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Introduction And Well Wishes.


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Realized I never really introduced myself on a topic. My name is Valerie and I too am on the waiting list. Just wanna say hi to everyone formally and wish all the mothers a Happy Mothers Day!

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How nice! Hi Valerie & welcome to the boards....

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Welcome Valerie- :)

 

And thank you for the well wishes from all the Moms out there!

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Happy Mother's Day. We had our first puppy trianing class today and I learned some stuff. I think the clicker method is going to be really good. Way back 100 years ago when we trained our last pup, I recall there was the first 6 months - and if you didn't socialize heavily and introduce the universe then, you were doomed and then the next 6 months of agression & pack order challenging that comes with sexual maturity. Today it seems there is more stuff out there about the shadings of puppy development within the first year. Today I learned about the "second fear period", I didn't know there was a first one, so I googled it. My personal experience tells me that nature and natural born temperment trump nurture but much can be accomplished with nurture and the learning period is life long but certainly more elastic during the first year. With that said, I do think it's good to be aware of the "fear periods" and the rhythm of puppy development. I can say that I don't agree with some of the advice out there for the stages such as the no mouthing and no tug of war advice during the 3rd to 4th month of life or you are doomed to have alpha problems. My experience would tell me that's "poppycock". Shiva is alpha over this pup and there's been plenty of mouthing and tug of war between the two of them. I'd say know your dog, be aware of developmental phases and if what you are doing is working and you are getting a well behaved and well balanced dog, press on. I can see that Waki is moving into his "second fear period" and I can see that he is both pushing to become independent (adolescent) and some experiences this week end that wouldn't have phased him earlier are being approached with more caution. So he goes on lead for a while for the independence. That doesn't erase the fact that he was excellent off lead up until now. Averages are useful models but no dog is really average, they are all custom jobs. http://www.wonder-puppy.com/puppy-parents/puppy-development-stages Good luck fellow puppy parents!

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Thanks!! Sherab, would you say puppy training class or socialization class be a mandatory thing for your dog to be properly socialized?

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my vote is BOTH

 

We took both, and had mixed results. Not for the fault of the dog, just the way the class/es were presented.

The instructor was an idiot... labeled Jas as Fearful, of all things! And just because I taught him to be attentive to me and have manners, she thought he was 'having his halo on' and 'shutting down' around strangers. No lady, if you look where his eyes are focused, you would notice he is watching me from across the room.. just like I taught him to. Guess she isn't used to well-behaved 4 mo old pups. sigh

 

Your mileage may vary.

 

Our next one will get out a lot and meet/greet other dogs and pups and learn to focus in the face of distraction -just as Jasper did.

And learn to play well with others and listen to me and foster the telepathy and 'proximity training' -just as Jasper and Mina did.

We just will forgo the actual Payed-for/Structured classes and do it our way this time around.

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Dude, he's dead...

 

:unsure:

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OMG Karen!!!! LOLOLOL

 

Well Done

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Training in the face of non-sequiturs is an important step for you and your puppy. (Spelunking - don't try this at home, or anywhere else). Valerie, you can do training justice on your own if you have the time. A good trainer can progress things faster and help you too. We have typically made a point of exposing our young pups to as many new situations w/o the burden of obedience training on top of it. Training we start in a non-distracting environment then move to real life integration with distractions. We didn't use a trainer for our first dogs and they were adequate. Life got busier for our second set. Shiva went to boot camp with a police officer (K9 unit), Tara went to a well known trainer at Rover Oaks. Both did a refresher 5 years ago with a Rover Oaks trainer that specialized in working breeds. We love the polishing and it helps us to learn things too. Will a trainer convert a dog that isn't really suitable for a dog park into a dog park angel? No. I serously doubt it. But you should get movement in the right direction for example, making leash walking in dogful areas better. Will severe socialization convert every dog into an everyone and everything lover 100% of the time. No. Some dogs just are what they are. You can make them less sensitive to things but don't expect a personality transpant. Do your best and don't beat your self if things don't turn out ideal-perfect. Know your dog and yourself and set reasonable expectations. If you do elect to work with a professional trainer, know what your goals are. I tend to want someone outstanding vs just some kid at the petco because I want more of a deliverable. I research to be sure the trainer is well respected and uses techniques I would use. I also keep in mind that trainers are experts with their own theories. They also get paid to help people so they see things that need fixing that I'm fine with leaving alone (or just plain old disagree with). On the other hand sometimes an outside in view and a little tweek can make a big difference. For example Waki asks me for things (poop, dinner) by jumping up and sometimes tugging. He's growing out of it mostly and I haven't minded but he still does it a little and now we're working on converting that conversation into sit with eye contact. He seems to like to ask for things in that way plus it's super cute and more hominid acceptable. The trainer thought I shouldn't have ever allowed it but I dis-agree. It's not so different from little kids going mom!mom!mom! tug tug -at a point you ween them but initially their attempts at communication are childish and that's ok it gets the job done. If you do go with a trainer, I'd look for a good generalist vs someone that works mostly with a few breeds, since you won't have the option of going to an AID specialist. As far as socialization class- I'm highly suspicious of dog parks and day cares. Little dogs I don't trust most of all because most little breed owners don't bother to train their dogs in my experience. Many little breeds are very agressive (terriers, chiwawas). My read from this forum is that you need to get to know a regular set that you can trust. We ask "is your dog pup friendly" and people are honest. Still some are clueless so you have to watch body language and take a pass as needed w/o appologies. I'd say that's my 2 cents but seems more like a buck and a quarter. Good luck on your journey. Keep us posted on how it's going.

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After having as many of these 'kids' as we've had, our first was trained by a woman that trains the FBI dogs in the Michigan area. Willie did well, my husband not so good. Formal training by a professional when the pups are young is a waste in my opinion. You can do so much more with your own dog because, as you know, each one of these dogs has their own, unique personalities that you, as the owner, will work with. After a year, if you feel you need 'outside intervention' it will be up to you -- just my own 37 cents!!!!!

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We were really pleased with the cop and the lady trainer. They did a great job with the dogs and didn't see it as a must of their mission to find fault with and fix something we were doing. That's not to say they wouldn't have pointed out something if it were really blatant but they didn't think we had to emulate them exactly or conform to some expert theory of theirs. They also didn't have unrealistic expectations. The Lady saw that Tara's inherent personality is shy and she's never going to be magically made laborador like, unlike Tara's first trainer who was sullen and critical in the after meeting because he hadn't worked a miracle. We hadn't expected one and were pleased with the obedience training. The lady trainer helped Tara desensitize to some things which was what we wanted. The trainer we are using for Waki is a good generalist. She's almost always called upon for problem solving so I sense that what we want is a bit of a surprise. She's gentle and has good rapport with Waki. I just don't expect that everything she's learned from other breeds that causes problems will translate. That's fine. I can work with that to get what I want for Waki.

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After reading through everyone's "change" :D I think the only thing that matters towards a great well behaving dog is a loving and attentive owner/parent. Everyone on this forum sounds like a dedicated parent to me and each dog their unique "child". Thanks Sherab for the pros and cons about trainers I'll be sure to do my research should I ever need to go down that path.

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Formal training didn't seem to work for Shunka either, he just didn't fit the mould, lots of dogs lets socialise was his reasoning! You'll know what is best or your dog, just make sure it knows who is boss, unless you want to be bossed by your dog! Not a good thing for either side!

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I took Tolinka to "school" when he was a bout 5 months. We both learned tons. The trainers were fascinated with the "American Indian Dog." Tolinka was a tough one from the start....however I think I was the one who needed training to learn how to be ALPHA. Which I did. Then here comes Two Step. He is now 6 months and I have not taken him to classes. He is turning out to be a big, huge, love filled cup cake. He is so easy to train. My guess is it also depends on the temperament of your pup, and your own knowledge, as to who needs it and who doesn't. Another 5 cents worth.

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I think it's really important to find a trainer who appreciates your dog for who they are already. When I took Danza to agility training, the trainer was clearly charmed by her. That was a big help when she was going batty in the barn while all of the other dogs were being pretty compliant.

 

That brings me to another point - the training your dog will best respond to changes over time. We did agility much earlier than is common - she was 6 months old. Really, she was too young to have the focus and drive agility requires, but I chose agility because I didn't want her to get bored and she really needed to learn to focus on me. Nothing else I'd tried had worked, and I'm not too proud to ask for help. I'm so glad the trainer let her in the class. We worked on obedience and socialization, and even worked on some of her fears. It was a great experience.

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