Puppy days

Puppies can be hard work!  Yes, they can give loads of joy and love, but they can also be snarling biting monsters. It really has been a rollercoaster month. Most of the time Marley is a joy. He is really sharp, keen to learn and increasingly affectionate.  He does though have a demon side which normally appears after a walk or some kind of excitement, when he just goes off the rails jumping and biting, and sometimes barking wildly to go with it.  I guess it’s just over excitement and sometimes, when it’s particularly bad, must be related to pain as on several occasions we’ve found one of his little milk teeth a short time afterwards.  It’s bloody hard work though keeping your calm and remembering all the positive reinforcement training techniques when you really just want to roar at him.  On the plus side, the last of his fangs fell out last week so now we have proper teeth that tend to bruise skin rather than break it. I think maybe he is getting better as time goes on. There are some peaceful days,  but some are very very hard.

So, enough of my moaning, let’s focus on the positives of this nearly 5 month old pup, and there are meany.  His training is coming on well.  Sits, downs, stands and recalls are all pretty good. Stays need a little word. Heel work is good most of the time.  He can do a sendaway to his bed and a drop on recall.  He knows ‘give me 5’ (left paw) and give me 10 (right paw). He can restrain himself with ‘yer choice’ in the hand or with treats on the floor (mostly) and accidents are rare, and when they do happen it’s generally because he’s over excited or we’ve missed the signs.  He sleeps well in his crate.  He is good with other dogs (although he is usually on lead) and people (but he jumps). 

We’ve just returned from 10 days in Cornwall during which he came on so much. We went to the pub most days and his boundary training came in to play with his target mat and a pocket full of treats.  When we arrived he kicked off being in close proximity to a couple of very well behaved dogs in the beer garden. On our last meal out he remained calm(ish) whilst the pub dog came over to say hello. His long line has been a godsend.  On the beach every day he was able to run free but I had the confidence I could get home back relatively easily as surfers or joggers ran past, before he decided to taste their legs!  It’s been great to spend lots of time with him and expose him to lots of new situations. Biggest lesson for me has been to be patient and try to understand what makes him go in to crazy mode, then work out how to train a different reaction.  Ditch the bowl has been a great concept as have ‘calming’ and ‘distraction’ games.