Puppy Preschool

[behinderhereyes]

Originally Posted by Vannette

"The lady told me to strangle my dog if sje nipped at another puppy for trying to take a toy away."


I wish she would have said this to me.

Why would you wish that?

[Michael Romanos]

Yes, that wish has me puzzled too.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by Peanut

When we brought Peanut home from puppy school he didn’t seem as active or enthused (even during feeding time!). Do you think its from that instance with Jessica?

I don't think it had anything to do with Jessica. I'll bet he was just a bit tired. And that's typical. My puppies do that too. They need a nap after going to class.

Peggy

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by behinderhereyes

I didn't like puppy preschool for my dog. The lady told me to strangle my dog if sje nipped at another puppy for trying to take a toy away.

You just need to find a better class with a better instructor. Don't assume all are taught the same way.

Peggy

[behinderhereyes]

I left that place after she told me that and went to petsmart.

[Vannette]

Originally Posted by Vannette
"The lady told me to strangle my dog if sje nipped at another puppy for trying to take a toy away."


I wish she would have said this to me.

Why would you wish that?


I was joking. I would not have been happy about her saying that to me about my puppy. That isn't that way to handle the puppies. She should know this. We had a blast in puppy class.

[Peanut]

Puppy class #4

This week we happen to sit on the opposite side of the room from Ruby. Once it was off leash time, Peanut trotted along not showing interest in any other dog until he found Ruby. Those two were inseparable. They would play wrestle- first Peanut on top and then Ruby on top. Drool, lick and chase one another.

In class we talked about grooming and how often to wash the puppies- the trainer suggested to bathe the puppies 1x a month. If Peanut can go an entire month with a bath, I’d be amazed! We usually give him weekly bathes since he’s running all over on the front lawn, outside for walks, and playing fetch all day and night. (The lady at petco suggested an oatmeal shampoo since we bathe him so often.) The trainer also suggested routinely brushing their teeth and having the puppy get conformable with us touching the paws, inspecting the ears, mouth, and belly.

Next we learned “leave it” which is opposite out “out” (well kind of). “Leave it” is when you want the puppy to drop and walk away from the item. “Out” is to drop the item in order for further play. She also showed up how to make u-turns on loose leash walking. Also name calling- to call the puppy by name and the puppy respond by coming towards you. She mentioned to ONLY use their name in a positive way ie: to only call the puppy over for treats and don’t call the puppy by it’s name to clip his/her nails or other negative things. I thought that was very interesting and it’s in the back on my mind now

This is a 6 week class, but this sat is our last session. I’ll be in LA for the last session of class =(

[Michael Romanos]

Taylor responds to 'leave it' very well.
I think two weekly baths for dogs is an overkill too unless there is an urgent need for one.

[Chip's Mom]

Chip & Dale both have been in obedience class and they started out when theywere about 6 months old. The instructor never had off leash playtime and one of the first things she did was instruct the people with the larger pups about being careful around the smaller ones. She would divide them into two groups and my boys were always with the small breeds. When we did the agility just for fun, she would ask me if the bars were low enough for my two. She was very considerate with the dogs.

[fogebotom]

Bathing-honestly other then the current trend for my Moose and his mother to find a nice warm deposit in the cattle pasture to roll in, most of my dogs only get a bath once every other month. The show dogs will get bathed the week before the show then a bath to remove the show junk the day after. I do weekly brushings on everyone as well as nail trims. When a dog is blowing coat, I usually don't even bath then just wet them down with a mixture of water and a little listerine(hint from a poodle breeder), then use my high powered blower to push the dead hair up and out. The new puppy, Albert, has had one bath when he was 10 weeks old - he's currently 17 weeks and other then smelling he's been playing a hay bale(grass is dead and dry in the yard), he's good to go.

For inbetween bath clean ups, rather then constantly bathing, use one of the many waterless shampoos out on the market. You can spray on, rub in well and then towel dry. Works especially well for muddy feet and undercarriages. It makes them smell good and doesn't strip the oils in the coat as much as frequent bathing.

Leave it - great thing to teach and one command that is used when testing a dog for their TDI. If I drop something on the floor, I immediately say leave it to the dogs unless it is something they can have. Saved me many times when I either broke a dish on the floor or dropped a pill that they shouldn't eat.

Wait-now, two different theories on that one. Here's mine. I use stay when I want the dog to remain in one place and that I will be returning to the dog. Wait is used to indicate that I will be calling the dog to me after I leave the dog. I also use it for going through doors or crowds, and then ask the dog to come with me but follow behind me. So in the show ring, stay is used for the long sits and downs portion, while wait is used for the recall.

Cindy and the crew at Foggy Bottom

[Vannette]

So is the Listerine for the smell? Regular yellow Listerine? How wet do you get them? Why when blowing coat? Can you do it other times? Sorry for the questions but the bathtub kills my back athough my dogs love a bath.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by fogebotom

For inbetween bath clean ups, rather then constantly bathing, use one of the many waterless shampoos out on the market. You can spray on, rub in well and then towel dry. Works especially well for muddy feet and undercarriages. It makes them smell good and doesn't strip the oils in the coat as much as frequent bathing.

Hi fogebotom
I was thinking about picking up the spray or wipes. What spray do you use? How often does the "freshness" last?

[fogebotom]

Regular old listerine and water is an old poodle groomer trick that I was taught. Just enough to barely smell the listerine. When brushing out any dog but specifically when we were doing poodles at the shows, we lightly sprayed the coat so that we could comb through easier as well as to keep the static down. I was then instructed that anytime I brush or comb any of my dogs it's a good idea to give them a mist with something, rather then brush them dry. Not sure exactly what it does but I do know that my dogs coats are much nicer and they don't have skin iritations after a through comb out. Besides the cardigans I have a rough collie, a pom and two brussels.

Blow coat-that's when you lovely plush corgi turns into a skinny, naked dog. Tufts of hair poking out of all crevices. Usually your dog will start loosing hair in the rear and work forward, loosing pants, then roughs. They tend to also go from a shiny coat to slightly dull. It's just the seasonal shedding of the unwanted hair. Twice a year around here, though corgis and collies do shed some what year round.

I tend to wet my dogs down to the skin then using my grooming dryer, put them up on the table outside and present the area birds with lovely nest lining. Really good way to get the undercoat out.

Waterless shampoos-lots of them out there. I tend to use the ones with a blue or purple color as I use it on the feet of the show dogs when I groom for the ring. Chris Christensen, Ring 5, BioGroom or Plush Puppy all have great products. I buy a couple of gallons a year. Dogs will be dogs and well, I have dogs that love living on the farm. To say how long the freshness lasts, can't say as I really don't notice it that much. Most of the time my dogs smell like clean dogs, fresh cut grass, hay bales or clean laundry(heehee, when they rummage through the just out of the dryer clothes). Rare occasions such as this last week, cow pasture, creek water and horse stall.

Cindy and the crew at Foggy Bottom

[Peanut]

Last Saturday was Peanut’s 5th week of puppy class. (It’s a 6 wks course, but we’ll be out of town the next few weeks so we’ll have to miss the last class).

Peanut has made some major accomplishments during the course of the class- mainly socialization. Initially he was very shy and had a hard time warming up to the other pups. Now I can happily say Peanut is playing with other dogs AND friendlier to people too! I think Peanut has a natural tendency to approach humans before dogs. Over the weekend we also visited our friends pitbull (+1yrs old) and it seemed the pitbull was more startled than Peanut. Tyson (pitbull) wouldnt stop barkin at Peanut.(note, I 100% took Peanut's comfort level into consideration) Later, once Tyson calmed down we introduced the two. Peanut was clam and very curious. Unfortunatly, I had to take Peanut away from Tyson becuase he started pawing at my puppy.

Okay, back to puppy preschool... 80% of the training taught in class, I had already taught Peanut. I registered for the class knowing that. I also knew that his puppy years will go by so fast, and if I overlook the socialization aspect, he can never have that back.

Last week the instructor introduced some agility and course work to the puppies. It basically presented new objects, surfaces, and routes for the puppies to walk through. As long as I had a treat in hand, Peanut will walk anywhere! He zipped through cones, walked over a blanket, and down a tunnel. We also had a mock vet exam to reinforce the importance of puppies being touch at their bellies, feet, mouth and ears.

All in all, I am very satisfied with the puppy class. Although we had a slight snafu during our first class, Im glad we stuck through it!

Now I’m off to research obedience classes. Probability something we’ll start next year since Peanut is getting neutered next month

Thank you everyone for all your support and advice!

[MyPemCharlie]

Glad to hear you stuck through it after the first class not going so well. Congratulations to you and Peanut! I'd like to see some updated pics of Peanut, with his 5 month birthday on Wednesday.