Three to Six Months: Ranking Period
• Puppy is most influenced by "playmates," which may now include those of other species.
• Puppy begins to see and use ranking (dominance and submission) within the household (the puppy's "pack"), including humans. This is also a testing phase where the puppy will see where it’s position is in the household and try to move up the ladder. Be patient and consistent with the training at this point.
• Puppy begins teething (and associated chewing). Provide lots of interactive toys. Remember the 1.3 second rule if you are out of the room and the puppy chews something he isn’t allowed to have you cannot correct him if (1) you didn’t catch him in the act and (2) if more than 1.3 seconds have passed between the time he chewed the object and the time you saw it.
The testing phase for Koro lasted more than 4 weeks and as a trainer was the most challenging time for me. Koro was already exhibiting a very demanding personality around food. He would whine incessantly from the second I stepped foot into the kitchen, all during food prep, and after I left the kitchen waiting for him to be quiet so I could feed him. This was exhausting for me and I tried everything I knew to do to help him stop this behavior. I couldn’t reward any quiet time with food because he would treat me like a pez dispenser and whine then be quiet when I said quiet to get food to start all over again. So I had to reach out to a peer and she recommended preparing his meals multiple times a day and then walk away. This worked and I added my spin to it. I would prepare these fake meals then when it came time for his actual meal I would prep it and leave the kitchen and the second he stopped "setting up" by laying at the kitchen gate I would walk in and feed him. Fast forward to now and he is no longer whining and is not setting up instead he is now learning if he gets on his chair and stays quiet and stays on the chair for at least 30 seconds I will get up to feed him.
This is all reverent to the Testing part of this phase as in his demanding he would also amp up his whining to see what I would do. Would I cave and just feed him to get it over with? Or Would I keep doing what I was doing and work him through this period of time? I worked him through it keeping the pictures the same and building new ones and it all paid off.
Koro began Testing during training. He would hesitate for every command and wait to see if I would stay the course and wait for him to go into position whether a sit, down, place command or just heeling or if I would get frustrated and just give up. I never wavered and would just calmly repeat the command until he did it. By doing this and keeping the pictures the same he learned quickly that I was serious and he had to do what was asked. This all clicked for him and around the 14 week mark he began to understand the rules and follow along. At 16 weeks he really matured and all the hrs work came together for him and he has just excelled with all his training and is really enjoying the work.
Koro began Testing his relationship with Blaze. He wanted to play but was barking and biting too much and Blaze ignores that behavior and will not engage when Koro is acting that way. Koro would amp up the biting and began to steal toys from Blaze to see what he would do. Blaze knew what to do and would grab the toy back and stand there holding it to let Koro play tug with him. During tug Blaze would shake Koro off the toy and keep Koro from getting it, then he would again stand still and allow Koro to get ahold and play tug again. Watching this dynamics and seeing how blaze would engage when Koro was in a more relaxed calm energy and disengage when Koro started up with the barking and biting, Koro would reposition and grab blazes ear or beard to make blaze drop the toy and blaze would drop the toy, give a firm correction to Koro, the pick the toy up and reengage with play with Koro. By Blaze doing this it taught Koro to play properly, learn real boundaries, and understand his position in our pack.
The testing phase for Koro lasted more than 4 weeks and as a trainer was the most challenging time for me. Koro was already exhibiting a very demanding personality around food. He would whine incessantly from the second I stepped foot into the kitchen, all during food prep, and after I left the kitchen waiting for him to be quiet so I could feed him. This was exhausting for me and I tried everything I knew to do to help him stop this behavior. I couldn’t reward any quiet time with food because he would treat me like a pez dispenser and whine then be quiet when I said quiet to get food to start all over again. So I had to reach out to a peer and she recommended preparing his meals multiple times a day and then walk away. This worked and I added my spin to it. I would prepare these fake meals then when it came time for his actual meal I would prep it and leave the kitchen and the second he stopped "setting up" by laying at the kitchen gate I would walk in and feed him. Fast forward to now and he is no longer whining and is not setting up instead he is now learning if he gets on his chair and stays quiet and stays on the chair for at least 30 seconds I will get up to feed him.
This is all reverent to the Testing part of this phase as in his demanding he would also amp up his whining to see what I would do. Would I cave and just feed him to get it over with? Or Would I keep doing what I was doing and work him through this period of time? I worked him through it keeping the pictures the same and building new ones and it all paid off.
Koro began Testing during training. He would hesitate for every command and wait to see if I would stay the course and wait for him to go into position whether a sit, down, place command or just heeling or if I would get frustrated and just give up. I never wavered and would just calmly repeat the command until he did it. By doing this and keeping the pictures the same he learned quickly that I was serious and he had to do what was asked. This all clicked for him and around the 14 week mark he began to understand the rules and follow along. At 16 weeks he really matured and all the hrs work came together for him and he has just excelled with all his training and is really enjoying the work.
Koro began Testing his relationship with Blaze. He wanted to play but was barking and biting too much and Blaze ignores that behavior and will not engage when Koro is acting that way. Koro would amp up the biting and began to steal toys from Blaze to see what he would do. Blaze knew what to do and would grab the toy back and stand there holding it to let Koro play tug with him. During tug Blaze would shake Koro off the toy and keep Koro from getting it, then he would again stand still and allow Koro to get ahold and play tug again. Watching this dynamics and seeing how blaze would engage when Koro was in a more relaxed calm energy and disengage when Koro started up with the barking and biting, Koro would reposition and grab blazes ear or beard to make blaze drop the toy and blaze would drop the toy, give a firm correction to Koro, the pick the toy up and reengage with play with Koro. By Blaze doing this it taught Koro to play properly, learn real boundaries, and understand his position in our pack.
No comments:
Post a Comment