We have an in training band on Yalom's harness and people still try and stroke him without asking! Others do stop themselves though when they see it, so it works for some. When I'm frustrated with it I tell them he bites now. Their faces are a picture. Until a few weeks ago it was true though - he would nibble you!
Thank you so much for this Jo started this last night with Kyko. Took him to the field with his long line on & let him have a run around, not that he was too keen as he was exhausted after his morning at day care. We then went off to a nice quiet part of the field to try this. As I suspected we only had to go to Kyko on the first 2 goes to get his his attention from the ‘teaser’ then on his 3rd go he caught an interesting scent half way across, then he was coming back and forth full speed & even picked up that we wanted him to sit rather than jump on us. Now we have something to work on & build
Very good to hear! Take care with the day-care - it's not something I would recommend for young puppies (or any dog really, but especially not for young puppies). But many people who work full time may have no alternative...
Thanks Jo The woman who runs the day care is a dog trainer & really good, he is only allowed to go for 3 hours maximum at the moment & only allowed with her 3 dogs one of which is the same age as Kyko. She doesn't allow them to run around the whole time either. I had chosen a different one first as their website looked so good, then found out a neighbour had taken her pup there & they just put all the dogs in an outside area with no supervision, and they stayed there all day every day whatever the weather so I quickly looked for a different one. We weren't going to send him at first but due to us having a holiday booked in March decided to get him used to it slowly as he will be boarded there when we go. Anyway as for recall I bit the bullet yesterday & let him off the lead & he never really went more than 5mtrs away from me in fact for the most part was right next to me! He came back when I called him just for a piece of kibble but luckily I had his favourite treats with me as a back up, which he doesn't get very often as he saw a dog in the distance & went off full speed to see if he could see it, but he heard me rattle the packet & shot back for that & I could then get him sitting & watching me till the dog passed.
Great work on the recall! I'd still be careful with the daycare. There is a reason responsible breeders don't place two puppies in the same home - and at daycare with even one other puppy the same age, that's effectively what you have. And then there are physical health issues too... I have had a client dog end up with a broken leg through rough play at daycare - chasing each other on and off the sofa without sufficient supervision or anyone separating them easily. (Much easier to let them tire themselves out than separate and deal with frustration and noise.) The daycare owner didn't even notice - the owner noticed when they got back from holiday and picked the dog up that she was lame! The dog needed surgery and pins in the leg. All would have been avoided in the much safer option of kennels. Sometimes I think we humanise things too much and treat puppies like kids, which is where such a concept as 'daycare' comes from. Whereas actually we were much better off when we treated dogs as dogs and recognised that their needs are different to those of kids and there are other considerations. It's a good idea to get a dog used to where they will stay when you're away, but it's a bit overkill to send him daily now (in his formative puppyhood) if you're not going away till March... Have a read of some of these links: http://totallydogtraining.com/over-friendly-dog/ - see how 'over-friendly' dogs are made, who assume that every dog they spot it's their 'right' to meet (and get frustrated if prevented) http://www.wylanbriar.com/behavioural-information/avoiding-growing-an-oversocial-dog/ - a similar take on things from Di at Wylanbriar (who is not force-free, but the general gist of it I totally agree with) https://paws4udogs.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/too-much-of-a-good-thing/ - too much excitement, too often, is not a good thing Here are some videos of dog-dog interactions, showing non-ideal play. You'll notice it can be quite subtly 'not ok' and it takes a very observant person who is 100% watching interactions, to know when to intervene: Not all social experiences are good for your puppy: How to identify ‘good’ play: This is an example of ‘bad’ play - do not let your puppy harass other dogs: More ‘bad’ play and why you need to intervene to protect your puppy, whichever dog of the two they are (bully or victim I have had off-leash play in my classes for many years and IMO, it is one of the most-skilled parts of the 'job' that is a dog trainer - more skilled than teaching sit/down/recall etc. Off-leash play needs me supervising with total attention, such that I can scarcely speak properly to owners because I am looking everywhere at the encounters that are happening and deciding if everyone is 'happy'. If wrestling is happening, I am occasionally taking off the pup on top to see what the pup underneath does. If they move away and choose not to re-engage, then they were not happy underneath and that encounter is stopped. If play between two pups is always one pup chasing and the other pup running away, that play is unequal and I will ask that the chasing pup is leashed to give the other pup freedom to engage and disengage. Everything has to be consensual at all times. Some dogs can't play for too long before tipping over into reactivity because they get too aroused from the play (terriers especially), so these dogs need short and focussed blasts of play, interrupted before they tip over. Quality is always better than quantity, I would rather all the pups have a short positive experience than that play goes on for hours and they leave with any negative experiences at all. It really isn't possible for someone running a business, to adequately supervise dog-dog interactions all day. When would they be answering the phone, taking new bookings, dealing with email enquiries, etc etc - it simply is humanly impossible.
Ah I should have been clearer, he only goes 3 hours a week, the rest of the week he spends 2 days with me at work & 2 days at home with sister. The day care also use kennels so they aren't playing the whole time. The owner stressed to us the importance of him learning to be around dogs without thinking he was going to be allowed to meet them all
