Day Nine -- Goodbyes

It's hard to believe it's almost time for Little Labby Luna to go home. The time has flown by and we've enjoyed every second of it. She's working really hard on her sits for greetings because we know that tomorrow is her most exciting greeting ever...when she gets to see her family. She'll probably forget her sit because she will be so happy to see everyone. That's ok, we'll just try not to reinforce the jumping behavior and get through it as best we can.

So, some parting thoughts:

Ignore behavior that is not harmful to your puppy, yourself, or your belongings. She'll repeat behavior that you reward her for and a lot of the other behavior can just be ignored. Nagging a lot can be really frustrating to a puppy ("Can't I do anything right???") and it can be detrimental to your relationship. Focus as much as you can on the positive.

This tip is kind of a no brainer but sometimes people forget...smile at your puppy. It sounds so simple but they are so much more engaged and happy to do things with you when you smile and have a good time with them. Plus, it's a really easy thing to do. I mean, really, who doesn't want to smile at a puppy?

Praise her when she offers you behavior. It's ok that she may be laying down in front of you because she's hoping for a treat. That's fine. She's repeating behavior that works for her and you need to catch her behaving well so you can praise her to continue that behavior. What's nicer than a little puppy who is so well behaved they lay down next to you instead of jumping on you?

Remember that distractions can make it harder for her to comply with your requests. Avoid getting a treat out to help her comply. This will only cause her to be dependent on those treats. Instead, move her to an area that is a little less distracting and try again.

Don't forget how important it is that she come check in with you during play. It's pretty frustrating when you need to leave and your dog suddenly becomes hard of hearing. But if she is always keeping an eye on you no matter where you are, it's much easier to get her to comply with your requests.

Everyone here is going to miss her. Billings is going to be so sad come tomorrow.

So one last kiss. We can only hope we will see Luna again some day.

Day Eight -- Out on the Town

Luna had a full today (as if the other days weren't full...).

We were heading out for an outing so I wanted to make sure she was pretty well exercised before we go. Even if your puppy is perfect at everything at home, that doesn't mean that's going to be the case once she's in a new environment with a lot of different distractions. But we'll be prepared...

Luna has had plenty of socialization with new dogs and new people so now it's time to try our skills in a new environment.

But first, we have to work on our extreme cuteness so we will get lots of practice greeting new people. No problem there...

Knowing that there are a lot of distractions here, we came prepared. In addition to the new environment, new people, and new dogs, there are also toys...

And snacks!!! Luna's favorite. Not to worry, Luna, we have snacks for you. If she is really distracted and can't pay attention to me, I know there are several things I can do to help her out.

I can spend time before we go into the store working on attention. I could also stop moving about the store and work on attention instead. Sometimes it's easier for the puppy if you take the element of movement out of the equation.

I can increase my rate of reinforcement (how often I am giving her food rewards for paying attention or walking next to me). I could also increase the value of the treat I am giving her (maybe it's time to break out the string cheese). I can also get some distance away from the distraction. It helps, too, if I get her attention long before we are upon the distraction. It's much more difficult to get her attention back when she's already at the end of the leash visiting with another dog or checking out those bags of treats.

Our cuteness factor paid off! Lots of people wanted to visit. She forgot momentarily when we first arrived how to do her greetings. That happens when there is an added level of excitement. So I'm prepared with extra treats to help her out. It takes no time at all before her greetings are just as good as they are at home. She was even able to show off her "down" for the store employees.

It takes a lot out of a pup to go into public places like that which is one of the reasons we ease them into it. Even with the other dogs playing all around her, she still wanted to snooze after our outing.

Luckily her friends joined her after a bit. It's always nice to have friends to nap with.

A little bit of rest will help her to work on that cuteness factor. She clearly doesn't need to work on that too hard...

Day Seven -- Play With Me

Play is an important part of a dogs' development and training. It can make training more exciting and keep your puppy more engaged. Ideally, most of the play is coming from humans but some good dog play is fun too...providing it's well supervised.

It's really nice when dogs do what is called parallel play. They are running side by side or they both have their mouth on a toy and are running with it. Basically, it's play where there is no conflict. It's good to praise the puppies when they are playing like this so they get the idea that you like this kind of play.

Play where there is mild conflict, like a good game of tug, is fine within limits. If one dog starts to guard or be protective of the toy (darting away with it, turning her head trying to protect it) it's time to intervene. No need to be loud about it, just a simple walk towards them while clapping your hands and saying "That's enough" or "Too much" in a calm voice. If need be, put the toy up. If one puppy is being really protective of the toy, that puppy may need some work one on one to help her through that issue.

The same is true for vocalizing during play. Luna can be a talker. This is fine within limits. A little vocalization is very normal in play. But, if the other dog is trying to take a break, and she is relentlessly barking at the other puppy trying to get her to play, it's time to intervene. You can redirect her to another activity or call her to come.

If she keeps going back and barking, you can put her in a quick time-out by putting her in a sit between your legs and holding her chest. Don't talk to her or give her attention and only release her when she is being calm. It should just be for a few minutes, just enough time for her to pull herself together and to realize that the fun stops when she's not listening. When we first started doing this, she would get frustrated and become very mouthy. I would respond by saying ouch and remain holding on lightly to her chest. Again, she doesn't get to go play again until she's nice and calm (and not being mouthy). You don't want her to learn that being mouthy will get her what she wants. Another adult only activity. The time-out also works well if she's playing roughly and can't pull it together when you try to intervene or if she's jumping on people a lot or if she's being really mouthy and not responding to redirection.

Don't forget you can calm play down by mixing in some obedience during play. She's happy to run through her drills even when there is a lot going on around her.

And, of course, her recalls are perfect for toning things down a bit and it's a great way to interrupt inappropriate behavior or rough play. Ideally you are intervening in the play before it gets out of hand. It's much easier to redirect at that point.

By all means, join in on the play. You'll be amazed and how much more checked in she is with you when you are an active participant in her play. Not to mention you are teaching her really useful skills like "drop" during play.

If she's being a bit naughty or getting into trouble, she may be telling you she needs a little more exercise. Throwing in some obedience or teaching her new things can help burn off some of that energy too.

Watch for signs that she's getting tired too. Puppies can start to get a little cranky when they've had too much and they are not always the best at stopping at that point. That can be with other dogs or with humans. If you notice she's being a touch naughty but she's had plenty of exercise, it may be time for a little nap or some quiet time. Geeze, it's just like a toddler.

Day Six -- What's That Over There?

There are a lot of distractions out in the world that can easily divert a puppy's attention. We start out working with puppies in low distraction environments and start to build up their ability to work with distractions around them. In addition, there are things we can do to help them work through a distraction when they might be in a little over their head. Luna thinks Sinbad is a swell distraction.

We practice a lot of name recognition and attention first in low distraction areas, then we start to add in more and more distractions. So far, so good...she's got this down! If I were out and about with her, I would look ahead to see what might distract her and I would get her attention and reward her for eye contact before we even got to the distraction. I might even need to increase the rate of reinforcement (how often I was rewarding her) as we got closer to the distraction.

We do that with not only her name recognition and attention but also with commands, leash skills, etc. We certainly didn't mean to have this many distractions around when we were practicing her down but everyone seemed to wander over at once. But what a trooper...she handled it very well!

Luna says, "Look Mom, no treats!" She's offering a sit almost all the time for greetings now. Of course, that's with someone she sees every day. She does well with new people but that adds a level of excitement where she might make a mistake. Those are times to get right in there and reward her with a treat when she's being so good. A biggie, too, is to make sure you are verbally praising her when she is doing this. We still want to make sure this is paying off well for her.

We've had a variety of dogs come in to meet her. Luckily, with all the service puppies I work with, we have no shortage of dogs for socialization. This also adds a bit to the distraction level so we can see if she is still responsive even though there is another lab puppy, Rosario, to visit with.

Yep, still very responsive. She's very quick when you ask her to do something even with a lot going on around her.

Her biggest challenge? Food. Poor Luna. I feed the dogs in shifts so there is no tension around the food bowls and I can monitor everyone and make sure they are behaving appropriately. Luna is on first shift because she has an internal clock like no other. This is her very pathetic "I'm sure they forgot I'm supposed to be on this shift too" look. She's doing awesome with "drop" except if it involves food. If I drop a bag of treats and she gets it, she gets that wild little puppy look in her eye and try to hide it. At this point, I want her to come to me with the food item. She does this but you can tell by the look in her eye she's trying to figure out if she could get away with running and hiding with it. I ask for a drop and she does it and I pay her off BIG! Several treats and lots of praise and she's a happy girl and we were able to manage the situation without a conflict between the two of us. If I were to have been really stern with her, she would have likely tried to avoid me and maybe start to guard her treasure. With some more practice, she can get to the point where she doesn't get that frantic look in her eyes when she's swiped some goodies.

She's figured out the whole bark thing and she's doing really well with her house training. Just a couple of accidents (or the start of an accident) on our way towards the door. Oops...that happens. She's still a baby and this will improve with time but she's definitely getting the idea.

The smile on her face says it all...she's having a good time. We all are having a good time. She has been a joy to have around.

And Billings thinks it's pretty cool that, even though he's a couple weeks younger, he can still show her the ropes. Well, at least he can show her where the air conditioning vent and the cool tile are located. Life is good...

Day Five -- The Sun Rises and Sets

At this age, puppies usually think the sun rises and sets with us. It's a perfect time to take advantage of that and the fact that they are like little sponges right now.  The more we use that to our advantage, the easier adolescence will be. Adolescence is the developmental period where your perfect little puppy suddenly forgets what her name is, forgets everything she has learned, and tries to test the boundaries a lot. It usually comes as a shock to people...their puppy seemed so perfect before. Not to worry, all your ground work you have done will pay off in the long run. Just be consistent and follow through with her when she does reach this phase and soon you will have a more mature dog who again thinks the sun rises and sets with you.

It's great for puppies to have other puppy friends. In fact, it's really important for their development. But you also want to make sure that your puppy is really focused on you. Involving yourself with her play, training her, and having fun and pleasant interactions with her will help her to realize you are the bees knees.

So then, even when she is having a good time with her friends...

She still eagerly comes when called. At this point, I've said her name and "come" once. If she had not started moving towards me, I would have gone up to her and wiggled a treat under her nose and lured her back to where I originally called her. I don't want her to learn that it's ok to blow me off.

But, of course, that's not the case with Luna because she's got this down pat.

Every step she comes towards me I am cheering her on and praising her. I have long ago lost my inhibitions when working with the dogs so I tend to have a pretty loud and exciting voice that usually gets all the dogs running towards me. The cheering encourages her to come towards me more quickly but it also lets her know that she's doing the right thing. It's a pretty big deal for a dog to come to you so eagerly when they are having a good time with their friends.

In the beginning, I just wanted her to run fast towards me. But now that she's doing that really well, I can start luring her into a sit when she arrives in front of me (ahhh...much nicer than the dog crashing into me when they come full speed ahead).

When she gets to me, I'm going to feed her one small piece of a tasty treat right after the other. I do this for a couple of reasons. First, I want it to really pay off when she comes. Second, I want her to stick around a bit when she comes to me. What good would it do if she came to me, took the treat and ran off again. On occasion, I'm also going to grab her collar and give her a treat. This will get her use to people reaching down to grab her collar (instead of ducking away when people reach for her). This is really useful in an emergency situation where you need to grab your dog quickly.

Luna braces for what she knows is coming next. Now that she's had a few tasty treats...

Billings just might need to give her a little kiss. A tasty kiss at that.

So that food motivation is fantastic for training but, oh boy, that can spell trouble in other areas. I discourage this behavior by interrupting her and redirecting her to another activity. When she is doing something more appropriate, I praise her and smile and tell her how wonderful she is. I might even give her a treat if she does something fabulous for me like a nice down or something like that. I want it to pay off more to behave nicely. If I interrupt this food searching behavior, it doesn't pay off for her. And trust me when I say this has future counter surfer written all over it. All she needs is a little bit more height. Preventing this now, though, when she still thinks you are the most wonderful person in the whole wide world, is so much easier than trying to fix the problem when she's older and has been practicing the behavior for a while.

Needless to say, Luna is sleeping well here. Plenty of work and play throughout the day. We're all sleeping well.