This is Chisel’s second evening of puppy preschool. It was a busy but fun night for all the puppies! Chisel went home with some new skills, that his owners will continue to practice at home. This week they learnt:
- Toilet and Crate Training – understanding that puppies don’t have full control of their bladders until approximately 5 months old, and accidents will still happen! And learning all about crate training and tips on getting them to sleep through the night. Chisel’s owners understand that consistency and patience is key! A blog will be coming soon on how Chisel’s is progressing with the training.
- Nutrition – and that it is a lot more than just sustaining life! There is a comprehensive blog on feeding if you would like to understand how Chisel transitioned from the breeder’s choice of food to Hill’s Science Diet VetEssentials. Chisel’s owners said:
“We learned about feeding, and how to feed a complete balanced diet. And we also discussed what things can be potentially toxic for our puppies to eat. Chisel decided he liked the Hill’s food so much that he decided he wanted to get into the entire shelf”.
- Traffic Light System – all about understanding signs and levels of emotions with your puppy and how to respond. Remembering that it is ok to comfort your dog if they are scared or anxious! Fear is an emotion, not a behaviour.
- Jumping – or stop jumping! And understanding that when a puppy jumps on you – it’s for attention. Here’s how Chisel went:
“We learnt how to respond when Chisel jumps up on us, and how to discourage him from doing this, by refusing to give him the attention that he’s after. Now that he’s getting bigger, what we really need to do is stop him from jumping up with his front feet on the dinner table! Kimberley was happy for us to ask questions after class, and she’s given us some tips on how to stop him doing this, and get him to settle on his mat during dinner time instead”.
- Flooding – over-exposing your dog to something too quickly. It’s important not to “flood” your dog. If we can’t learn when we are anxious we can’t expect dogs to!
- Training “Come” – coming when called every time.
“This week at Puppy Preschool we learnt how to teach Chisel to “Come”. He also learnt to STAY, or at least we started to learn. Chisel did VERY well with stay when Kimberley (our teacher) demonstrated “stay”. Unfortunately not so well when we tried it ourselves. He was just too distracted, being far more interested in what the other puppies were doing. The rest of the class seemed to do pretty well! Never mind. We know what to to now, and we’ve been practicing at home, and he’s getting better”
- General play time – Puppies are allowed safe play time, where trainer Kimberley closes watches for signs of anxiety. Rough play is ok if the puppies are enjoying themselves! Another tip, humping is a sign of over-stimulation or anxiety!
“Chisel behaved very well during play time. At preschool puppies are only allowed to play with 1 or occasionally 2 other puppies at a time. This is to keep it controlled and safe. Kimberley explained that some puppies will adapt how they play to the personality of their playmate. Chisel certainly proved this. He was so gentle playing with little Peggy, an 8wo Cavoodle who is the youngest and by far the smallest puppy in the class. We were very impressed. Compare this to how he is at home with our own adult Cavoodle, where the play is very rough, with constant rolling and biting involved!”
Stay tuned for next week’s puppy preschool! We’re half way!
