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Puppy Kindergarten - Week 3


Puppy Class Homework - Week 3
House Manners
“Sit” and “shake” to greet
Continue w/housetraining


Body Language
Your puppy communicates with his fellow dogs, and to a large extent with you, with body language.  Body postures that make the dog look larger are generally postures of bluff, or threat, designed to increase the distance between the dog and another.  Examples are: Ears up or forward, tail up, making eye contact, standing w/ head or paws over another, hackles up, lips retracted upwards.  


Postures that make the dog look smaller are generally postures of invitation or submission. Examples are: Play bowing, “the play face”, pawing, rolling over, ears back, eyes averted, tail lowered, and so on. It is important also to remember that your dog will often read your postures as if they were dog body language. This sometimes leads to miscommunication if you are unaware of your dog's “language”.  For example, if you crouch as you tell him to "Stay", you will make the exercise harder for him, as your body is contradicting your voice!
 

Socialization

Continue to expose your puppy to the big world, but safely. Remember the two V's of socialization: Volume and Variety.  Has your puppy met a toddler? More than one? And enjoyed the experience?  How about teenagers?  People with beards?  Remember to use the “Jolly Routine”  and yummy treats or favorite toys when your puppy meets a new person.


To Practice
  • No lure, just command and signal for “sit”
  • Continue to practice the “sit/ collar touch” exercise.
  • Remember, No food lure on “Down” - be brave. 
    • Signal with an empty right hand.
    • Reward from your left hand.
    • Gradually use less and less hand motion to signal the down, until you can stand upright and signal.
  • If you "captured" the down, you will have the behavior on verbal cue by now, so try harder version, such as:

Downs with you seated, and/or Downs with you at a distance (leash the puppy, walk 10 feet away cue "down", wait quietly for success, click then treat.)

  • Puppy should occasionally perform three or four behaviors per reward. (Try to do the Sit-Down-Sit-Stand sequence, (see below) varying the order of the commands (so as to avoid accidentally pattern-training the puppy) then reward at the end of the series.)
  • Practice Come, holding the lure about 2' from the puppy, give the command, and back up. Reward the puppy as he catches you.  
  • Remember to use “real life” rewards sometimes, (see last week's notes).
  • Practice in new locations this week.

 

New behaviors: Sit-stay, Stand, Rollover, Shake

Practice “sit-stay”: strive for 60 second stay by the end of the week.  Remember, the “stay” ends only with the release word or a new cue. 

To teach the Sit-stay: Place 8 or 10 food treats in your cupped left hand, hold the clicker above the treats with your thumb on the button, and wrap the leash around your left wrist, or drop the leash and stand on it. This will leave your right hand free to signal. The signal is your right hand held upright, palm towards the dog, as if you were stopping traffic. Start by practicing very short stays, and then gradually increase the time the puppy is required to stay. The sequence will go like this:

“Sit, stay”, Click/treat

“Sit, Stay”/signal, pause, Click/treat

“Sit, Stay”/signal, count 5, Click/treat

“Sit, Stay”/signal, count 10, Click/treat

“Sit, Stay”/signal, count 15, Click/treat


“Sit, Stay”/signal, step away, step back, Click/treat

“Sit, Stay”/signal, step away, pause, step back, Click/treat

“Sit, Stay”/signal, step away, count 5, step back, Click/treat

“Sit, Stay”/signal, step away, count 10, step back, Click/treat

“Sit, Stay”/signal, step away, count 15, step back, Click/treat

 

If the puppy breaks the stay, reprimand “ah-ah!” and step back towards the puppy, causing him to sit back down on the same spot he started from. If the puppy breaks the stay more than twice in a row, drop back and practice the last time level he was successful at. After two or three repetitions of the shorter stay increase the time gradually.
Gradually increase the time that the puppy stays until he can do 30 - 60 seconds, and you can also stop practicing the shortest stays.

If your puppy is sensitive and seems scared by the "ah-ah!", discontinue it, and rehearse several very short stays, so that he is failure free, then gradually, gradually increase the duration. If he breaks, just say "oops", then put the treat away and turn your back on the puppy for a moment.  Start again, with a short stay.  For some puppies it is helpful to use the leash to gently hold the puppy (fairly) still, just long enough for him to get the picture that stillness earns rewards.  Do not use the leash to punish, just to stabilize.

 

Stand

Conceal a food lure in your right hand, and move your hand forward horizontally from the puppy's nose for 5 or 6 inches. The puppy will stand as he reaches for the treat.  Praise him and food-reward him.  Once the puppy is reliably targeting the lure, you can say “Stand” just once before you lure the behavior.  The gesture you used to lure the puppy will “morph” into the hand signal for this command.
 

Rollover

Have the puppy lie down. Hold a food lure against the puppy's nose, and move it against the puppy's shoulder so that the puppy tucks his head to his shoulder and goes into a down with his weight rolled to one hip. Then move the food lure around the puppy's collar; as the puppy moves his head, he will roll his body too.
 

Shake Hands

Have the puppy sit, then hold a food treat concealed in your fist at the level of the puppy's collar.  Wait 'til he paws at your hand, click immediately, then treat.  (This is a behavior in which it is very helpful to use a clicker to mark and capture the (brief) moment of behavior you want.)  Once the puppy is reliably pawing the treat, try this with your fist empty, click, then treat from the other hand. Once the behavior is fairly reliable, you can give the cue “Shake” just before you elicit the behavior.

In General

When practicing the new commands you should: Use a lure; Use a generous ratio of reinforcement; And practice in a familiar area.


Owner Notes/Questions (If you print this homework you can use this section to make notes about your puppy's progress, and/or to record questions to ask your instructor.)