“wait” practice ! At first keep it really short and successful ! 😎🐶💚
Loki may have some Greyhound in him !! He sure is a great runner !! 💙😀
Working on a little bit of patience & waiting politely for breakfast ! 😋💙🐶
This was Loki’s first night with us.
He is very focused on toys and playing by himself.
I had to figure out a way to influence him in a positive way.
I made our goals for the week to have him focus more on people and find calmer ways of behaving, while still enjoying being a playful dog.
We’ve come a long way since that first night and that first time I said “oh my goodness 😀” !!
He is so very creative ! In the shelters, often puppies get toys ; but no- one to play with during the long, lonely hours. Loki invented his own game, to amuse himself, pass the hours, within the confines of a shelter kennel - with tossing and playing with toys !
The challenge is now to join him in his world. 🤗
It’s been a good day & weekend when a coupla dogs can chew their good doggie bedtime marrow bones together !! 😊❤️
Getting into good habits.
Loki gets to spend chill time chewing his rope, we are interacting, and Izzy is role modeling good behavior.
A dogs life should be about hanging out with his peeps and playing with doggie friends.
The more time that you are able to spend with your puppy, interacting, playing & learning: the more he will look to you for direction ; the more he will “ care what you think “. He will look to you for approval or not. He will look to you for what he should be doing. It helps to be pro-active and have chewy things, cookies, a solid crate schedule, and practice obedience skills that can re-direct him from any behavior that is inappropriate.
Dogs have needs for exercise, entertainment & potty schedule. When those needs have been met- all they really want is to spend time with you because you provide all of those things for him. It’s not an Alpha dog scenario. It’s the people ( all people ) in Loki’s life that provide for his needs and also let him know that he is doing good when he is making good choices.
Simply: behavior that is rewarded (calm stuff) is repeated.
At the same time, if Loki doesn’t get enough exercise & play opportunities- his naughty behaviors will get the most attention ( stop, no, leave it, chase, tug) and he will keep doing the things that get him the most attention.
Make it be that he gets attention for being good as much as possible. And direct him toward behaviors that are acceptable for you and your family.
Puppies want you to approve of what they are doing, and to make good choices. If you can be clear what it is that you like ( chewing a rope- for me- in this case) they will keep doing that same thing. It will become a habit. 😊💙😀
To help with potty training; I try to make sure to monitor how much water puppy is drinking, in order to maybe predict when they will need to go out. I want Loki to have many, many successes of getting it right, and then he should WANT to wait to go outside to pee - because it pays so well and makes everyone relieved (pun) and happy ! 😊😁💚
2020 Update : I’ve since learned and have come to understand that the ‘delay your potty tactic’ is a long-time resident shelter dog phenomenon.
You see, Pups in shelters get lots of walks, if they are lucky 😃🐶, and quickly
Learn that as soon as they go potty- they get put back in the kennel- so that the next lucky pup can have a turn ! This translates to long time shelter dogs holding their potty as long as possible because it means that the fun ends ! 😯😔
The good news, is that Loki is a super Smart Kid, quick learner, and I better understand how to work within that scenario for potty training 😊🐶😎🤗🥰
This could be an hour long video of the same. We walked for an hour.
Loki can walk very nicely and is interested in all of the sniffles out in the world.
He and Izzy are wonderful walking pals.
The thing is -he needs to learn to go potty while on leash.
He had plenty of water and should have to go. Didn’t happen.
Walked home, took him on leash to his favorite spots in the back yard and stayed there on leash for a long while without any distractions.
I’m ready with my cookies and my camera for all of the glory of him doing his potty thing.
Nope.
I decided to test the theory that it is a leash thing, and let him off leash and he immediately peed.
Like in 10 seconds.
In that same area.
Luckily he has a dog park at his complex at home and has a few favorite potty spots around there, cause I’m rather baffled about the leash thing.
Ideally, you pair a word or phrase with him going. Like-“go potty”, say it as he is doing it and he gets cookies when he’s finished. We’ve been doing that.
He will eventually learn to pee every time he goes out with that sequence of events.
He still got his cookies and his photo op
For doing his thing outside. 😊
💚🐶💙❓
Now that we have Loki interested in playing together with a rope toy - it’s important that he learns how to “drop it” when requested. He gets a treat for willingly letting go of the rope, then gets the rope back again. We repeat that over and over so that Loki thinks it’s a pretty good deal , letting go, getting a treat, and still gets the rope back. If you practice this enough, Puppy will learn to let you take anything away because it has a history of paying off pretty well ( treats). 😁💙🐶
Loki got to spend a few hours with his Dad today walking and talking. 💙
The goal is for Loki to feel Safe, Calm & Happy. He will feel Safe by having a consistent and fair routine,
he can be guided toward Calm activities like Kong’s and chewys & focus practice.
Loki will be Happy when he knows he is making good choices most of the time & getting rewarded for it, plus enough exercise so he doesn’t have to go full steam rowdy at every opportunity. 😊🐶💙
Loki picks a stick to play with over his stuffed toy. A lot of dogs like to take things apart. Sometimes I make cardboard boxes into puppy projects and let them take those apart. It’s just a natural dog behavior to shred stuff. Loki is not actually eating this stick. He’s just taking it apart and spitting it out. You can guide your puppy toward shredding something that is appropriate for your lifestyle. I’ve used all kinds of containers, boxes, paper.
With any behavior- if puppy is going to do it anyway ( shred something) - turn it into something you approve of and can live with.
It’s a calmer behavior than a stuffed toy toss, so I’m okay with a stick as long as he’s not eating it. 😋🐶💚
Spending bonding time, as well as playtime has helped Loki to learn to trust me and to focus. When those two things are accomplished teaching obedience and household manners requests like “leave it” become much easier. This is our first time trying to clarify what “Leave it” means with treats (kibble) to start with. 🐶
Puppies need to learn that learning can be fun and rewarding. Once you have puppies focus, then it’s just a matter of timing the cookies immediately after he does what you ask of him !
And lots and lots of repetition!
💚🐶💙
