First, the poor dog who’s home for too long every day, Bella, did not return this week. Second, Chewy was not the star pupil this week.
I KNOW! But even though Chewy is tiny and cute, at nearly eight months old, he’s probably the oldest puppy in class. And the little kids in the class are working really hard on the commands with their puppies during the week.
Hey! I’m working on commands with Chewy, too! And working on socializing, which is important for this clingy little dog. In fact, just yesterday friends came by and Chewy met a human puppy for the first time since we’ve had him.
He didn’t take well to the human puppy, as cute as she is. I’ll be asking the teacher more about socialization this week. I did go to puppy training by myself this week. Hunny stayed home to supervise teenage boys using the band saw, make sure no one cut off a finger. (No one did.) I paid better attention, being there alone. The teacher spoke to me instead of Hunny. And we learned Down this week.
The instructor teaches the tricks using treats, yes. Holding the treat right over the nose and moving slowly until the dog is in position, quickly giving the hand signal while clicking, then giving the treat. The dogs learn very quickly this way. No reprimanding. No giving a command twice. With the verbal command, just giving it once and waiting. The dog might be slow to respond, but respond it does.
Another command she told us about, but doesn’t use for her own toy dogs, is Off. The command is used when they jump up on people or things, or counter surf, or are on whatever they’re not supposed to be on. I’ve played around with the idea of teaching Chewy Off, but only for the coffee table. He takes things off of the coffee table all day long. Otherwise he’s allowed on the furniture, and I barely feel him when he’s jumping up on me.
So far puppy training is going swimmingly. I’m continuing to tear Jones Beef Liver taffy and Chicken Taffy into tiny pieces, using it throughout the week, as well as in class. Chewy seems a little stressed by the puppies, but he’s quick to learn, very treat motivated.
Y’all have a great weekend! Subscribe to the blog, or just tune in Monday for Funny Bone Monday and funny dog videos.
Until I write again …
Flea
