Puppy Power Dog Training

It’s been such a fun process designing the collar we won from Dog Nerd Designs I’m so excited about this collar and wanted to share what the process has been like picking options for the collar we won! There were so many colours to choose from and even colour variations of the Gradient scatter which is the one we won! Here’s what the process has looked like so far picking options and seeing it laid out before being put together permanently! Thank you @The Dog Nerd Designs for the opportunity and I’m looking forward to seeing what Zuko’s collar will look like too ❤️

For trick #14 Zuko did “tug” and I thought I’d go over some tips for teaching tug. The most common thing I see people doing is shoving the toy AT the dog expecting them to grab it. When we’re developing tug drive in a dog who doesn’t already want to bite and grab the toy, we want to think about making that toy act like prey. Dog’s like to grab things that move AWAY from them and many are put off by things being pushed At them. Other considerations: don’t yank it hard from side to side - with puppies you want gentle movement so it’s easy for them to grab onto and hold the toy. You also don’t want to injure their neck with harsh side to side movements or lifting their front paws off the ground. Sure I might play tug rough with my adult border collies, but I never did that when they were babies. As with fetch, let go sometimes when they give a good tug so that they feel like they WIN! Let them keep it and play with it how THEY want to sometimes and don’t be in a hurry to get it back from them. For puppies that aren’t naturally bringing it TO me to tug, I like to have 2 of the same toy and after I let them “win” the first one, I let go and start playing with a 2nd toy, snaking it around and making it more interesting so they drop the 1st toy to get the 2nd toy. Play around with different kinds of textures: fabrics, furs, crinkly ones, fluffy ones, you get the idea! Also generally longer lengths that snake better on the ground are more appealing for puppies. If your dog LOVES a tennis ball or hol-ee roller, you can also purchase tugs that have those things built into them. I’ve even seen someone tie plastic bags into their tug because THAT’S what made it exciting for them. Tug really is an interactive activity. We have to get creative about finding ways to make it exciting for them so they’ll want to play the game. What kind of tugs does your dog like??

Zuko learning Fetch

For trick #13, Zuko did fetch. In this video, I show you how I start to build it with a new puppy who already had some natural drive to carry things around. This video was taken in a hotel the day after I picked him up from his breeder. For the Novice Trick title, the dog doesn’t have to bring the toy to your hand; they just need to bring to NEAR you, which he was demonstrating at this stage. ✅ Look for where they naturally want to take the toy when you toss it. Use that to your advantage and hang out there so they bring it to you when they head to that spot when you toss the toy away. Most of the time if we do this on hard flooring they will head to a mat or soft spot. (Repetitive fetch on slippery flooring is NOT recommended; however, at low speeds risk of injury is low and in the learning stage I find it can be helpful). Sometimes they bring it to a corner or a doorway - either way, use what is naturally happening to your advantage. Also the smaller the space you start this in, the more likely they are to head to ONE spot, so a bathroom or hallway work great. Then build to bigger spaces as they figure out the game. ❌ Reach for them OR the toy right away or do anything to pressure them into bringing it TO you. This will actually push your puppy AWAY from you and can end up turning into a game of keep away - which is fun for the dog but not what we’re aiming for when teaching a retrieve. ✅ Let them feel like they WIN when they bring it to you. Get excited but let them keep the toy, shake/chew it a bit, and play tug with them then let go when they do bring it to you. You want to keep the game FUN for them. ❌Take the toy away as soon as they bring it unless they are pushing it at you and seem to want another throw right away. Most people are in too much of a hurry to get the toy away and then the dog feels like they’re losing and that decreases the motivation to play the game. Don’t be in a hurry to get multiple reps of actual fetch h

For trick #12 we did spin circles using the target stick. If you don’t have a target stick you can actually just use a spatula or a wooden spoon, or if you’re feeling really creative you can make one with a dowel and glue a ball to the end.

For trick #11 Zuko learned how to use a target stick. This is a great skill to have for a number of tricks - especially if you have a dog that doesn’t feel comfortable with you leaning over them or sticking your hand in their face to do tricks with luring. At the end of this video I’m starting to use the target stick to teach another trick - can you tell what it is??

Zuko’s 10th trick for his Novice title was Peekaboo. Some people call this “middle” and I also use “car wash” because it’s like they have to approach and stop in the car wash 🙂. Plus it’s fun to say and makes people smile when they see me do it with this cue. You can call it whatever you want 🙂 Again this can be taught a few different ways and I have taught it with luring successfully with many dogs but I wanted to give an example where we could use our front paw target to help create more clarity with teaching a middle position. Let me know in the comments how you taught it :)

Why fit in when you were born to stand out? #crazy #dogs #rottweiler #papillon #puppy #tailchasing

For trick #9 of Zuko’s Novice trick title we did “Paws up on an object” Since we had a start to this using a @FitPaws mini fitbone when we did 2 on/2 off, we used the same object. We’ll be using this behaviour for our next trick too, so if you’re playing along with your dog you’ll want to make sure your dog really gets this behaviour solid so it’s ready for the next trick :)

For Zuko’s 8th trick for his Novice trick title, he did the balance beam. I had ikea stools and a fitbone underneath for him to hop off onto if at any point he wanted to jump off before the end of the balance beam. These are items he was already confident getting on/off of. I wanted to make sure he never panicked (eg if he got halfway across the balance beam and didn’t know how to get across or turn around). You can use anything your dog is confident with or start with the beam much lower so that they just step off it onto the ground. I do find it harder to teach if it is too low though, because they tend to not step all the way up onto it with all 4 feet if it’s too low. It’s also important to make sure they do NOT fall. I was ready to catch him at any time if he lost his footing but I find by having lots of options to opt out, they just hop off as soon as they feel unsure.

Portia has always been very pressure sensitive so learning moves where we’re in eachothers space bubble has been a real journey. I’m really proud of our progress even if we aren’t very graceful together ❤️#dogdance #progressnotperfection #practisemakesprogress #domorewithyourdog #dogtraining #reinforcementdrivesbehaviour #bordercolliesofinstagram