suziwong66

I’m still crap at getting pics.

I am training 18 week Soda to be a Therapy dog and a competition dog - two very different purposes with two very different training schedules. Inside there is no play - i work toward him relaxing on place; it helps i have two adult labs that model this for the newest pack member. If he’s not being supervised on place then he’s in his ex pen and if he’s not in his ex pen he’s in his crate in the open plan living area. In the evening he practices being passed around to whoever is home for a relaxing lap cuddle. We are teaching him to switch off. Inside is boring and snooze worthy. Outside we play structured tug - he’s learning to control his impulses, we do loose leash walking under distraction (atm a bowl of food is one distraction and the other the walking past the house across the road that has two fence runners/barkers and scattered toys are more distractions). We do lots of recall and behaviour interrupter work. We are teaching him to train in drive...switch on to work and then switch off. We also have introduced him to early nosework. At the early stage it’s more mental stimulation that tires him out. I would suggest, since he’s so timid, to do as much confidence building activities as you can. I created an enrichment activity space outside - nothing exciting - upturned shell wading pools to climb up on, one shell filled with noisy stuff, an old crate was turned into a walk-through activity tunnel with hanging bottles etc. We had him walking on planks at gound level. Take him on outings where he has indirect experiences like being in the trolley on a trip to Bunnings etc As he becomes more confident add direct contact with strangers etc. Do lots of engagement building activities so he learns to check in with you for direction. The first month - 6 weeks with Soda were almost solely about engagement, confidence and a behaviour interrupter. Perhaps consider a training system - it can help direct your training and give it purpose. Training to a system with support has made a huge difference this time round for me.

We were looking at pet insurance this past week. Soda (14 weeks) came with 6 weeks free pet insurance. From what we compared and discovered there are only 2 or 3 underwriters for pet insurance. Depending on the policy, you could have an excess (most were about $150) or not (then you paid a higher premium). Many of the things we wanted coverage for, were not available. Even extra routine cover wasn’t worth the bother. Eg You could claim $80 once for one item only, in a big list of things like desexing, behaviourial, training, osteo etc For an extra $10 a month added to the policy this wasn’t enticing for us. Some policies wouldn’t cover for anything swallowed, some only covered one swalled accident and one had 2. None of the admin/agent people seemed well versed on this when we tried to get clarity on how many times a dog is covered with accidental swallowing of items. Some policies wouldn’t cover for anything if your dog wasn’t fully vaccinated. Many/most policies didn’t cover parvo even if dog was fully vaccinated. Some policies covered cruciate injuries/patella etc, many did not. Of those that did cover cruciate injuries most required a vet check and clear certificate was supplied within 14 days of taking out insurance. Emergency boarding had a dollar limit - most were pitiful. Extras on many policies had many listed things you could claim but with a dollar limit that wasn’t very helpful. The whole comparison exercise was incredibly difficult as most of the policies weren’t clear and were hard to compare. Speaking to agents was a waste of time - we didn’t get much clarity. We ended up deciding not to go with insurance and instead decided to put the cost of the premium in an account. We have 3 labs so we’ll save for them all.

TBH i think you’re under pricing. I paid $3000 for Soda (black lab) this year. Excellent breeding paired with excellent puppy raising of a working dog line.

https://youtu.be/nbX9hLXEHdc

Soda turned 14 weeks this past Sunday. i am super crap at getting pics; i never have my phone on me when we’re training. We had our first cafe outing this week.

Leerburg are my go-to online training resource. I’m a Michael Ellis fan and his marker training system.

I haven’t taken many pics (need to get onto that)! Introducing Herzhund Fancypants Sodapop - Soda for short. He arrived here in Brisbane on Sunday afternoon. He’s such a lovely even tempered puppy who has the usual lab food drive lol and, so far, bounces back quickly from any uncertainty.

Rosie Cheeks is a Tapua bitch (you probably already know Pers) and this is her 2nd litter. Different sire for this litter.

Phone Steve...seriously just do it and discuss what can be done before a board & train (if that’s what you’re looking at) because he does skype and phone sessions too. i waited nearly 6 months for a 2 week board and train with him a little over 2 years ago. Best money I’ve ever spent. I have such faith in his methods with training, raising and rehabbing dogs that i’m picking up one of his lab pups from his latest litter on Sunday.

We are expecting our next pack addition next Sunday and it will already have exposure to a collar and harness and i will add a leash to that immediately by having it wear a light leash around the house and in the expen all day (fully supervised when pup has gear on). I find it really useful because my dogs don’t get all stupidly excited if i produce a leash to go out - I don’t want them jacked up before we go out. I also toilet on leash for a long time so i can teach evacuate on cue so having them on a leash is no big deal to them. When i finally take the leash off in the house, i make sure to switch it up so they don’t get conditioned that a leash means something fun and exciting. I’ll also be socialising immediately - trips to Bunnings, the local supermarket, obstacle courses at home, exposure to barking neighborhood dogs when they eat (recored the dogs in your local area), i’ll also be taking private lessons with my trainer who will expose my pup to more dogs by working alongside them (we don’t often allow meet and greets with other people or dogs - i want low value). Escalators, travelators, lifts, stairs etc i have two dogs already and will be using them by having them place while i walk pup by with no contact. Leerburg has all Michael Ellis’ video content on demand these days and it’s awesome. His puppy dvd on demand is excellent for foundation training. Both of my existing dogs were raised on his marker system. The first things this pup will learn is its name, a behaviour interrupter, crate acceptance, leash wearing - all with food games. Then once it’s settled in i’ll charge the markers.

This bittersweet situation highlights the problematic renting system and pets. We moved back to Brisbane in 2016 and it took 3 months to find a rental that would allow our two inside despite a long history previous training, crating and recommendations from previous rental managers that we and the dogs are excellent tenants. We were lucky in that my OH’s company paid for the move and the 3 months of short term accommodation with our dogs to find a suitable longer lease home. In the end we were so desperate we took the only one offered at the end of 12 weeks - totally unsuitable for 2 labs as it was on a postage stamp sized block with no yard privacy in a multi school area and incredibly high rent. We need a system that doesn’t discriminate against pet owners. I cannot imagine the devastation the previous owners experienced and the confusion the dogs experienced.

Our last feed is about 2 hours before bed for pups - eg around 7:30 - 8pm for a 10 pm bed time and 6 am wake up. For a newly arrived pup i will set the alarm for 2 toilet breaks during the night but that usually fades to none, quickly. Pup goes out on leash - no chit chat or play - when they evacuate i say ‘do wees’ and then praise and we calmly go back inside. We crate our dogs at night their entire lives. Pups are in a crate at bed height next to my bed for the first few months so that i can hear them if they need to toilet. Then I graduate the crate to the end of the bed, or out into the open living area where my other dogs sleep in crates. At sleep time, i don’t put toys in the crate as i want to encourage sleep not play. We currently have 2 dogs and #3 is arriving in May - we’ll follow the same protocol as above as it’s been very successful in training, evacuating on command, toilet training and sleep behaviour expectations quickly. When pup is in their crate next to my bed, i don’t interact at all - if it’s cold i’ll put in a snuggle heat pad in the crate and a bedding pad to keep them comfortable.

I would suggest that you focus deeply on engagement games to develop her value for you. Micheal Ellis is a big promoter on early engagement and you can access his video content via Leerburg.com He starts with developing food value and marker training to build value, focus and communication.