Fido's first Puppy Class

Hi Kaye,

Fido and I trundled off to our first puppy pre school with Julie Barber last
night at Kensington Vet Clinic.

I hadn't realised it was to be an 'on lead' session so I spent a little
while outside getting him to understand the restraints of the lead. I've
never tied Fido up nor have I used the lead in 'lead training'. So far I've
only lured the 'heel' position and 10 or so steps, mostly with food and a
bit with squeaky play toys. I'll tell you about that later.

There were two other puppies. A bold little black scotch terrier and a
lovely Staffie cross . I think they will become important players in Fido's
life in the next month. There was no direct/close quarters interaction last
night. I think Julie was most interested on having the pups settle on their
mats, learn her 'Yes' for treats and their names. There was also a bit of
sit-stand-sit luring with cream cheese. The experience was valuable for
Fido. He was busting to play with the Staffie but ended the session very
chilled. The most important lesson for me was what a life saver Puppy Pre
School could be for the other participants and how much Fido likes
spreadable cream cheese (definitely on my next shopping list).

A section at the bottom of Julie's Questionnaire asked about a range of
unwanted behaviours the pup might be exhibiting; the general things that
drive new puppy parents to distraction...chasing, biting, chewing etc. I
didn't circle any and I didn't realise what a little saint I've got until I
heard the stories of the other little terrorists. Biting and chewing
electrical chords, soiling the house, not sleeping etc.

Some of these things have been part of Fido's early behaviour, specially
chewing things, but they are all but gone through training. He's got lots of
toys rotated through his days and bones and the opportunity to earn treats
almost any time (daytime) he likes, by 'coming and sitting and staring up at
me'. Our agreement, is that he is sitting asking to be trained. Sometimes
trained might be sitting on my knee having his ears inspected. Sometimes it
might mean high fives of sit/stand /lie down and sometimes it might mean
tug, fetch or chasing games. I try to read what he wants......sometimes
successfully. But Fido is a strong minded character and will let me know
very quickly what he would like to do next. Often in a 3 minute period we
will have gone through the entire repertoire.

Back to puppy pre school! Before and after the class I gave Fido the
opportunity to 'do his business' on the nature strip, plastic bag in pocket.
He is very good at it at home and also on our little expeditions. He didn't
go. This means he held on for nearly four hours. Who'd have thought it
possible for a 12week old pup and with lots of little drinks along the way.
Anyway we did find ourselves casually trotting along the footpath on lead
very joyously. That felt like a real milestone because I've been carrying
him about for safety reasons....so he can't run out in front of a car or
something. If I started over I would introduce the restraints of the lead
much earlier. I'd probably loop the lead over my arm, give him a bone and
sit and read or something. That way I wouldn't be too implicated in the
discomfort of the training and the bone would automatically reward setting
and accepting it. We've got great toys but nothing beats a bone for happily
filling in time for our Fido.

Now back to heel position. If Fido has a fault there'd probably be two or
three, or four....! Two that impact on training for sure! Firstly, he is not
food obsessed and secondly he is not overly exuberant. Listen to me dumping
on the little guy for being a laid back, sensible eater. Well I need him
clever and charming so these 'faults?' do impact on his motivation in
training

Luckily he does love tug games specially with squeaky toys. This morning
dried liver wasn't doing it for him, neither was fresh chicken, VIP sausage
or roast lamb. (True confessions of a desperate would be dog trainer). I
lured the 'Heel' position and got him walking at my ankle with a soft tug
toy. Now we had enthusiasm! Leaping and very soon tugging at my
trousers.'Off' works often so I uses it successfully to save my cuffs
momentarily and then rewarded an attentive step or two at my side with a
click and then 'get it' (which always works) and we played for a bit. The
cuff enthusiasm was the biggest problem until I remembered the advice of my
wonderful teacher. 'Stop, wait till he loses interest and reward that!'
Bingo! So I am very excited to have him wake up and ask to be trained. I'll
also go for a casual walk up the road on lead. Thank you!

See you tonight,

Richard