Another Piece of the Puzzle: Puppy Development by Hastings Pat & Rouse Erin Ann

Author:Hastings, Pat & Rouse, Erin Ann [Hastings, Pat]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: raising puppies, puppies, puppy health, puppy development, dogs
ISBN: 0967841429
Publisher: Dogfolk Enterprises
Published: 2004-01-30T16:00:00+00:00

Figure 2-04: Labrador Retriever. Courtesy of Liz Harward.

The Next Level

Now you can capitalize on the puppies’ receptiveness to the clicker in many ways. For example, when people come up to the whelping box, do the puppies run and leap on the walls, begging for attention? Probably. So make a new rule, one that will apply to puppies, to family, and to visitors too: Only puppies that are sitting get petted or lifted out of the pen. It does not take long to get the whole litter sitting, and you can click them all at once. Now, when supper comes, the puppies will have to sit and be clicked before the dish goes down. Instead of repeatedly and unintentionally reinforcing jumping up, a behavior most pet owners hate, you are building a bunch of pups with better manners than that.

Come when called is another skill the whole litter can learn with clicks and treats, and a fun one for children to teach. Two or three children can take turns calling a puppy back and forth between them, clicking and treating when the puppies go to the child who called. Your buyers will get a puppy that has a head start on this important behavior.

How far can you go? Training with absolutely no corrections, just informative clicks and enjoyable treats, you can go a long way, even with a baby. When my last Border Terrier puppy arrived on an airplane, a long-distance purchase bought sight unseen, she was just 9 weeks old. I brought her home, set her down and gave her a little toy. She picked it up, carried it to me and dropped it at my feet. I thought this was surely an accident. I tossed it. She went and got it, brought it back and dropped it again. Using clicks and treats, the breeder, as a treat for me, had taught this tiny puppy a nice retrieve!

Breeders with clicker-trained litters usually give their buyers a demonstration of what the puppy has learned, a simple list of instructions or suggestions for using the clicker (several lists are available free online; search for clicker-training sites) and, of course, a clicker or two. People love taking home a puppy that already knows a trick. What a smart dog! And your early work starts them off with an attentive and cooperative pup that is ready to learn more and has a far better chance of fitting into its new world than a puppy starting from zero.

Melinda Johnson, a longtime breeder of Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers, began clicker-training her litters several years ago. Like many breeders, Johnson will always take a dog back if it does not work out in its new home. Since she started clicker-training her litters, her return rate has dropped to zero and her file of letters from happy owners has grown enormously. These puppies still have a lot to learn, of course. But they start their new lives learning how to learn, and ready and eager to learn more.

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