Hi everyone I thought I'd share my experience of our first puppy party last night. Our vets runs them as a 4 week course - the main objective is for you & your dog to have fun. Last night 10 owners attended & we listened to an expert dog behaviourist/vet nurse giving us the low down on everything puppy/dog related. Then next week we'll take the puppies & split them into 2 groups - one will do training & the other will do handling. Apparently they will teach us to bandage our puppies, clean their teeth, clip their claws, check their ears & eyes etc. Then halfway through the evening we'll swap over. I think it's a great idea & great for the dogs but am a bit concerned that we will swap puppies so they get used to being handled by different people. We covered body language last night which was very useful & learnt the importance of our puppies meeting dogs of all sizes, ages & breeds so they don't struggle to read other dogs body language when they are adults. She also told us that she took her puppies for walks 3 times a day in her arms which helps with socialisation. I',m not for one minute suggesting we all go & do that but I have quite a few more tips that I wrote down if anyone else is interested. x
Re: Puppy Parties are fantastic! Sounds like you had a really good time! I think puppy parties are a good idea. Glad to hear that they also emphasised the need to interact with and learn from older dogs and other sizes and shapes of dogs I would be interested in learning more from you about what they are advising and teaching. I've never been to a puppy party.
Re: Puppy Parties are fantastic! She went over problems such as biting & jumping up as a few of us are having problems with that - our homework is to charge the clicker! I've already done this with Beulah but a bit of reinforcement won't do any harm. She also said don't feed the meal before the next session as they will be having lots of treats (we need to take high value ones such as chicken, cheese & sausages she recommended hot dogs chopped up in tiny pieces) but Beulah won't have to go without for long as her 3rd meal is at 7pm which is when it starts. The baby toys which have lots of different noises/textures were recommended for giving them different experiences, along with keeping a favourite toy out of sight unless you are training & then it can be a good reward. Punishment - no punishment at all - ignore bad behaviour & praise/reward good. She advised saying a different word to no as it can be said in an agressive way or the wrong tone of voice - she uses whoops which I can tell you is rather funny when you start using it! She said 16 weeks is the limit for Labradors socialisation/habituation. Things like walking over different surfaces in the early days is good for them too. Going to market day & sitting on a bench with them if they haven't had their jabs yet. Always pair a new experience with something positive ie. fuss, praise, food. If they are startled by something show them the way by being confident but don't act out of character or make a fuss of them to try & reassure them. I made the mistake of thinking we had housetraining sorted, if the back door is constantly open then they're not learning to ask to go out?! Not sure what to make of that as I let her out v often aswell & so far no accidents for over a week. We discussed puppy pads making them wee inside but if you want them to go in a particular place outside you can pin them down with tent pegs or something & gradually make them smaller & smaller. Digging is a normal behaviour - she thinks you can't teach a dog not to dig but you can teach them to do it an appropriate place. She advised using one of the half shell swimming pools - you can fill it with peat/sand & hide toys in the bottom which is great mental stimulation for them. Phew - my brain is numb! I'm not saying these things are right - they are just what the behaviourist recommended. x
Re: Puppy Parties are fantastic! when we went to one, my youngest daughter was devastated that she couldn't go in full on party frock. she loved it when she got changed though and is desperate to go again. glad you had a good time - there's only one at ours.
Re: Puppy Parties are fantastic! Oh you are so lucky to have that resource ,and sounds like you really enjoyed it too.they are covering some really useful things .please let me know how they teach you to brush teeth....I have a fairly successful method now and Dexter is so used to it he just lets me do it as part of his groom but in the early days I got my fingers caught a couple of times.He realizes now that the hard thing inside the rubber 'brush' is human so doesn't crunch down!
Re: Puppy Parties are fantastic! NHM - that is a really great report, lots of tips there. I think Whoops! is a great idea. I'm going to use that. Angela - is there any chance of a vid of you cleaning Dexter's teeth? I'm not having a great deal of success with chewer Charlie....and didn't you say you've got a technique involving 2 toothbrushes? His grown up teeth are coming through and I'm trying to crack this. Be good to see what I'm aiming for.
Re: Puppy Parties are fantastic! The puppy party advice sounds good to me Thanks so much for the detailed description of the advice given!! I do say NO (in a pretty stern voice) if Obi is about to do something naughty (like hump a cushion). If we are doing training and I give him a cue and he does something that I didn't ask for then sometimes I'll just say 'Uh oh' in a fairly neutral voice. I'd only do that if I know the mistake was really not mine. The idea is that over time 'uh oh' comes to mean 'no treat, try something different'. I don't really do it as 'a strategy', it just comes out. Don't know if it helps the dog learn or not. Anyway, sounds like the puppy party is a very positive experience That's so funny about your daughter and her frock, HD. I wonder if she thought there'd also be cake?
Re: Puppy Parties are fantastic! Julie I will give it a go later for you....the 2 brushes are all about distracting him with one,he chews on it while I brush with the other.....it's kind of evolved from the the first day we got him and on advice I started straight away?At that point it was more about me just getting the brush in his mouth so he would get used to it....as he chewed on the bristles I would just move it about his mouth.Chris is out until this afternoon but We'll try for you.Also Im an opportunist...Dex is so not bothered about me doing it now.....so ill have a go as he is panting and his mouth is open....not the minute he has come in from his walk but when he's cooled down a bit and had a flop he'll let me do it then !Chris says sometimes,will you leave him alone as I'm always all over him,checking bits out and giving little massages but he seems to like it and I feel it's good to handle them a lot
Re: Puppy Parties are fantastic! Thanks Angela, perhaps I should just allow him to chomp it up, and try move it a bit like you suggest. Hmm....I would like to get going with this...
