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COPING WITH PUPPY TRAINING |
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In two newsletters last year, Membership Secretary Penny Gayler set out her guide to choosing the right puppy and keeping the newcomer safe. Now, she reflects on how you go about training them, based on her experience of bringing on a dozen or more golden retrievers over 20 years, some of which went on to be shown at Crufts. Rule Number One. “Start as you mean to go on”. Your cute cuddly puppy will reach its teenage yob stage before you know it and you need to get all the training in as early as possible. With modern vaccines, you can start socialising your puppy as young as 10 weeks. Give your new friend a few days to settle in and then make a start. My pet hate is a dog that hauls its owner around, dragging them from pillar to post in search of new and interesting smells. Rule Number Two. “A walk is a walk, not a piddling contest”. If you teach good manners from the outset, it will be a pleasure to take him out on a lead, not an ordeal. When my puppy is enjoying the freedom of the Forest off lead, they can do all the sniffing they want, but on lead they walk with me. Rule Number Three. “Never follow a pulling dog, except in the very early days”. First of all, you put on his new collar. He will hate it to begin with, but persevere and after a few days of frantic scratching he will forget he is wearing it. Remember that the law demands he must wear a disc with your name and address on it. I also show my home and mobile ‘phone numbers. Once he has accepted his collar, put on his lead and, for these first few days, you follow him round the garden. Ten minutes maximum to begin with. Again, within a short time, he will get used to the idea that he is restrained. Now starts the real training. Make sure he has emptied himself before you begin. Give yourself a bit of room and with him on your left, walk smartly down the garden encouraging him to follow you. The moment he gets in front of you and begins to pull, call his name, turn in a different direction, tell him to “Heel” and set off again. It may take several changes of direction before he realises that he is not getting to go where he is pulling. He should start watching you to see where you are going next and you simply do not give him time to stop, sniff or pee. The first few training days will set the pattern for his life. That leads me to: Rule Number Four. “Resist the temptation to walk him to school with the kids”. You will not be able to concentrate on both tasks and he will quickly learn bad manners. Get the kids away to school and then take him out on his own when you can give 100% to him. Once he is confidently walking on a lead in the garden, it is time to take him to town. Do it when you can put all your energies into his training. I drive into town, leave the car and walk my puppy down the high street and back again. Although they are a little unruly to begin with, I try to keep them on my left-hand side and do not allow them to stop and sniff. I take time to sit on a bench outside a supermarket where plenty of people will be unable to resist coming to say “Hello” to the pup. Nothing must be hurried and he must be given plenty of time to absorb all the new sights and sounds that he has never encountered before. If something really scares him, give him time to sit and recover before you move on. Stay calm if the pup is frightened by something. Try not to over-sympathise. You do not want him thinking he has good reason to be scared. I actively encourage people to come and stroke my pup. In that way, they soon learn that humans are friendly. Puzzle was a particularly difficult puppy to socialise. She was scared of everything. I had to go every day for a month before she settled and trotted confidently down the high street and back again. The work has paid off and she is now quite happy going to town. As a show dog, I need her to accept calmly new situations. I allowed about an hour for one of these trips but a lot of that time was spent standing or sitting still. During this particular training, I do not give rewards. Walking nicely on a lead through town should be a normal activity for a dog and a reward in itself. Teaching them to sit is dead easy by comparison. At feed times, simply hold his bowl up in front of him. He will look up, his bottom will go down and you give the command “Sit” as it hits the ground. You can achieve the same with a treat held slightly above his head. My dogs understand hand signals and that can be very useful if they are up-wind and cannot hear me. With the command “Sit”, hold out your right hand, palm down as you say the word. He will soon learn to connect one with the other so that eventually you can dispense with the word and just give the hand signal. If you want to add in a whistle command, give one pip on a gun dog whistle as you say “Sit”. You do need to be able to multi-task for this! Puppy must learn to come when called. It could be paramount to his safety. I cut up some small bits of cheese and leave them out to get a bit hard. Nearly all dogs love cheese and it is much more exciting than a boring old biscuit. Take the pup into the garden. Choose a moment when he is not completely absorbed in something else – like digging – and call him. No matter how long he takes to come, praise him and give him a reward. Some time later repeat the process. This time, you should see him thinking “Well it was worth it last time” and hopefully he will come faster. Again reward him. The physical signal for a recall is both arms outstretched. The whistle command is four short sharp pips. Once you have established a pattern of him coming when called, you will feel a lot more confident about letting him off lead out on the Forest. I would consider continuing to reward fast recall for anything up to a year. Puzzle is a year old now and happily goes out with the rest of the gang to burn off some energy. She walks without pulling on a lead, will come when called and is learning to sit on a hand signal. As mine are in the show ring, they are also taught to stand. Now, that is much more difficult … and a subject I might turn to in a future edition. Rule Number Five. “Pour yourself a nice gin and tonic when you make Rules One to Four stick”. Cheers and good luck!
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