Training Your Dog To Play Nice With Toys

Train your dog to play with a toy?  I know that sounds absolutely absurd.  However, as I’m learning some toys do require training just as you might have to teach your dog to retrieve a tennis ball or sit on command it may sometimes be important to train your dog to play properly with his new toys.

For those of you who’ve been following along here on the blog you may remember my post about the Ginger Bread House Puzzle Dog Toy.  I thought these would make great Christmas gifts and ordered several Gingerbread House Puzzle Dog Toys from Amazon.com.  I gave one to my parents dog, a 12 pound Cairn Terrier named Ralphie.  Check out the picture below:

Doggies Reaction To The Gingerbread House Dog Toy

Ralphie is not the kind of dog who prefers to tear apart and gut his toys unlike some other dogs I know (Linus, Stetson, and Derby).  Ralphie carried the Gingerbread house around a little bit and I showed him how to remove the gingerbread man from the house, but overall I think he was unimpressed.  However, the Gingerbread house and man did make for a good picture with Ralphie

The real test was with my three boys.  All three of my dogs love to gut their toys when given the chance.  Linus is the most gentle with his toys, but he still has the tendency to pull the  stuffing from his favorites.

Although I haven’t thoroughly exposed my boys to the Gingerbread house and it’s residents they did get a brief glimpse and some initial training with Ralphie’s Gingerbread house.

• Linus pretty much ignored it as he often does when around other dogs
• Stetson grabbed the house and it’s occupants and carried it back and forth around the house, but couldn’t quite get his nose and mouth through the doorway to extract the inner toys.
• Derby had the most success and grabbed hold of the Gingerbread man and pulled him from his cozy home.

Play time with the Gingerbread house was entirely supervised and I did see Stetson creep towards his bed…Gingerbread house in tote and start gnawing on the ends of the little home.  I’m pretty certain that if left unattended this little Gingerbread home will end up in the pile of torn apart toys.  At this point I think I need to work more on showing Stetson, Linus, and Derby exactly how to extract the Gingerbread man through the front door rather than using the brute force attack and tearing off the roof.  Afterall, pulling the toys out the front door has to be like pulling the stuffing out of a plush dog toy…right?

We’ll see how it goes and I’ll keep you updated on the durability of the Gingerbread House Puzzle Dog Toy.

Did your puppy get a Gingerbread House Puzzle Dog Toy for Christmas?  How’s it holding up?

Top 14 Reasons Why Men Have Dogs And Not Wives

My mother is always wondering when I’m going to get married. I’ve sometime thought this myself and I really have no explanation for why I’m not married…maybe I just haven’t met the right one. Then a revelation hit me (or rather an email in my inbox).

Lets first talk about my dogs…I have 3…Linus, Stetson, and Derby. Linus is an Australian Shepherd mix rescued from the Carson Shelter. Stetson is pure bred black Labrador Retriever and a career changed guide dog. Derby is a yellow Labrador Retriever guide dog puppy in training.

The Boys

Why so many dogs, but no wife?

Well I just received an email that explained the situation to me:

Top 14 Reasons Why Men Have Dogs And Not Wives

1. The later you are, the more excited your dogs are to see you.
2. Dogs don’t notice if you call them by another dog’s name.
3. Dogs like it if you leave a lot of things on the floor.
4. A dog’s parents never visit.
5. Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across.
6. You never have to wait for a dog; they’re ready to go 24 hours a day.
7. Dogs find you amusing when you’re drunk.
8. Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.
9. A dog will not wake you up at night to ask, “If I died, would you get another dog?”
10. If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and give them away.
11. A dog will let you put a studded collar on it without calling you a pervert.
12. If a dog smells another dog on you, they don’t get mad. They just think it’s interesting.
13. Dogs like to ride in the back of a pickup truck.
14. If a dog leaves, it won’t take half of your stuff.

I never really thought about it this way, but all very good points. So maybe I’m not holding out, maybe there is a reason why I have 3 dogs and no wife, maybe…

The Cutest Puppy Ever Part X

We finally made it! Number 10, the final edition, the last puppy in the Cutest Puppy Ever series. I hope you guys didn’t get tired of all these puppy pictures. I know I can never tire of pictures of puppies. Anyhow, this is the tenth and final puppy I’ve raised.

Here’s the recap of all the articles in the Cutest Puppy Ever series:

The Cutest Puppy Ever Part I – Linus the Australian Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part II – Buttercup the German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part III – Blondie the Labrador Retriever Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part IV – Sally the German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part V – Derby the Yellow Labrador Retriever
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part VI – George the German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part VII – Brisby the German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part VIII – Boots the Labrador German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part IX – Cocoa the German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part X – Stetson the Black Labrador Retriever

The final puppy in the series is Stetson, my first Guide Dog puppy in training. The inspiration of this blog.

The Cutest Puppy Ever – Stetson

Stetson is an absolutely awesome dog and he was an adorable puppy. Thank goodness he was so cute because he was by far the most difficult puppy to crate train. For those of you interested in crate training your puppy let me tell you…some puppies are easy and take to the crate right away i.e. Derby. While other puppies can take up to months to adjust to the crate i.e. Stetson. A quick not about Stetson: he was adorable, but during his first month he would not sleep more than 2 hours in a row and he would take anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes of whining, crying, and howling before he’d fall asleep.

Stetson is a purebred black Labrador Retriever. He has a big block head and is not the most athletic dog. His legs are short and he’s on the stocky side (I think he’s adorable, but then again I may be biased).

Now for the good part…take a look at these adorable pictures of my little puppy in training. Nowadays Stetson is almost 2 years old and rarely ever barks. I’m not even sure what his bark sounds like.

Take a look at these adorable pictures.

Click here to vote Stetson the Cutest Puppy Ever!

Stetson and His Purple Grenade

Stetson Chomping On His Bone

Stetson Kicking It On His Bed

Subscribe NOW To Receive The Entire Cutest Puppy Ever Article Series

Did you like this article and pictures? If so, then fill out the form below and receive the entire Cutest Puppy Ever series daily via email. The final article of the series will allow you to vote on your favorite puppy! Be sure not to miss one puppy picture by filling out your email address in the form below.

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One final note. If you use social media or even if you don’t we’d love to get this series of stories a little more exposure by getting them up on StumbleUpon, Digg, and Reddit. If you are a member of any of these website then can you please stumble, digg, and reddit this post. I added some links to the bottom of the page that will allow you to quickly stumble, digg, or reddit us.

Did you read the other articles from this series? I’ll add the links to the bottom of each post as they are published.

The Cutest Puppy Ever Part I – Linus the Australian Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part II – Buttercup the German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part III – Blondie the Labrador Retriever Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part IV – Sally the German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part V – Derby the Yellow Labrador Retriever
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part VI – George the German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part VII – Brisby the German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part VIII – Boots the Labrador German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part IX – Cocoa the German Shepherd Mix
The Cutest Puppy Ever Part X

My Friend Has Spent Over $10,000 On His Dog!

Stetson and I took another trip to the veterinarian yesterday and it cost us $150…eeeekkk.  It got me thinking on my drive home: How much money do you spend on your dog? I know some people buy their dogs lavish gifts and others have very expensive vet bills I’m somewhere in between where I do get my dogs some silly gifts (like Halloween costumes) and also spend the mandatory dollar on vet bills.

My Friend Spent Over $10,000 On His Dog!

I guess I shouldn’t complain about my dog expenses.  A friend of mine has spent over $10,000 on vet bills alone.  Here are a few of his vet visits.

• As a puppy his American Staffordshire Terrier had diarrhea and pushed so hard when pooping that he pushed out his rectum – they said it looked like a pink bubble coming out of his butt.
• At about 2 years of age his dog tore his ACL.  At the time they told him there was an 80% chance he’d tear his other ACL.
• At 3 years of age he tore his other ACL.
• He’s also had miscellaneous other visits to the vet totaling over $10,000

Money I Spend On My Dog

I thought back to the past 6 months or so and tried to come up with a dollar amount I’ve been spending on my dogs. Here’s what I found:

Approximately Monthly Expenditures for my 3 dogs:

1. Dog Food: (2 bags a month): $80
2. Dog Treats: $10
3. Dog Toys: $10
4. Heartworm Medicine (2 dogs): $10
5. Flea Medicine (3 dogs): $10
6. Vaccinations: $10
7. Other Expenses: $20
8. Veterinarian visits: $50

The grand total for my three dogs is $200 a month. It’s probably a little higher then that as I’m not thinking about. This is the cost for three young healthy dogs. Stetson is the only regular visitor to the Veterinarian as he seems to have ear and skin issues about every other month. Linus is still a young pup turning 4 years old a couple days ago and he’s been very healthy and strong. Derby has more expenses because he’s still just a puppy at only 6 months old, but Guide Dogs of America covers all of his vet bills.

Should You Get A Dog Keep Expenses In Mind?

The poor economy, people’s lack of funds, and foreclosures are forcing people to relinquish their dogs. We talked a little about the economy and the difficulty with dog adoptions at the local shelters in Tough Times For Cat And Dog Adoptions.

If you’re interested in getting a dog beware that there are expenses (sometimes significant) involved. I feel like I’ve been very lucky with my three dogs as they’ve all been very healthy. As I mentioned earlier I have a friend who’s dog has cost him well over $10,000 in vet bills and surgeries and that was all before the age of 4 years old.

What about you…how much do you spend on your dog? Is there anything I’m missing on my list?

How To Make Your Own Dog Costume

Halloween is right around the corner and I thought it would be the perfect time to write a DIY (do it yourself) on How To Make Your Own Dog Costume for Halloween.  This year we dressed Derby in a lion mane dog costume and it was definitely a hit at our guide dog costume party.

Last year I wasn’t too creative with Stetson and his first Halloween costume. However, Target has some great costumes and Stetson and I both dressed up as bee’s (I guess you could say we were a swarm of bees). This year we decided to do a little more preparation and after researching the internet and posting about dog costumes and our favorite: the alligator dog costume…I got really excited about designing my own dog costume for Derby and our Halloween guide dog meeting.

Derby’s Dog Costume – Simba The Lion

Here are some images of Derby in his dog costume as Simba the Lion:

Derby chomping on his prey (looks like a piece of grass or twig)

Derby the happy dog!

Derby giving us his best lion pose!

Don’t mess with Derby the lion.

Derby smelling the grass.

I’m sure everyone’s now wondering…what a brilliant costume! How did you do it?

How To Make Your Own Dog Costume

I was secretly hoping I would get a yellow Labrador Retriever or a Golden Retriever so I could dress them up as a lion for Halloween. If you saw my post on The 6 Best Dog Costumes On The Internet then you would have seen the Golden Lion who was actually supposed to be Lambert the Sheepish lion. A very random reference, but I just recently saw the short cartoon when watching Disney’s the Fox and the Hound…I’m a kid at heart and still watch cartoons.

Anyhow, I’ve been searching for a lions mane since I got Derby and couldn’t find anything suitable until Halloween costumes started rolling into the local Walmarts and Targets. While walking through Target I saw the perfect Lions mane…it was the hair on the wolfman’s mask. So here are the step-by-step instructions for constructing your very own dog costume.

Items you will need for this project:

• Wolfman Mask from Target
• Elastic band
• Piece of Velcro
• Extra Collar
• Sewing kit (needle and thread)
• Knife or Scissors
• Optional – rubber band

Instructions

1. Go to Target and buy the $9.99 Wolfman mask.
2. Grab a knife or scissors and unstitch the hair from the latex mask.
3. With rudimentary sewing skills attach the collar to the lions mane (this will keep it in place when costume is worn.
4. Next, attach the velcro under the neck. This will keep the lions mane closed around the neck area.
5. Finally attach the elastic higher up from the velcro just under the chin. This helps to keep the hair from sliding back behind the ears.
6. Optional – take an extra piece of hair from the mask and attach it to your dogs tail with the rubber band.

And the final results…we won Most Original Costume at our Guide Dogs of America meeting! YAY!

The Fearless Lion

Farm animals about to be preyed upon by the mighty lion!

Thanks to Joe for the wonderful photographs at our GDA meeting.

Let me know if you have any questions about How To Make Your Own Dog Costume. I, myself am not very creative nor very crafty, but was able to piece this one together.

If you haven’t already seen last years Halloween post then please check it out and get some new dog costume ideas.  Definitely one of our favorites was the headless horseman dog costume.

Did your dog wear a dog costume for Halloween? If so, what did he/she dress up as?

VPI K9K Pet Cancer Awareness Walk

Did you guys read the update on Tink and Pink this week? After reading Johanna’s update on Tink the Dachshund and Pink the pig I got to thinking about poor little Tink and her medical problems. I was hoping that she was going to be okay and that her tumor would not be cancerous.

It’s funny how sometimes when you hear news, good or bad, you often times hear more related stories. In this case as I was thinking about Tink’s health a friend of mine emailed me this upcoming dog event:

VPI K9K Pet Cancer Awareness Walk

Date:
Saturday, November 15, 2008

Time:
10:00 AM

Venue:
Shoreline Village Lighthouse Peninsula
Start at Catalina Landing

Address:
320 Golden Shore
Long Beach, CA 90802-4243

Brief Description:
For the second consecutive year, Veterinary Pet Insurance is leading the charge in raising awareness of the nation’s number one disease-related killer of dogs and cats with a fun-filled 3K (1.8 miles) walk for both people and their pets. This year’s K9K carries participants along a picturesque trail through the Rainbow Harbor boardwalk and Shoreline Village Lighthouse Peninsula area in Downtown Long Beach, California.

Additional Information
Pet owners and their canines will walk in unison to help raise money for the Animal Cancer Foundation (ACF). All registration fees will be donated to this non-profit organization focused on the prevention and treatment of cancer in pets and people

Registrants for the second annual VPI K9K Pet Cancer Awareness Walk receive entry to the K9K, a commemorative T-shirt, a bandana for their pooch, and post-event refreshments.

Fees:
$25 before Nov.1, $30 after

Online Registration Closes:
11/14/08 11:59 AM

Website:
http://www.renegaderaceseries.com

The online registration form is on Active.com at Pet Cancer Awareness Walk.

Pet Cancer Awareness Walk For Linus, Stetson, Or Derby

This is one of those events that any of my dogs can participate in. The question is which one should I bring. By this time Derby will be over 6 months old and should be able to handle a situation like this. However, Stetson is probably the most prepared to be in an environment with many dogs some well trained and probably some that are not so well trained. Finally, there’s Linus who would definitely not enjoy being in the company of so many strange dogs. Linus would probably be best suited to watch the other dogs walking and be allowed to choose how far or close he’d like to be to the action.

Regardless of who I decide to take this is definitely an event I’d like to participate in. How about you? Are you interested in joining us on supporting the Animal Cancer Foundation?

Halloween Dog Costume Parade Coming Soon!

Time to break out your favorite Halloween dog costume. If you’re the creative type, time to design and make your  homemade dog costume from scratch. Yep, it’s that time of year again the leaves are starting to change color (not so much here in Orange County, California), the days are getting shorter, and the evening are getting cooler. It’s that time of year when you and your best pal can dress up like the silliest of doggies or the most serious scary Weredoggie or Frankendoggie.

If you’re not into designing your very own dog costume than you can always run to your local Target or Halloween costume store or do as I often do and order through Amazon.com. Check out this little stinker skunk- Dog Halloween Costume. That would look great on a black dog like Stetson or Linus.

If you’re still having trouble coming up with the perfect dog costume then take inspiration from my post on The 6 Best Costumes On The Internet.

I’ve already started working furiously on Derby’s new dog costume. He’s going to be…well I’m not going to tell you just yet. Let me first finish it up and I’ll put together a post including pictures and all.

For those of you dog lovers out there who love to dress up your pup the Haute Dog Howl’oween Dog Parade is just around the corner.

Haute Dog Howl’oween Dog Parade

What: The 2008 Haute Dog Howl’oween Dog Parade

When: Sunday, October 26th, 2008, 2:30pm

Where: Livingston Park
4900 E. Livingston Drive
Long Beach, CA 90803

Here’s a little information on the event:

The 10-block sidewalk parade takes place on Second St. between Roycroft and Granada avenues and lasts about an hour.

More than 600 dogs last year helped us to raise more than $10,000. More costumed dogs are expected this year!

All events are free to spectate.

ENTRY: $15/advance or $25/day-of per parade dog. $2 for kids’ costume contest.

For more information on the Haute Dog Howl’oween Dog Parade visit their website.

Can You Make It To The Dog Costume Parade?

I plan on joining in the fun and festivities of the Dog costume Halloween parade. However, I have many obstacles to overcome. First, I’m captaining my tennis team that weekend and will not know my schedule until after we complete our morning matches. I also have a hockey game that afternoon at 4pm which I will skip in lieu of the Dog costume parade. Other than that…no excuses and I’ll see you there!

Will Derby Be At The Parade In His Dog Costume?

Unfortunately, I’m not sure if this is an appropriate event for Derby. There are two things that concern me about this event. First of all, there might be too much noise and excitement for Derby. After all he’s only 5 months old (closer to 6 months by then). Second, it may not be a good idea to bring him around so many strange dogs. The goal with Derby is to do my best to make sure he does not have a bad experience. This is something I’ll probably discuss with other people from our Orange County GDA group as I’m sure some of them have attended this event in the past.

I hope to make it to the Haute Dog Howl’oween Dog Parade and I hope to see you and your puppies in their best costume.

Did you attend the Haute Dog Howl’oween Dog Parade last year or in the past? I’d love to hear what you thought about this Halloween dog costume parade.

Dogs Doing Good – Guide Dogs of America

Just a couple days ago I received a magazine called Orange County Westways with a title Who Let the Dogs Out? on the cover with a picture of (I believe) Huntington Dog Beach. The main dog on the cover looks like my parents little yellow terrier and off in the background about to tackle a wave is the grown up version of Derby (a full grown yellow lab that is).

Anyways, the cover caught my attention so I decided to flip through th magazine…I think I receive the subscription as a part of my auto club membership.

I quickly flipped to the section on dogs and guess what I saw…a feature on Dogs Doing Good…and guess who the subject was? Guide Dogs of America! Yay! There’s a wonderful picture of a yellow lab wearing the distinctive yellow puppy in training jacket. It reminded me a lot of my puppy in training, Derby.

Here’s a nice shot of Derby working on his training with children.

Back to the article. Westways had some interesting facts about Guide Dogs of America that I wanted to share today.

Guide Dogs of America

57
Joseph Jone’s age when he discovered he was too old to get a Seeing Eye dog.

1948
Year he founded International Guiding Eyes, with the help of the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers, in North Hollywood, one of the only programs without an upper age limit.

2
Number of students and dogs the school could accommodate that first year.

Thousands
Number of dogs trained by the organization (now Guide Dogs of America) in the years since.

Approximately 50
Percentage of dogs trained who end up becoming successful guide dogs.

80
Percentage of dogs (bred and trained at the school) that are Labrador retriever.

Stetson And Derby

Stetson was my first puppy in training. Unfortunately he was career changed (dropped from the guide dog program) and is now my pet (we want to get him into therapy dog training). Derby is my second GDA puppy and if the stats hold true then Derby should make it as a guide (meaning that 50% of the dogs I raised end up becoming successful guides). I know…wishful thinking, but I’m really working hard with Derby in hopes that he will successfully become a guide dog.

If you have any questions about Guide Dogs of America then please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer.

Check out the full article at the Auto Club website.

Guide Dogs In Action

Just the other day I received a short blog article from Google Alerts about a person’s experience or actually eye witness of a fully trained guide dog in action.

Lucky for me I see guide dogs in action almost on a daily basis. There’s a lady who walks by our office with her guide dog daily, I’ve also seen several people at my local grocery store probably on a weekly basis. Finally, as a guide dog puppy raiser I get to see the unpolished version of a guide dog (puppy in training) daily.

I’m always amazed to see how focused guide dogs are when out in public, how they can successfully navigate their handler through obstacles, and how obedient they are with the many distractions going on around them. Of course this is the final goal for me as a puppy raiser.

The Guide Dog

Here’s a short blurb from the guide dog blog article I read the other day:

The dog led on, and we walked along the same street heading to my office. As we approached a van parked entirely on the pavement, I readied myself to warn the woman that she’d have to walk in the road, when the dog looked around, saw a car approaching from behind us, and stopped instantly. I told the woman that there was a vehicle parked in the way and that she’d have to dismount the curb; she thanked me and we walked on. The dog was very hesitant, constantly turning back and forth to check for traffic, before leading his mistress back onto the pavement once we’d passed the van.

Amazing! This is just one of the many reasons I’m proud to be a guide dog puppy raiser. I feel so honored to be a part of the process that will someday allow a blind individual to travel and move around with confidence and ease knowing that their guide dog will get them from point A to point B clear of danger.

Derby and I are working hard to prepare him for his formal guide dog training. I’m hoping in the next year and a half I’ll be sitting proudly next to Derby and his new blind companion at guide dog graduation.

3 Tips On How To Train Your Dog Like A Guide Dog

Aren’t you amazed when you see a Guide Dog in public! They have to be some of the most well-behaved dogs I’ve ever seen. A guide dog has to ignore all the distractions going on around him and concentrate on his job of leading his handler safely to his destination. Have you ever asked yourself: How does a Guide Dog become so well behaved? I have, and that’s one of the many reasons I decided to volunteer as a Guide Dog puppy raiser.

I’m always looking for tips and pointers on how to better train my dogs and puppies. Recently while browsing Google Reader I came across an article that could have been written specifically for the Puppy In Training blog. Here’s the full article: To train your dog, take a lesson from guide dogs.

It’s a great article and has 3 main tips on how to train your dog like a guide dog. That’s basically what we’re doing here at Puppy In Training. That is giving you points on how a guide dog puppy raiser raises his puppy.

Here are the 3 main tips I got out of the article:

1. Socialization

Socialization starts with volunteer puppy raisers who make sure that puppies become accustomed to a wide range of situations in and out of the home. Constant contact with people teaches puppies “that their life revolves around a human,” which is critical to a successful dog-handler team.

As a puppy raiser this is one of the most important parts of our job. I usually mention that as puppy raisers we give our puppies socialization and basic obedience before our puppies begin formal training. For me, socialization is one of my favorite parts. We get to take our puppies in to restaurants, movie theaters, malls, grocery stores, the public beach (GDA puppies aren’t allowed on the dog beach), basically anywhere the public goes our dogs go to. Of course this helps the puppies get accustomed to many different situations they might encounter as a working guide dog.

It’s important to note that if you have a small puppy then certain situations may not be age appropriate. Very young puppies are much more sensitive and may get extremely scared when introduced into a potentially scary (for the puppy) situation. An example for a guide dog puppy raiser would be bringing your puppy to Disneyland. This can be a very stressful trip for your puppy as there are many people and lots of noises and smells that could be scary for a puppy.

Not everyone has the luxury of raising a guide dog puppy. You can still socialize and expose your puppies to many different situations. When I started Linus (he was an adopted shelter puppy) on his puppy training we were told to make sure we socialize him with different people — adults, children, elderly, different ethnicities. We were also told to bring him into different situations — outside the grocery store, at the park, parking lots, walks around the neighborhood, different homes, outdoor malls etc.

When I was raising Linus we were told to try taking him to the front of a grocery store and ask people walking in and out to give him treat. The idea was to make his outings a positive experience. And that will bring us to our next tip…

2. Positive Reinforcement

For training specific behaviors, food rewards are now standard. It’s the clearest way to communicate to a dog that he’s done the right thing.

We train our GDA puppies through positive reinforcement. However, food rewards are not an option for a Guide Dogs of America puppy in training. GDA puppies get extreme amounts of praise for their reward.

Why don’t we use food rewards for praise? It can be a distraction for a working Guide Dog. As I mentioned earlier a Guide Dog will be with their handler in almost every situation and cannot be distracted. If a Guide Dog is in a restaurant the dog must not be distracted by the food in the restaurant. Using food as a reward can make it much more difficult for a guide dog to ignore the food in situations such as restaurants.

3. Training = Lifelong Learning

…it’s crucial to remember that training a dog isn’t like programming a machine; you don’t just do it once and it’s done.

I’ve always had the mindset of lifelong learning for my dogs and myself. Sometimes I feel like I don’t have enough hours in my day, but when I take my dogs on a walk I always work on a few training exercises. Stetson and Derby still waits for his bowl of food until I say “OK”. Linus, Stetson, and Derby all have to follow a command before receiving any kind of treat. The list goes on and on for their lifelong learning.

My routine with Stetson (first GDA puppy) and now Derby (GDA puppy #2) is to work on training 3 times a day during my work day. It’s great because it gives me a break to walk around and get some fresh air.

These dogs have to make decisions on their own, which can easily escalate into thinking they don’t have to listen. So it’s strongly recommended that handlers do a few minutes every day of basic obedience commands with their dog, to remind them who’s in charge – a good idea for all of us whose dogs don’t always listen.

As I mentioned earlier this is a wonderful article bringing up three important points when raising your dog or puppy. Check out the entire article…it also talks about “Intelligent Disobedience” which is a very important behavior a Guide Dog must learn. Here’s the full article: To train your dog, take a lesson from guide dogs.

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