Why Puppy Class

Zachary as a puppy

Dog Blog Post #144: This post is in response to Magnus’ mom’s Puppy Class question in her blog post The Issue of Puppy Class. Tenses of her questions have been converted to present tense to apply to Henry’s current class.

Do you do a puppy class? Yes! Beau did puppy class in a large group setting with a positive but more traditional approach (owners marching around the building in circles while the instructor called out sit, heel, sit, heel, about turn!…) while Zachary had the same class/instructor Henry has now with much smaller sizes, clicker-training, individual attention, and no marching (for which I am forever grateful, Wendy!)

What benefits do you feel it provides for your 4legged puppy?

• Socialization with “trainable” people and puppies under an instructors watchful eye. I can’t overstate that one!!!
• Opportunities to show holes in training – it’s easy to either focus too heavily on the disaster areas and miss out on things that should be taught, or focus too heavily on the successful areas and sweep problem spots under the rug.
• Opportunities to try out shiny new behavior in a hopefully supportive but definitely more challenging environment.

What benefit do you find for yourself as handler? A chance to get fresh ideas and fresh perspectives. It’s also useful to listen to the other owners and take a few moments to assess their puppies. For example, hearing others bemoan their puppies housebreaking skills (or lack thereof) made me feel all warm and glowy about Henry, while seeing how calmly the 10 week old lab lay by his owners made me realize I still have a long way to go on that front.

What would you recommend in looking for a new puppy class? If possible, I’d try to attend a class to see if I agree with the instructor and their approach. At best, this would be one of the previous sessions classes, before the session my puppy would be enrolled in. If not, then I would like to talk to the instructor and see if their philosophy is not incompatible with mine. Possible questions include:

• Is this a positive (non-punitive) class? Food is required, clicker-training a plus but not mandatory, so long as the instructor doesn’t mind if I discretely use one.
• Is there play time? That’s a large part of why I go, so the answer had better be yes. A puppy needs to meet a variety of its own kind, and at that age it’s hard to do that outside a class setting.
• How is play time handled? A free-for-all, where all puppies are released to mug-and-be-mugged at will can’t possibly be good. Wendy has 8 puppies and made three groups of them, mostly by temperament and boldness, it seemed. I image that as the weeks progress, there is a good chance we will get down to two groups. Last time, with Zachary, she cycled the bolder (but not mugging) puppies into the area with the less bold puppies. Zachary fell into the bolder-not-mugging category, and he (on leash, to level the playing field) learned he had to be calmer and quieter if he was going to find a play companion. The shyer, smaller dogs saw that not all bigger dogs are bullies.
• How many puppies in the class? I don’t actually know what a good number would be. Like kids in a classroom, the more you get relative to the number of instructors, the greater the potential for chaos and result in a lack of learning. But you also have more puppies to mix-and-match playmates with, should the instructor choose to.
• What do you cover? In addition to the usual sit/down/come, a puppy instructor should go over, or at least encourage questions about, home-life (house-training, mouthing, jumping, … etc.)

Are you pro puppy class or do you feel you can provide similar lessons at home? I am pro puppy class, and think it is virtually impossible to provide similar lessons at home. However, if you have raised a puppy before and are familiar/comfortable with puppy growth stages, have trainable friends willing to help work on greeting skills, know some puppy-tolerant adult dogs to remind puppy that manners are important, and feel you will be able to face those teenage years without a shoulder to cry on, then you can probably do quite a bit yourself, with the glaring except of puppy play time.

If you do, how? The hardest part (other than finding appropriate doggie friends) is probably finding people who will help your efforts to socialize instead of hindering them. At least in puppy class the instructor tells everyone what to do, and everyone has a vested interest in being a good socializer. The General Public just wants to pet the puppy, play with the puppy, get the puppy wound up!

So, in summary, a Good Puppy Class is a Very Good Thing, but good luck finding one!

A New Family Member

Dog Blog Post #131: I am very pleased and honored to announce the arrival of Henry (the puppy formerly known as One-of-Ten)…

… and he’s adorable.

His introduction to Zachary was completely uneventful (yeah!)

Zachary was curious, but not unreasonably so. The sniffed each other through the ex-pen, Henry peed, Zachary peed, and that was pretty much that.

We spent the afternoon watching the boys (yes, it  does feel good to say that again!) dismember paper bags and try to figure out how to play with each other.

Zachary’s motions are still “too big” for Henry, who backs away when Zachary approaches shaking a bag or a favorite toy. Henry has made several attempts, with the cutest little bark and play bow, followed by some scampering around, but Zachary appears perplexed as to how to interact with something so small.

Later in the evening, as things were settling down and Zachary was just lying next to me on the floor, Henry came up and gave snug bug a complete sniffy once-over - from tip of tail, to each paw, to his back, and finally his head and muzzle. That seemed to put Henry more at ease, and Zachary just watched with quiet dignity.

Later Henry decided Zachary tail was a great sport, and kept trying to catch it as it wagged.

Zachary wags his tail a lot.

Henry had a great time.

Not all was fun and games… ok… it was all fun and games – but learning games!

I worked on Henry’s “default sit”. That is, when I’m in the kitchen, if you sit, you’re liable to get something good to eat. Henry picked this up really fast. I also worked on Food Zen (chewing on my hand doesn’t make it open), Toy Zen (see above), some play retrieves (I throw, you chase… and then eat. This obviously needs a bit more work!), calm for cuddling (he aced that one!), coming when called (no problems there (I know, just wait)), and Chewies 101 – that is, “I hold, you chew”.

I trotted the clicker out in there and he was fine with it. Hasn’t a clue what it means yet, but he’ll get there.

Oh, and I made a short video, titled (oddly enough) Henry's First Day.

Thus ends Day One.

(… and it was good.)

Countdown Continues

Beau and Mini-Me

Dog Blog Post #129: I know, I've been counting down for weeks now, but we really are in the home stretch now.

Promise.

Soon this blog will be filled with wonderful puppy photos and commentary about what a blessed bundle One-of-Ten is...

... or... more likely... wonderful puppy photos and commentary wondering what the heck I was thinking when I typed that One-of-Ten would be a blessed bundle.

Either way, it's got to be more interesting than all my Puppy Prelim rambles of late.

Speaking of preliminaries, tonight I:

• swept and scrubbed the hardwood floors where One-of-Ten will spend most of his pre-potty trained days
• cried when I found the odd bit of Beau fluff under the sofa
• cried as I scrubbed off a few forgotten Beau drool spots (Zachary doesn't drool, so it had to be Beau's)
• brought out the puppy bowl and rearranged the place-mats on the hearth so there is a food and water bowl on each (I had put Zachary's bowl on one and both water bowls on the other as it just didn't "look right" to only have a single place-mat out) and smiled widely at how much better things looked
• "convinced" hubby and son to sort through their mountain of shoes in the entry to give One-of-Ten fewer high-value chewables to choose from.
• sorted through a mountain of old magazines (low-value chewables with potential to create a high-volume mess)

Great, I'm nesting for a puppy.

Puppy Prep (cont.)

Zachary at 6.5 weeks

Dog Blog Post #126: Here's the run down of where we stand. I've included links when possible, not because I have anything to do with these companies (I don't) but because I like it myself when other people list what they are actually using.

Everything except the Soy Collar is something I've used before.

Purchased:

• Baby Gate - same model we had before. A bit pricier than your standard wooden ones, but we really liked that it actually was a gate!
• SnooZZy Crate Pad - Washes up nicely
• Puppy Collar - Made of Soy Fibers - how eco-friendly and cool is that!
• Kong Stuff-a-Ball - for stuffing with peanut butter while he's in the crate.
• Teething Stick Kongs - for stuffing with peanut butter while he's in the crate.
• A variety of fleecy toys
• Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy Food
• Old Mother Hubbard Puppy Biscuits
• Nylabone Chew - for the crate.
• Rawhide Chews - the ones that look like lollypop sticks.
• Pine Shavings - what he's been trained on. We'll dump some on the grass in the ex-pen that surrounds the potty area and as it naturally disappears he'll get used to grass.
• Nature's Miracle - Pet stain/odor remover - by the gallon.
• 12 rolls of paper towels. Yes, twelve big fatty rolls.
• Bags of Blue to fill with...

Reusing:

• Dog Crates (2) - standard wire mesh. We've had them since Beau and I haven't a clue who made them, but I like them a lot. One's for day use (family room) and the other in our bedroom for night time use.
• Ex-Pens (2) - again, had forever, no clue who made them but they are infinitely useful.
• Two more Crate Pads (same as above) - one large and one medium (Zachary liked the smaller one since he could move to the cooler plastic if he wanted to.)
• Puppy Bowl - same one Zachary used - small heavy ceramic. Paw prints. Really cute and matches the full-sized bowls.
• Water Bowl - same two bowls. Also heavy ceramic.
• Puppy Leashes - various
• Puppy Brush

Still needed:

• ID Tag for collar - phone number only.
• Puppy Binder - for holding important puppy papers and such

Puppy Aptitude Test

Beau and Zachary (2nd day home)

Dog Blog Post #125: Puppy Watch continues... The litter was slated to have their temperament test today. I hope they studied!

The breeder uses the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test, which tests:

1. Social Attraction - degree of social attraction to people, confidence or dependence.
2. Following - willingness to follow a person.
3. Restraint - degree of dominant or submissive tendency, and ease of handling in difficult situations.
4. Social Dominance - degree of acceptance of social dominance by a person.
5. Elevation - degree of accepting dominance while in a position of no control, such as at the veterinarian or groomer.
6. Retrieving - degree of willingness to do something for you. Together with Social Attraction and Following a key indicator for ease or difficulty in training.
7. Touch Sensitivity - degree of sensitivity to touch and a key indicator to the type of training equipment required.
8. Sound Sensitivity - degree of sensitivity to sound, such as loud noises or thunderstorms.
9. Sight Sensitivity - degree of response to a moving object, such as chasing bicycles, children or squirrels.
10. Stability - degree of startle response to a strange object.

I have no idea how much weight to put in these sorts of things, but it certainly can't hurt.

I just looked up Zachary's test, and his scores were:

1. Social Attraction: 2
2. Following: 1
3. Restraint: 3
4. Social Dominance: 3
5. Elevation Dominance: 3
6. Retrieving: 3
7. Touch Sensitivity: 3
8. Sound Sensitivity: 3
9. Sight Sensitivity: 1

(Not sure where the page with #10 on it ended up!)

The tester's comments at the bottom were: "Has enough courage - no new situation will bother him. Would be a good obedience dog. Great Temperament."

( I don't think I got a copy of Beau's, but it wouldn't surprise me to find he scored 2's to Zachary's 3's.)

Looking at Zachary now, nearing maturity at 2.5 years old, I'd say the test was a pretty good predictor. Volhard's descriptions (on the test page) for a puppy who scores mostly 3's (as Zachary did) are: "This pup is outgoing and friendly and will adjust well in situations in which he receives regular training and exercise. He has a flexible temperament that adapts well to different types of environment, provided he is handled correctly. May be too much dog for a family with small children or an elderly couple who are sedentary."

And that's a pretty good description of our Zachary! (Well, except for that "too much dog" part. Hard to picture the person he would be "too much" for... but then I'm not (too) elderly nor do I have small children, so I might not be the best judge of that.)

So, which puppy will be ours? Will the puppies that stood out for us have temperaments that match what we are looking for? What happens if they don't? I have no idea!

On the Getting-Way-Ahead-of-Herself Front: I have posted One-of-Ten's first Weekly Worksheet to my BZ Dog Activities blog, reproduced below for grins and giggles. I have decided to create different sheets for Zachary and One-of-Ten, at least until I decide not to!

(As always, click to see larger)

Puppy Goals (part 1)

Puppy - 6.5 weeks

Dog Blog Post #124: Getting a shiny new puppy is like New Years Eve - a chance to dream up lofty Goals and Resolutions while feeling just a little bit giddy.

This will be my third puppy, and when I think how much I've grown as a puppy parent in the seven years they encompass, I have to admit to feeling pretty proud. I'm also painfully aware of all the mistakes made and the lost opportunities.

Some of those mistakes could not really have been avoided. Life teaches lessons at its own mysterious pace, and all we can do is try to keep up and hope we finish the lesson before the test arrives. And when that doesn't happen, we pray we're smart enough to have learnt the lesson well before the next test hits us.

And that's probably enough said about that.

I will be following Sue Ailsby's new Training Levels - Steps to Success with One-of-Ten, as I feel it is the best at-home skills curriculum available. I actually think it's the best skills curriculum anywhere, and while I haven't been to a huge number of wheres, I've certainly been to enough to have an opinion I'm not afraid to share.

Sue's Homework for Level One is: "List 5 things you hope to accomplish by working the Levels with your dog."

Just five?

My basic needs and wants from when Zachary joined our household have not really changed. We are principally looking for a Family Member to be well-loved and a canine-companion for Zachary.

I would like One-of-Ten to get his Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Certificate. I would also like to do AKC Rally, or something similar. If he has show potential (his parents are both AKC Champions) then that would go on the list as well.

As Training Level's is a skills-based curriculum, today's goals will be so oriented. Hopefully, in the next few days, I'll come up with a list of socialization-based goals as well.

So here we go:

1. Figure out who he is, how he thinks, and what he might like to do when he grows up.
2. Form a positive working relationship/partnership
3. Foster a love of learning
4. Create a solid foundation of skills/knowledge/abilities for Real Life
5. Have fun!

As always, I will be using this venue to stay motivated and (hopefully) on course, assuming the fates don't conspire to change things.

Preschool

One-of-Ten's sister - 6.5 weeks old

Tonight I put together my best guess for what I think little One-of-Ten should know by 20 weeks of age.

I readily admit that this is just a guess, based on fuzzy memories from 2.5 years ago, when Zachary was just a wee pup himself.

In addition to what I show here, I will be working through Sue Ailsby's new Training Levels, called Steps to Success. I am unbelievably tickled that she released these to the general public just in time to be there at the start of One-of-Ten's journey toward canine enlightenment.

I've tentatively decided to keep Zachary on the old Levels. That's partly because he would zip through them fairly rapidly at the beginning, and without the book (soon out, I hope) it would be hard to know if I was doing things correctly. I'm also not sure it's worth it to switch, as we are finally to the "interesting" bits in the old levels (scenting/retrieve/etc.) and I'm not sure I really want to start all over again.

I have decided to go with two different Weekly Worksheets, as trying to fit both Zachary's and One-of-Ten's on one didn't prove to be viable when I gave it a test run this evening.

Anyway, my proposed syllabus for Preschool is below. The Puppy Socialization Requirements are on my list to do, but will probably look like a simplified and expanded version of Excursions. That is, a list of places to go and do and see that are appropriate for a puppy.

(As always, click to see larger.)

Puppies - 6.5 Weeks

This was the last visit before the temperament test and the Selection Committee (breeder and friends) match up people to puppies.

It was warm again, but the puppies were more lively this time and it was a bit easier to spot personalities. A lot of cuddling occurred, some games played with camera straps and pony tails (both mine), a ball was chased, some fingers (jeans, toes, shoes...) were nibbled on, more cuddling, a bowl of water was knocked over, all hearts were listened to (the vet stopped by) and one puppy attempted a jail break by digging out under the ex-pen.

Did we finally pick a favorite?

Yes... and it was actually pretty easy... but there were several other puppies who were really close that we also all liked.

In a week and a half or so, we'll know which puppy is our one-of-ten, and he will begin his new life with us.

I continue to read puppy books, jot ideas down on paper, asks questions on the Training Levels list, and in general attempt to make time pass faster than nature decrees it should.

Nature is winning.

Puppies - 5.5 Weeks

Oh, happy day!

Today was "Puppy Day", and we trekked northward a few hours for our first official visit with the puppies. It was rather warm out, and puppies were definitely less frisky than they had been last week, when the weather was noticeably cooler (and we were inside - well, I was. The guys were outside "paying our way" by moving the Kennel from point A to point B.)

There were also a lot more people there today, although everyone was friendly and puppies were freely shared.

I have no idea which puppy is the right one for us.

I have little idea how to even make the decision. I dutifully cuddled (yeah, hard job, cuddling puppies) and cooed the little fuzz balls, held everybody (numerous times) and have come to little in the way of a decision.

I guess that's good, as the decision belongs to the breeder after the temperament test, but to at least have an opinion would be nice.

There are eight boys, and of those eight there is only one that we are pretty sure (but not certain) would be a bad match for us. There is one more who we think would be a bad match (but again, are not certain.) There is one we saw little of as he was a favorite of someone else, although I did hold him and found nothing either great nor awful about him.

Assuming that puppy is meant for another, that leaves five puppies. When I asked my son, he listed three that he liked best. I had four on my favorites list, two of which overlapped with his. His "extra" was higher energy than the my choices, my two "extras" were lower energy, and we all agreed that we could be happy with any of those puppies.

(Hubby said "too early to tell" and left it at that.)

Soooo... seven more days must pass before we get our final visit.

If the weather is cooler and the puppies are more frisky then we might be more able to tell them apart...

... maybe.

Of course, how often does anyone get a chance to spend to hours cuddling soft, gentle, somewhat sleepy puppies?

Puppy Prep (Part 1)

Zachary at seven weeks old

I am getting soooo excited about the puppy. Yes, I know "things" could still happen and I might not get a puppy, but that would only happen if there was a problem at the breeder's end, and I can't control that, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Much

It helps that there are eight boy puppies. Eight! One of those happy faces has got to be a match for us, don't you think???

And so I am proceeding full steam ahead with puppy preparations, in happy anticipation of a bouncy baby golden coming home somewhere in the week of the 20th.

tick tock tick tock

Tonight I'm going to start by going through all the puppy things we have from when Zachary was a puppy, and probably throwing away/recycling 90% of them. After all, part of the fun of getting a shiny-new puppy is running to the store and blowing a wad of money on shiny-new puppy things like:

• Puppy collar
• Puppy leash
• Puppy chewies
• ... more puppy chewies
• ... even more puppy chewies
• Puppy pee cleanup
• ... more puppy pee cleanup
  
• ... even more puppy pee cleanup
• Puppy gate (see below)
• Puppy sleeping pads (yes, plural - so one can be in the wash)
• Puppy Kongs (for smearing with peanut butter, freezing, then putting in the crate during the day)
• Puppy Binder (shot record, AKC Registration, favorite photos...)

... and probably a billion other things I'm not thinking of. Things I'm pretty sure we will reuse include:

• Puppy bowl - ours is nice heavy ceramic and matches adult bowls
• "Puppy" Crate (see below)
• Puppy dog tag (phone number only)

Puppy Gate: We really liked the gate we got for Zachary. It was metal and had a door that you could open/close to aid bringing groceries into the Kitchen without killing ourselves trying to hop over the gate.

No, we didn't have it for Beau, which is why he was so afraid of the baby gate.

Picture hubby (not a small man) catching a foot on the top of the baby gate, tossing contents of arms up into the air while trying to maintain balance, failing to maintain balance while contents of arms, gate, and himself come crashing to the ground. Add expletives (lots of expletives!) Repeat frequently. Beau always gave the baby gate a WIDE berth.

Yes, it chewed up the doorway, but it was still worth it. No, we don't still have it, but that's more because of our ill-treatment than any huge flaw in it. Yes, we will be looking for another one pretty much just like it.

"Puppy" Crate:
Neither Beau nor Zachary had a special (ie: small) puppy crate. Beau did try out the metal insert that came with his crate that was supposed to make the crate smaller. And it did. And he hated it. So we took it out. He still hated it (the crate) but that's another story. We didn't even try to make the crate smaller for Zachary.

We currently own 3 large metal crates. One is a bit older, a lot harder to open, and in storage (where it will remain. Period.) The other two are identical and in our bedroom. One is Zachary's nighttime crate, which he hasn't used since he was a year old and we stopped closing the door at night. The other is Beau's nighttime crate, which is right against my side of the bed and where he slept every night by choice (door was open.)

Zachary prefers the Big Bed with us - he isn't called Snug Bug for nothin'.

Soooo... Beau's crate will remain where it is and become puppy's nighttime crate. Zachary's nighttime crate will migrate into the family room and be puppy's daytime crate.

If I'm feeling industrious, I might set up the travel crate where Zachary's nighttime crate use to sit and retain the "run into the crate for the nighttime cookie" ritual, just so he doesn't forget how to run into a crate for a cookie.

Could happen.

Maybe.

Puppies - Four Weeks

I met the puppies today, and have falling completely under their spell.

How can something so small and helpless do that?

I can hold them in one hand.

They fit under my chin - soft and warm and gentle.

In one short week they will change. Clumsy bodies with grow stronger, little teeth will grow longer, and little personalities will begin to show.

In one short week we must begin to form an opinion - which one is right for us?

But not today.

Today they are still finding themselves, and they look up at you with dark eyes filled with wonder that seem to ask, "Who are you?"

My reply?

"One who loves you."

Puppies!

Four weeks old

I received a puppy video from our breeder, Robin, (Aubridge Goldens) yesterday. Ten squirming bundles of adorableness toddling around their "nest".

(sigh)

I'm already suffering from a serious case of "puppy love" and I haven't even met them!

(tick tock tick tock)

Today was library day, and I came home with a book of Baby Names. Silly me, I haven't even seen the little guys yet, and yet, a name is such an important thing - not to be taken lightly or spontaneously.

Beau was easy to name. Matt and I had rescued a Golden Retriever from a four lane freeway one time, years ago, and took him to the local shelter for the community we were driving through. The shelter staff recognized him (Beau) since the dog was prone to wandering and the owner was less than watchful. Ever since that day, we knew that when we got a dog, Beau would be his name.

Zachary... oh my... that was a hard one. We tried out many, many names and there were great family debates. I knew I didn't want a dog whose name sounded like a common cue, as you wouldn't believe the amount of flak I got for having a dog whose named rhymed with "No".

This eliminated pretty much any name that started with "S" (Sit, Stay, Stand) or "D" (Down), or ended in a "o" sound (like the dreaded "No" - not that I ever used the word, simply because it was too close to "Beau".)

We also wanted a "people" name. Our dogs are family members, and while I had many well-loved pets with standard pet names (Tiger, Patches, Callie (for Calico), Miss Pocket (a hamster), to name just a few) I had gotten used to a dog with a people name, and rather like the feel of it.

I think we stumbled across the name "Zachary" when my son was listed off names of his friends. It just seemed to fit. I liked the fact it wasn't your typical dog name, and I really liked how it ended in an "ee" sound, as there was no way to say "Zachary" in a mean way.

On other puppy related fronts...

We dropped Zachary off at "the day spa" today, and in line in front of us was a 14 week old terrier puppy.

Adorable.

Zachary was calm, cool, and very patient as the puppy jumped all over his face, tried to climb on his back, and got tangled in his feet.

A good sign, yes?