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Purely Positive Vs Balanced Training?


mowgliandme
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She is an absolutely wonderful puppy - and i wont be doing anything that harms her in any way! I cant figure out how to add a photo but its probably not allowed anyways as she is a breed in development (cobberdog)

I didnt realize i was meant to let her bite the bed blanket, will she stop doing that on her own then? (I'll get her a snooza bed for now)

I dont want to encourage her to bite things by calling her to me when shes biting and then giving her a treat (wont that make her think that biting things = treat?)

Definitely not a fan of that puppy class, the shyer dogs seemed scared of the can and some were probably in their fear period (ages above 14 weeks)

She is completely not fussed by loud noises like renovations, noisy roller doors, vaccum cleaners, motorbikes anyway (we've been doing a lot of socializing to that kind of stuff - creating positive associations, letting her explore things on her own, shes pretty calm and confident and doesnt give a damn about them anyways - so hasnt been hard) so I dont think the class will have a negative impact on her.

Edited by mowgliandme
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pups chew- they NEED to chew/mouthe things .That is how they learn about textures/tastes/their strength ,(cos they don't have sensitive fingertips like humans) etc plus chewing releases endorphins :)

So -- invest in cheap beds - opshop blankets etc until after teething in several months ;)

Buy her real bones ,and deer antlers to chew , and not just 'crunch/swallow' Frozen chicken frames are terrific! Turkey necks also .

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Ive bought her toys in every texture I could find and am rotating them around so she doesnt get bored -looks like she just loves the blanket more and she also seems to like the noises from biting the pen - i'm redirecting her to toys when i am there though! :)

She is quite a small pup (going to be 8-10kg as an adult) she has pigs ears, a deer? antler, rawhide chews, and kangaroo tendons which she loves.... I dont think her teeth are big enough to eat meaty bones/chicken carcrasses though? she most of them are only 3-4mm long (apart from the canines which are probably double that)

I have been using boiled chicken as treats at the moment

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mowgliand me said

I dont want to encourage her to bite things by calling her to me when shes biting and then giving her a treat (wont that make her think that biting things = treat?)

mowgliandme, I love the way you're thinking these things through and advocating for your puppy. The way I see it is, if you call your puppy to you and she comes to you, you are then rewarding the coming to you .. which is exactly what you want .. she is likely going to make the association treat was for the last thing I did. For inappropriate chewing I like to use a verbal interrupt . in the early days .. a surprise noise like a guttural "uh-uh". As the pup redirects attention away from the current chew object, I then will usually provide a legitimate chew object, which I play with a bit to engage the puppy in chewing it. Replacement object is usually something like the inside of a paper towel roll, but could be a commercial chew toy. It's important that it's very handy, so there's only a second or two between the interrupt and the redirection onto another object.

So what we're teaching there is "Not that, but this" .. giving the pup managed choices, and celebrating great decisions .. I actually use those words as I celebrate the pup's appropriate choice.

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You can post photos of her!! Plenty of people on the forum have cross breeds, not that I personally think of the Cobberdog as a crossbreed, like you say it is a breed in development, just like any other breed in development, and it isn't a poodle x Labrador. But to avoid the issue you can just call her her name, rather than any particular breed/s :)

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Here she is! :) I cant seem to get the SLR camera pictures small enough so here is a quick phone photo!

The Spotted Devil - I have removed the lure/treat (she is following hand signals for those things ...hasnt quite got it without hand signals for lie down but we are working on it and shes only 9 weeks)

Thanks for all the advice everyone! :)

post-54894-0-08983200-1469357471_thumb.jpg

Edited by mowgliandme
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Here she is! :) I cant seem to get the SLR camera pictures small enough so here is a quick phone photo!

The Spotted Devil - I have removed the lure/treat (she is following hand signals for those things ...hasnt quite got it without hand signals for lie down but we are working on it and shes only 9 weeks)

Thanks for all the advice everyone! :)

Beautiful and sounds to me that you are doing a great job.

I've been using a rattle to distract beagles and especially Maremma for decades - works for me.

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