Training Priorities



This is Caralyn...I'm thinking she adores Pix...yeah?



We're wrapping up week 3 of Pixel coming home, and I think how far we've come already in such a short amount of time.  Plus, I'm now teaching our dog club's intro class which most businesses call puppy obedience, or obedience, and we call "Life Skills".  I meet with new puppy owners all the time, and it's interesting to me the various viewpoints coming my way.  For those interested in doing more with their dogs than just wanting a well adjusted family pet - basically interested in dog sports - we really have our work cut out for us, don't we?  We want to do everything "right" and we want our dog to be amazing from day one.  I have news for you, good news I hope...we AREN'T going to do everything right and our dogs probably won't be amazing at everything, but even if we did and they were...genetics could still come in the back door at adolescence and kick us in the junk.  So, given all that, I think our moral obligation is simply (1) to enjoy these puppy days (because they are limited), (2) to do the very best we can given the information at hand, (3) learn from our mistakes, and learn where ever information is available, and last but not least, (4) fall in love with our puppies.  Given all that...here's what Pixel's life has been like for the past 11 days.

Social Butterfly

Week one, Pixel met new poeple with a bit of shyness, and when pushed would actually shake.  She isn't the happy-go-lucky puppy that dives into everyone's lap.  Quite the opposite, she'd like to peek out behind my legs and take it all in.  So, we had to make this a bit of a priority.  We didn't have her meet just any one, but most of her 'friends' now are all dog savvy people.  Pixel to date has probably met...I'd say in the neighborhood of 25 adults (probably more, I'm losing count), 6 children under the age of 10, and just a couple puppies under 6 mo of age. 



The tiny spec in the middle of the party on the floor, casually chewing on my flipflop, is Pixel.

 In the above picture, we had a puppy meet and greet gathering on Saturday night.  We had a wide array of people to meet her, including the 2 kids who were playing Playstation.  Pixel hung out with everyone, and received a lot of attention, while also dealing with more than 10 people clammoring around.  I am very proud to see her in the middle of all that, casually chewing on my flipflop like this is her norm, no biggie.  Again, we've come very far in nearly 3 weeks.

You can also see that Neelah is out hanging with the group, and Pixel as well.  We've had Neelah and Pixel out more and more together.  While Neelah sees Pixel as an unruly child, they do co-exist rather well together.  We've kept the boys safely on the other side of her kennel, even nearly 3 weeks in.  Our fear is that she'd get snapped at or on by Treo or Tazer and it'd not be a good experience.  But, what I am doing instead and will continue to do, is let them check her out from the safety of my arms, and receive treats for being sweet to her.  Treo seems to like this game.  When she's up in the neighborhood of being at least 1/2 Treo's size, I will start to let them go on walks together and slowly start the process of them co-existing in the back yard.  But, no rush for me.  I want them to really like each other and I'm taking my time with that.  What I do with other dogs, however, is encourage her to play with dogs who love puppies, or dogs who are puppies themselves.  We had a great time at a friends house this weekend where she got to interact with a 11 wk old Golden, and a 6 m/o Border Collie.  She was overwhelmed at first, but eventually showed everyone her wild child side.  It was cute!!!!



Naya and Pixel




Beck and Pixel

 Dog Training Proper

I have finally started to integrate some dog training.  We are getting serious about kennel manners, crate games, toy play, and shaping.  She can sit to receive...anything.  She sits for her toy, to come out of the kennel, get eat, and when we play It's yer choice with cookies in my hand.  Next we'll work on down and possibly a trick or two.  House training is going well - at this age, it's all timing on my part anyway.  Lastly, she's got some really inherent toy play and retrieving instincts which has been really fun to work with. 
Here's a video of me playing Susan Garrett's "Sit-Tug-Sit" game with Pixel.