Puppy Priorities
When we get a new puppy it can be overwhelming to think about what to be working on. They’re a blank slate with near endless possibilities in front of them. This is especially true when you have a working type dog, and you’re getting really excited about all the exciting full on things their future will include!
However a dogs life isn’t just made up of tricks they can do, and we need to be setting them up as well as we can for the whole picture.
✨ Here’s what I’m prioritising with Halo at the moment - and no, it’s not just biting even though she’d really like that. ✨
1. Relationship with me.
Good stuff happens around me, food and toys come through me, and I’m a place of safety & fun. If she’s upset, I’ll be there to meet her needs so she feels secure (but also not mollycoddling). Our relationship includes training and doing stuff, but it also involves just coexisting enjoying each others company without being a pest.
2. Relationship with the world.
Pre-16 weeks old, Halo is in a critical stage of development, learning what her world looks like and what is and isn’t safe for her. So she’s getting to go different places and see different things whether that’s into town, a different paddock at home or just training in a new room. She is also carefully managed so she doesn’t get to form the wrong relationship with certain things - eg she doesn’t have access to cats or stock unsupervised so she isn’t getting a chance to practice harassing them unchecked. She isn’t left loose in the house to chew on my shoes. And she doesn’t get left alone with Needle (my other dog) to harass her.
3. A love and understanding of how to learn.
I’m super lucky in that Halo’s breeder has done an awesome job both breeding a dog with a love of work in mind, as well as fostering that engagement with people & work early on. From here my job is to keep that going, teach her how to earn reinforcement (food, play, praise, engagement, freedom etc) through doing cool stuff & learn to follow guidance from me. This means whatever we want to teach later will be that much easier, and something she continues to look forward to.
4. How to chill out.
Being a high drive dog, Halo wants to do all the things all the time. So we’re making a conscious effort from early on to foster that off switch, through relaxing in her own space in the crate, on a bed and in the van. She’s also going some boring places where we just do nothing - because life isn’t always high energy action for them and our dogs need to be okay with it. This is also something that was prioritised in her breeding which is a huge help.
5. How to be handled.
Paws touched, being restrained, having gear on and off, and being physically manipulated. This is just part of life for a dog, and so much easier to teach from day 1 than retrospectively once the dog is already averse to it and this is a part many of us neglect!
