not slip the puppy (as many flat collars can and get loose if your puppy tugs at all on the leash).   Training collars should never be left on your puppy when not out walking (and again, remember only to use so your dog can not slip their collar, do not use for corrections at this time)  Be sure you do not start correcting your puppy to early.   They are still very fragile, and all your work now should make corrections minimal in both frequency and level when they are over six months old and old enough to start more ambitious training.
10. Toy Safety
11. Toxic items you might not think about.
12. House Proofing or knowing what to be especially careful of (please note that puppies should never not be supervised in or outside the house)
13. Multi Dog Issues and Training in a Multi Dog Household
14. Off Leash Preparation-Most effective off leash preparation is done on leash.   Many people start off with their puppy off leash, and then have problems with them staying near them when they reach a more mature age, where adventuring is the norm. (see number 8 article on umbilical cord training)
15. Still Growing Watch Activity
16. Puppy Training-You start with the basics in training a young puppy.   First things to do is house training, crate training, training to accept and not eat the leash/collar, and recognizing their name. Commands are trained differently than you might train an older dog with perhaps no previous training behind them.   Generally, if you do this right and consistently, it will be very easy to carry training forward into adolescence and maturity.     I play a lot of games, do luring, and use food when necessary.   Also a lot of praise and fun.   You can't expect the same performance as you would from a more mature dog.   For instance, you are not going to expect a half an hour place from a very young puppy).  
17. Natural but Annoying-Mouthing, barking, occaisional growling, accidents in the house, eating poop, chewing, and more.   You can find some great tips about these sorts of things in this article.   These are all things that can be worked on (please see a dog trainer if you do not know how), but know the puppy has no idea these are not desirable in a domestic human household.
18. Things to Be On Top of Right Away-Signs of aggression, abnormal growling or barking, health concerns, biting (different than mouthing),any abnormal behaviors, and so on.   Be aware though, some very new owners have a hard time telling play signs from aggression.  It's a good idea to consult with a pet professional or trainer to help you understand the behaviors of puppies and what they may mean.

There is lots to know about taking care of a puppy.   I do hope this helps someone out there who is going to be or is enjoying this adventure soon:)

http://www.mannerlymutts.com
http://mannerlymutts.blogspot.com

Sophie the Golden Retriever Puppy Beginning Training

Sophie was a very young 8 weeks when she came to us.   She is just 12 weeks now.   Here are some training videos on her progress.

Day 1 and a couple of days after, Sophie was pretty shell shocked and scared.   Probably only due to the breeder not handling her very much.   Everything was so new.



Crate training and house training the beginning on Week 1:



Week 2 we are working on engagement.   Sophie is a very independent Golden Retriever puppy, so I had to work very very hard to get her to interact with me for training.   Luckily, we had a strong prey drive.



Week 2 Also starting the sit, down, and attention.



Week 3 worked also on sit, down, and attention.   Also walking in the house on leash with distractions.   Now this is her on week 4 starting on our outside and very distracting walks.





http://www.mannerlymutts.com
http://mannerlymutts.blogspot.com
mannerly_mutt@yahoo.com

Housebreaking Tips

I get a fair number of calls a year for house training advice. I give out a lot of tips for free, due to the fact that while many want the trainer to take on the time and patience to house train their dog, few really want to pay the trainer for their time to do this. Many think that they should not need to pay for such "easy" work. It is i n fact easy work, but time consuming and requires organization, diligence, consistency, and patience. This takes an enormous amount of time out of a trainer's schedule that could be used for something else. I charge 700.00 per week for this with no apologies or deals. I am putting my house and household's well being on the line. Two hours and boarding are a fraction of the time that I will give to the project. Frequently it means I am giving up quite an amount of sleeping time to be sure the dog goes out when they feel they need to go, and making up a schedule and plan for the owners. This does not come cheap, nor is it my favorite type of work by any means. However, if someone is willing to pay for my work for it and needs some serious help, I am more than happy to oblige them.

Here are a list of tips that I give to owners that are seeking to housebreak their dog:

• Puppies NEED to go out more often than adults. Some can sleep through the night, and others can't. Some will need to go out about every two hours at first.
• When first bringing home a puppy, crate training and tethering when your attention can not be on them are great solutions. Let puppy or dog inside for loose play only after they have done number one and two as expected when first entering your home (and in their outside area obviously).
• Write down the times of any "accidents" and add those times to your schedule of when you let your dog or puppy out, until a reliable pattern develops.
• After an accident, immediately bring your puppy or dog outside.
• Keep separate bathroom times when your puppy or dog goes out vs play times. If the dog or puppy does not pee or poop within a reasonable time frame, return them to their crate for about 20 minutes, and bring them out again. Repeat until they have done their business outside.
• The reason for keeping play and bathroom time separate is that dogs will naturally want to play and extend the time. If you make it clear there is a certain time for bathroom and it needs to be done soon, then you will be able to get your dog in and out and then go about your day.
• Be aware that feeding times help you determine about when your dog will need to go. Most dogs need to go out before they eat. Some find that the eating moves things along after too. Notate the times in your journal that your dog pees or poops after they eat.
• Dogs and puppies need frequent access to water, but at night you can pick times (like 7 PM or so) that you put the water away that when your dog out later (at 9 pm for example) they won't feel the need to go out again (in general, every dog's system is different).
• Especially for puppies, after training, exercise and play puppies normally need to go to the bathroom. I usually break puppies in class after a half hour for a potty break. Dogs may need this too, it depends on the dogs system. After a play or training session, it's always a good thing to check if your dog or puppy needs to go out.
• Train your dog or puppy to alert when they need to go by use of a bell or something else to make noise. Also be aware of what your dog or puppy's signals may already be.
• BE SURE THAT YOU LET YOUR DOG OUT DURING SCHEDULED TIMES DURING THE DAY, ONCE YOU KNOW THEIR SCHEDULE. ALSO SHOULD YOU HEAR THE ALERT, LET THEM OUT!!!!
• I do not recommend pad training a dog, unless you are a city dweller and really need this.
• If you work and can not get home during the day, have a pet sitter let your dog out.

Looking for results-orientated dog training? Call Mannerly Mutts at 207-361-4395. Or call Maine Dog Trainer, Robin Rubin, for your Maine Dog Training needs.

Literal Pissing Contest

We are having an unplanned and unwanted pissing contest at the Mannerly Mutts home. Our dog, Leon, who is normally perfect and unproblematic has felt the change in the winds lately as a bit of a reorganizing of Jack's privileges has been instituted.

Having multiple dogs can sometimes be a big pain in the arse. It all stems from my problem child, Jack, our Doberman rescue. When he came to us, he had a multitude of issues. One charming thing that he did was every kind of peeing behavior one could think of. He had house training issues, marking issues, submissive peeing issues, and excited peeing issues. Yippeee yahooo. Who would not want to have to deal with that, right? On top of that Jack had three blockage operations before coming here due to his indiscriminate swallowing, and he has just a bit of dog aggression. For the months of July 08, Aug 08, and Sept 08 everything was in sync for once and peaceful. Then one day, Logan, a daycare Rottie, and Jack collided in the woods in a frenzy of racing and playing dogs. Only Jack didn't take to kindly to this, and they were off. Jack came out with some small punctures on his neck, and Logan had a good sized bite on his leg. Not good.

Since then, Leon, our other Dobe boy, has become Jack's favorite punching bag. After three weeks of three separate attempts by Jack to attack Leon over other dogs or toys, ending in a puncture would below Leon's ear, we decided that a whole host of privileges needed to be taken away and a whole lot of freedom. Jack's training has also begun to encompass more than just his open training that was going on. I think some of the retrieve work is making Jack just a bit resource guarding about stuff as well.

So I have been doing a lot of the retrieve training exercises with food, hoping to kill two birds with one stone. These items are so irresistible to Jack, that I am hoping his guarding will become less around Leon, as Leon really does nothing to deserve this. This is why Jack's freedom has been limited quite a bit to allow Leon to feel safe and confident in his own home again.

So after that overly long explanation of the changes in the household, it has become apparent that Leon is trying to say something. It has not been surprising that Jack began marking especially when my husband forgets to heel him on leash to the door in the morning. What is surprising is that Leon has joined in the party starting with peeing on my client the other day!! Awesome, such a proud moment. Then this has continued to marking the box that holds the dog equipment, to the side of the stairs in the family room, to the.....

So now I have one dog in lock down mode, as we call it with Jack, and another that needs to be re taught the proper place to mark or pee EVER. The good thing is that Leon has a tell when he has done it. He does this thing that we call the "dukey dance". Normally he does this outside after he goes number two, but we have found these things after some dukey dances inside our house.

NOT good times right now.

Dogs in The News

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13562659/ Moose (Eddie in Frasier Television Series) dies at 16 1/2


http://www.dailypress.net/stories/articles.asp?articleID=2565 Article on "leashing" your pet, would rather you "trained" your pet (unless an unsafe pet of course which should be both trained and contained at all times-----or destroyed)


http://www.wane.com/Global/story.asp?S=5062388 Florida postmen being bitten by dogs. The bad news always gets out, the good news never does. Be responsible for your dogs daily actions, and train your dog responsibly. We will all loose our rights otherwise.


http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/people/family/14910707.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_family Balanced training finds favor in child rearing LOL.


http://www.dispatch.com/science/science.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/27/20060627-B5-00.html Dogs tracking whales!!!


http://www.lakesunleader.com/articles/2006/06/27/news/20.txt Bomb sniffing dog finds bomb in mailbox.


http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/82583-0/ From Russia with love, dogs as good medicine for sick children


http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/crimes/13-06-2006/81928-homeless_dog-0 From Russia with love, good samaritan saves dog skinned by a$$holes. (sorry temper got the best of me there.)

Blog Fish

http://mcgibfried.blogspot.com/2006/03/dog-training.html (Adventures of an owner and her besenji)

http://matt.carter.name/blog/2006/03/why.html (Police Dog Handler Poem)

http://www.petlvr.com/blog/2005/09/dog-training-how-to-house-break-your-dog/ (Tips on Housebreaking)

http://www.fideliodogs.com/dogblog/?p=38 (On Clients and A Common Problem with Client Dog Training)

http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/lskrocki?entry=dog_training_woes (cute story on child training dog) http://blog.dogdoright.com/?p=20 (Seniors and Preferring to Relate to Visiting Dogs One on One)

http://animalsuffering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=18580 (Police Dog Dies Chasing Man) http://judysworld.net/blog/index.php/2006/02/10/on-being-a-benevolent-leader/ (One Take on Benevolent Leader-Unfortunately PP Take---but still good philosphy)

http://www.petville.com/pet_community/2006/03/the_iditarod.html (Iditarod Article)

http://spadafori.typepad.com/woof/2006/03/bad_dog_does_go.html (Review of a Book on a "Bad" Dog Named Marley)

http://www.dog-college.com/2006/03/five-ways-to-tell-that-you-re-not.html (Five Ways to Tell You Are Not Ready to Own a Dog)