Harley, Mannerly Mutt's Canine of The Week

Harley came here for dog training in our board & train program as a six month old puppy in the winter of 2005.   To the left of this text is a picture of Harley at that time (and to the right a picture of Harley now).   As a puppy he was as big as my full grown Doberman Jackie!

Need puppy or dog training with a dog training professional?   We are happy to talk about it with you, just first fill out our client service form.   If you are not familiar with us, review our webpage and blog or just call us 207-809-6300!

Harley's original owners were ill equipped to have a puppy of any sort.   One owner worked as a nurse and was not often home, and the other owner was just not into spending time with a Great Dane puppy.   Harley's original name was Moose.   The original owners paid for training to house train and obedience train their dog, and at the last lesson the male owner expressed his feelings about the puppy.   I offered to purchase Harley at that time (plus the cost of his veterinarian fees to date and reimburse their training), but the male owner did not want to disappoint his wife.

So a year went by, my phone rang in the afternoon in March 2006, I think.   It was Harley's male owner, and they wanted to know if we still wanted Harley.   Harley had been being passed around to family member to family member, with no one wanting to commit the time and appropriate care to him.  Meantime, Jackie the Doberman, who had been a foster, had become our third dog.   Our budget did not allow for a fourth dog at that time, but I had a client who was looking for a companion for their dog.   Hence, Harley found his new home with owner's who walk him mornings and evenings on the ocean.   Not a bad life for a once unwanted puppy.

The best part?   Like most of our clients, Harley has remained in our lives all these years later.   We know that he is safe and loved.   I get to see him every week, and let him know that we still love him as well.   Harley has known all of my dogs except Neptune, who died before we moved to Maine.

Harley is an awesome dog, who truly deserved his awesome life and awesome owners.  Each week, I plan to blog about one of our client's dogs.   Most of the dogs that come here, we have known for years!




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Our Maine residency dog training program, what is it?

Mannerly Mutts Dog Training is located in Maine.   Many different programs are offered at the Maine dog training facility.   Many people have not heard of a residency dog training program, also known as a board & train program.
What it is:  A Board & Train or Residency Training Package is one where your dog stays with us.  A dog in training receives two hours of training per day in addition to exposure to a home environment while training.  Residency or Board & Train is a great way to get up front work done by professionals for getting a start on puppy training, getting a start on house breaking, and getting professional help with behavioral problems (aggression, fear, or reactivate behaviors).   Dogs in training train here, and go into public distracting areas to train when ready.   This way your dog gets complete exposure to every day life situations that go beyond their home and yard.


Benefits:   All the up front work (including traveling to different locations when your dog is ready) is done by a professional dog trainer.   This saves the owner a lot of time and effort in the beginning of training.   The training can also go faster, because the dog is not being trained by the owner, who has a learning curve to scale, but by a professional trainer who has handled many different dogs of varying breeds and temperaments.   If the owner has been having long term problems with a behavioral challenge, a professional dog trainer is not going to be intimidated by the dog, and will know how to guide the dog through various scenarios safely (for the trainer, the dog, the public at large).    In this way, you will be better prepared to maintain your dog once their behaviors have improved to being socially acceptable.  Taking a dog or puppy into a structured environment used to training and handling dogs, also gives the dog a strong foundation for their future behavior as a well trained family member.


Included in the Board & Train Package:  1)  Two hours a day individualized training attention and work for your dog 2) Training blog that you can follow including video of the work done with your dog 3)  play, exercise and rest time provided for your dog 4) excellent boarding care while your dog is here and 4) follow up lessons to train the owner on how to interact with their dog and maintain their dog's training.   The leashes and collars we use are also for sale at Mannerly Mutts.   If you want to purchase these from us, they are available for an additional fee.


Price:  This price is based on two hours a day of training (70.00) plus the boarding expense (30.00) to total 100.00 per day.   However, the minimum board and train package we sell consists of a three weeks.   There is not much we can make a dent in with less than three weeks to work.   Therefore, the board & train or residency program starts at $2,100.00 with each day thereafter being 100.00 per day (or 700.00 for each additional week).  
This program is for a variety of purposes:

1. The owner does not have the time for the up front work.   We can bring the dog through all the basic obedience training through to distractions, and then provide a maintenance schedule and lessons.
2. The owner has a dog with behavioral challenges.   Often times an owner will find themselves in a situation where they are afraid of or intimidated by their dog.   This program can take the dog out of the environment, work with him, and then have the owner come back for follow up.   By this time a language has been created (IE commands and behaviors that have been taught) that make the process for the owner and dog much easier.  We can bring both the dog and owner back to a place where both eventually feel comfortable with the other.
3. An owner wants a really well trained dog:)   So they want the bulk of the up front work done by a professional dog trainer.
4. An owner lives far away, but wants our services for training their dog.
5. To begin the training process before a puppy or rescue dog enters their home.

If you find yourself in need of this service, please fill out our client interview form.  
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Help me find Shana Madela's registered name!.

Shana with her best friend, Clooney, (silver lab and no that
not a recognized lab color) on the couch.

Thinking of Shana Madela's "registered" name.   As many know, Shana Madela has come from Masaya Dobermans in Kentucky.   She is in an impressive line of dogs that have proven themselves dog sports like Schutzhund and Obedience(and others).   Ways in which breeders and other can track their success, is by registering their dogs and their litters.   You can track Shana Madela's breeding through many generations of dogs including seeing their accomplishments.

When Shana begins competing (hopefully next Spring of 2014 ), Her registered name will show as Masaya's [Something starting with F].   This is to easily identify her as belong to a certain breeding. In this case call names Cinders (aka Swiftrun's Volcan Masaya VPG III, IPO III, CD, RN WAC, CGC) and Nemo (aka Dark Nemo vom Koby Haus BH, ZTP V1A, IPO II) are the dam and sire.   Cinder actually originated from the kennel that our previous permanent foster dog, Stormy (aka Swift Run's Krystal Storm SchH3, WD3), came from.

I do need to find out what the other registered names in the litter are, so as I do not duplicate one.   I do know that they like it to be based on nature and fire I believe.   I thought I would start this process by thinking of things that describe Shana first:

• She's very pretty, hence her name in Yiddish means pretty girl (Shana Madela).
• Head strong and determined.
• Focused (which also happens to be an F word).
• Fun loving.
• Agile and athletic.
• Strong.
• Clever and very smart.
• Problem solver LOL.  Also could be described as problem maker if she was not in a training home.
• Loving.
• Independent minded.
• People loving.   
• Protective (especially of certain canine friends or family)
• Climbs onto anything she can. (I call her Monkey sometimes)
• Fearless.
• Friendly.
• Bad and naughty.
• (having to do with above) Adventurous.
• Busy, she is very busy.
• Bossy.
• Bully (wow a B name would be easy LOL).
• Drive.

It's alright for the registered name to be more than one word or even a short phrase.   My last puppy from a breeder, Leon, had his registered name come with him.   It was Ogelthorpe which was a university in the area that he came from (short name Ogre).   If it was not the exact opposite of Leon's personality, we might have kept it for his name, but the name Leon seemed to work as far as he was concerned.   When I was scolding him I would often say "Leon Ogelthorpe", but Leon never did get in any "real" trouble.   He was the easiest puppy ever, except for his initial mouthiness.   I actually remember that he could get as determined as Shana does about some things.   Hence why I am working with Shana in following my lead, rather than ever giving in to her protestations LOL.

Shana is very easy, except to convince her that calming down will get her what she wants in the end.   She is very determined to get somewhere or to something.   She can also figure out (or is figuring out) that working with me will get here there a lot sooner.   She learns things at an amazing rate of speed, and can also figure things out on her own (like opening doors) very rapidly.   She is tons of fun to work with.   I am training her mostly from what I learned at Mike Elllis's seminar and by watching his tapes.   As far as working with her while she is really focused on getting to dogs on the beach, however, I have started molding sits ala Koehler or Bedrock (I can not remember which but Margot, Bedrock's Method, was a student of Koehler).   Mike Ellis's engagement protocols are very helpful in this endeavor as well.

We are using food, balls, and tug toys (yes also technically a toy) to do most of the up front training with Shana.   Shana has been started on loose leash, heeling, come, sit, down, short stays under limited distractions, stand, and spin (yes not an obedience thing).   We are coming up to the six month mark next week for Shana's age.   Bonding with Shana, Robert, Boris, and myself has gone great.   I will no doubt be in charge of bringing Shana anywhere for a long time LOL, so we can take advantage of training opportunities that Robert will not yet be prepared to deal with.   Once I train one of our dogs, and especially if I have another dog in training, I seldom get to enjoy my training efforts on family outings with my dogs!   My husband is the usual beneficiary of this.   So Boris has been handled by Robert on family outings lately.   

I have to be ready to work Shana this winter if I want to trial in the Spring.   I am not going to lie to you, it's hard to keep your training schedule up in the winter.   It's even harder to locate acceptable venues for this!   There may be matches this Fall/Winter in the Saco area for me, but also there might not be.  I have learned to train around this, but it is challenging.  Having even a fake ring to practice and perform in does help.   However, if you keep up your training and keep it crisp & fresh in other distracting areas, that helps load too.   Of the two, I would rather practice in real life distractions rather than rings, but there is no doubt that ring practice can help!   It is not technically necessary, but do be sure you need to get to places as often as possible that are somewhat crowded with dogs for the specific purpose of training.

Well that is a bit about Shana Madela and what we are doing before beginning to think about her registered name!   It's an exciting and fun time here.

You should never forget though in order to have a fantastic dog, you need to work and have patience with your puppy!   Now is the time to do it, rather than wait until they are at their biggest and strongest, AND have not learned anything.   It is far easier to manage a puppy that is not at their full weight, and is willing and ready to learn at this young age.   Bad habits are harder and far more work to get rid of later on.

But if you are ready for the challenge, it will be fun and a great bonding/relationship building time for you and your puppy.

Please no comments about purchasing well bred puppies means killing dogs in shelters.   Of my seven Dobermans, two have come from breeders as puppies (Leon and Shana) to work with me as demo dogs and competition dogs.   Three (Neptune, Jackie, and Stormy, who came at 10 years old) have come from Doberman Rescue Unlimited as adults (Jackie CD did become my competition dog but died at 6 from intestinal problems that he came with).   One has come from Doberman Rescue Unlimited as a puppy with three legs (Boris and he is four years old now), and Shana believes him to be a rock star LOL.   One was an adult female that we did get from a breeder who no longer wanted her as her personal pet or to breed (our awesome first Doberman, Jazzabelle, who lived until 16).   I always plan to have at least one Doberman from Doberman Rescue Unlimited here.  I love rescues, but I also understand the value of dogs bred for health, temperament, and structure.   I do not think the solution to the rescue problem is to malign responsible breeders who put tons of work and knowledge into keeping dogs healthy.

I love dogs healthy or not, but I know that in order to home my skills, I occasionally need well bred dog to work with! There are issues that come with my beloved breed, especially if care has not been taken in the breeding, that can take them out way too early.  Not to mention, when you love dogs as much as I do, you want to spend every moment you can with them even the geriatric ones! IMHO it is an honor and a privilege to have a senior dog.  It is also hard to watch a dog that really wants to do things, but physically is held back by heart disease or something like that.   They can enjoy life, but as an owner you have to watch out for their limitations, while allowing them to enjoy their life to the fullest that they can:)

Also statistically, you are going to pay (in the end) much more for a dog that has something genetic lying in wait, than a well bred dog where care has been taken to try and eliminate these things.   Neptune in one year had medical bills well of $10,000 to keep him comfortable (and he was) and alive.   Much of those bills were in the form of the medication that he needed, and the check ups to make sure the medication was working.  I actually left my job in corporate America (because I financially could at the time) to be sure to be around more for Neptune during his last years.   It was this, and Neptune's initial behavioral problems that got me into dog training in the first place LOL.   So my expensive rescue dog who had serious health issues and could not compete, is ironically the dog who got me started in the first place.   Also Neptune was an excellent and loving dog.   If he was reincarnated, I don't know if I could afford it now, but I would take him again!   As I would all for all my past dogs, rescued and bred!

Are you interested in training with Mannerly Mutts?  Your first step is to fill out our client interview form.  

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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:)

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Leash Protocols for Young Puppies

The most common mistake that I see people do with their puppy is start the off leash portion of their training too early. Puppies make owners overly confident that they will stay this way, by the natural instinct of a puppy to stay close to their leaders. However, early lessons that they can get away with their puppy speed, will unfortunately carry over as they grow into adulthood and make their natural curiosity and wander lust worse than it needs to be.

It also starts to inhibit any problem behaviors related to prey drive. In puppy hood you can begin to teach the skills not to chase small furry animals, large furry animals, and cars. All of these things have the potential to be deadly to your puppy and future dog.

At the point that dogs are puppies is a great time to start the checking in process that you are going to desire before allowing your dog to go loose. I do this with puppies or adult rescue dogs with almost no training by doing the following:

1. Inside, while not supervised (definition being complete concentration on the puppy or dog), they are either tethered to me OR in their crate. When I am stationary, I provide a dog bed and toys that they can play with. This is not the sit on the dog exercise, which limits the dog to an area just for quiet. Be aware of where their teeth are in relation to the leather lead, as puppies and adult dogs are fully able to chew through a leash with their back molars very quickly. Otherwise I let them hang out and play around me. If they are tethered to you, you are likely to become aware of when they are in distress of needing to pee or poop. You will also be alerted to their movement immediately.
****NOTE: If I have a puppy that I suspect will worrying the leather lead and I doubt my ability to be aware of it, it is acceptable to use a rope for an indoor ONLY lead or old belt for an indoor ONLY lead for this so you can both relax, and you don't' accidentally loose something valuable. Most puppies are not so stubborn in doing this, but I have had a few small terriers that managed to get their way (and one Thai Ridgeback). So while I was teaching them not to do this, I was using less valuable leads for the inside puppy training. Some puppies are more determined than others.
2. Inside while supervised (definition being complete concentration on dog or puppy), I do allow them to play off lead and most likely with me or a family member. If they are content playing with toys alone, I allow them to do that. Do keep an eye on them though, because they can become bored with that toy and wander off to do something bad. I have a bunch of play sessions that I schedule into my day to allow them this sort of freedom. With a puppy these can be limited to 15 to 30 minutes, and is a good bonding time for the puppy and owner. IF there is a possibility that they are going to be naughty while supervised or have an accident, it can be very handy to have them dragging the leash inside. It is sometimes much easier to step on and grab the leash, than to need to pursue a puppy to catch their collar.
3. Outside, I would only allow a puppy to be completely off leash in an enclosed area unless in a rural setting where you are 100% confident that puppy is staying with. Otherwise, they are most likely dragging a long line. This way you can gently and efficiently stop any dashing off by stepping on the line or grabbing it. This starts the process of the puppy at least starting to ask or check in with you first before you release him/her. You do need to watch for the long line tangling around other dogs and themselves. Be sure that you don't do this near high traffic areas, just in case. It's not in most puppies natures to become serious flight risks at this point, so catching a 20 foot leash should be relatively simple.
4. Bathroom times, I will bring them along on a long line as well (sure to flick the line out of the way) unless I have an enclosed area to let them out in. In some cases, if the owner needs to have their dog eliminate on a six foot leash (they live in the city or they want it to happen on a walk in an area that has a leash law), it is prudent to start that training now. If dogs are given room to go to the bathroom, which I normally have no problem with, it becomes difficult later on to teach them to go on a six foot. I don't think that is your situation, but it is something to think about, if this does apply to you for some reason. (for instance when you take him to where you work, you might find that you have this need)

Although it sounds like more work now than one would want, it saves you a lot of aggravation later on. So many owners come here with dogs that have never been on a leash. When you have large areas to let your dogs off at home, it's easy to forget that you may come across an unexpected distraction when out. Also as you discovered, that distraction can live right across the street from you. Now is an excellent time to ensure your dog has more freedom in the future when it counts, and less while they are very young puppies learning the ropes.

It's also what starts this sort of calm and confident personality in your dog (in balance with the crate training providing a bit of independence early on). That demeanor in your future dog helps people have more confidence in your dog and your ability to handle him in public. Your future dog will have lost none of his ability to have fun and rip it up as needed either.

Remember, you can't do off leash what you can't do on leash first. This is really important to remember in order to keep you from unnecessary aggravation later on.

Some Tips About Your New Puppies

There are things that new puppy owners are almost surprised or concerned about. If you haven't owned a puppy for a long while, there are some things you may have blocked from your memory, perhaps with good reason.

Puppies are wonderful, and if you go about raising them the right way, they will seem a little less demonically possessed at times.

• Puppies are great because you are shaping their lives. The flip side of that is that puppies need to be taught EVERYTHING. Some of the below points will referance that.
• All puppies will mouth at some point. This mouthing can be anywhere from mildly annoying to being readily able to imagine your puppy biting off body parts while you are sleeping. This is a normal part of puppyhood, and yes you are going to need a strategy to teach the puppy (so this does not mean in one day) to bite other things rather than you or your human family:)
• To puppies a fair place to eliminate is someplace farther away from you and their sleeping place. They do need consistent and fair housetraining to learn that you want them to eliminate in an area that the human is happy with (this usually means outside in designated areas).
• Owners of puppies should learn about parasite protection for their young ones. I am including mosquitoe and tick strategies here in addition to worms.
• Sometimes a puppy is acquired in a non breeder and non shelter way. Please visit your vet ASAP to take care of vaccination requirements and other health issues.
• Puppies do not know the difference between your shoe, a hairbrush, glasses, wires, crown molding, door jams, antique heirlooms, or an approved dog toy. They need to be supervised or confined all the time.
• Puppies naturally follow you around when they are very young (generally speaking, I am sure there have been instances where this did not quite happen). Please know that training present and future (though techniques and objectives may differ) is necessary to keep that going.
• Puppies, as they grow, will try things to get there way. The strategies that might be emmployed include growling, whining, barking, jumping, and ET. This is normal, but will most likely get worse unless you do proper training.   DO NOT reward this behavior by giving in.
• Puppies tire easily when they are very young. The long walks and active days will most likely come later.
• In order to be used to and confident around different life noises and activities, puppies need to be exposed to these things. I expose puppies to these things in both training and non training ways. Please remember that socialization does not mean letting your puppy do anything they want OR letting anything/anyone have free reign over your puppy.
• Puppies eat more than adult dogs. Please consult with your vet, and also use the pet food directions on whatever puppy brand you are using. There are different foods for small breed, large breed, and giant puppies generally.
• Puppies poop and pee much more than adult dogs. MUCH MORE. This is just a fact, prepare yourself accordingly to let the little guy/girl have the opportunity to do it in the correct place as much as is humanly possible!
• Puppies that I have had are teething around 15-16 weeks. You may not find these teeth, as puppies tend to swallow them. If you smell blood around them and in their mouth at about this time, teething may be occuring.
• With large breed dogs at least, a puppy isn't considered matured until three and is well within puppyhood until two years old.
  

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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.

Socialization Strategies for Puppies

Puppies are in need of much learning and guidance. One of the most important things to do is to socialize your puppy well in the critical early weeks and months.

The first thing that you want to check is that your vaccinations are up to date, and that it is safe to take puppy out to areas with other dogs and puppies. Take a moment to have a discussion with your vet about the best plan.

Realize that this is not just about letting puppy loose with people and dogs. There is more to socialization than that. You want to monitor within reason how they react to other people and dogs, and also to control the interactions with people and dogs so that your puppy feels safe with you. Ideally practicing training exercises is also a great way to socialize. For instance, practicing a sit before greeting a human friend or a canine friend.

In reference to 2, do some research to find out what puppy play looks like. Talk to professionals about appropriate corrections and signals that dogs and puppies give each other. You want to find out when it's a good idea to step in, and when it's a good idea to let your puppy learn from other canines.

Have your puppy on a leash and collar for safety, especially if you are outdoors and anywhere near traffic. If you are anywhere near traffic, be sure to have the handle of the leash well gripped in your hand. While socializing, an alternative to having your puppy off leash is simply having them drag the leash. That way you can easily intervene when necessary.

Find as many outdoor and indoor places as you can to expose your puppy to new noises and sounds. Remember, the puppy most likely will not feel comfortable with them at first. It is the owner's job to guide the puppy confidently into and out of the experience so that the puppy feels more comfortable the next time. Do not coddle the puppy. It's OK to pet and reassure the puppy, but you don't want to block their learning and taking in of the experience either.

Live in or near York Beach Maine? Here are some ideas that other puppy or dog owners can add to their socializing strategy.

• There are some very pet friendly banks in York Maine. Kennebunk Savings Bank has not balked at customers bringing their dogs in. Be sure that they are ready to remain calm, not pee, and be enjoyable in the bank. Responsible pet ownership allows for these socializing opportunities to remain open to the dog owning public.
• Long Sands Beach in York Maine is an excellent place to socialize your puppy. This is a place dogs (under control and ideally on leash if not fully trained) can get used to the sights and smells of other dogs, children, people, seagulls, water, wind, ET AL. Beaches provide a lot of distraction and learning opportunities for dogs. Above is Bristol, who is still a puppy at just a little over 1 year old. It is very hard for her to keep position among all the excitement around her on the beach.
• Restaurants, coffee places, or ice cream stands that allow dogs to be outside as owners and customers eat are fabulous places to socialize your puppy.
• Many pet supply places these days allow for pets to come in. Groomers, veterinarians, and other canine professionals normally welcome your pets as well, and may provide a cookie to make less pleasant visits less stressful in the future. Below is Boris at York Maine's local pet supply, Ann-imals.
• Finally, don't forget to socialize your puppy inside the home!! Puppies need to know that people you know, who may be strangers to the puppy, are allowed in and welcome when the owner says so. If you have a dog with a territorial or protective aspect to their behavior, this is a very important thing to do. If you are in doubt about whether you are doing any of this correctly, please call in a professional trainer to help!

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Boris and Evie at Doberman Picnic 2010

We found Boris's sister and littermate, Evie.

Who is this vision of loveliness?

Boris thinking sneaky thoughts.

Look, I bark just like you, see?

That treat should be meant for me.

Now that is more like it.

Evie and Boris meet again.

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Ollie's Great Adventure

Sorry dark dogs loose all their details in photography (when someone is not good at it-like me).   I will try a different setting on the camera today.   Ollie had a great time with his new friends and in a new place.

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